1. STRIKES WORK  

After an unprecedented summer of strikes and solidarity, it should be clear to everyone that well-planned, worker-led strikes work! Even in a progressive state like California, where we have worked hard on economic policies to lift up all workers, nothing will change the economy like a good collectively bargained contract!  Congrats to all of our members who reached tentative agreements to end their strikes this past month, including UAW and SAG-AFTRA.

2. Hot Union Holiday Season

Because we know strikes work and solidarity is paramount, we are asking everyone to support the ongoing efforts of unions that are fighting for a better contract. Our SEIU 121RN Nurses are on strike and will be having picket lines on Wednesday in Riverside and Thousand Oaks, California Faculty Association will be having rolling strikes December 4th through the 7th and these various CSU campuses, and our State Scientists CAPS just completed an impressive 3 day strike and we are awaiting if they will be out again. Join a picket line near you!

3. Legislative Union Convenings

We just completed some amazing workshops to tackle legislative ideas for next year. We had convenings on public sector issues and on artificial intelligence and technology issues. If you are interested in being informed about upcoming legislative issues, meetings, or our 2024 Legislative Conference, please reach out to our Legislative Director, [email protected]

4. Endorsements

Our Pre-Primary Convention, where we will be making endorsements on all Assembly, Senate, Congressional and US Senate races, will take place on December 5th in Oakland. For more information on your delegate status, please contact your local union. Be sure to look out for Labor’s final endorsements later that week!

5. 2024 Labor Democrat

At the State Democratic Convention, we unveiled our “I am a 2024 Labor Democrat” pledge for candidates running for office. What does that mean? It means we are not in 1994 anymore and we are not looking for Democrats that maintain an outdated views on labor. Back then, we saw union density decline as some Democrats joined Republicans in supporting flawed trade deals, outsourcing public sector jobs, attacking pensions and healthcare. We were asked to be “reasonable” and accept bad deals rather than demanding more. People talked about “working families” and “jobs” but were scared to actually say the word Union or Labor. That’s not acceptable anymore. 

We want officials who understand that workers are leading an economic revolution in their workplaces, by demanding better contracts and power on the job. We want elected officials who walk the picket line, respect strikes, and support organizing drives. We want elected officials who put people over profits AND workers over robots. We want our elected officials to proudly proclaim they are pro-union. As you can see, we got some of our elected officials to do just that!