Friends -

Jane and I want to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a safe and healthy new year.

It goes without saying that the last few years have been extremely difficult and trying times for our country, and for the entire planet.

At the start of 2021, we all breathed a deep sigh of relief that Donald Trump was no longer president and Democrats had taken control of the Senate. But we also knew that our work would not end with a pair of Senate victories in Georgia or an inauguration in D.C.

We started the year with a pandemic that had already claimed more than 400,000 lives and was surging. We were in the middle of an economic meltdown that left millions unemployed, with many facing hunger and eviction. We had more than 90 million uninsured or underinsured. Climate change was ravaging the planet and systemic racism continued to eat away at the fabric of our society. And Republicans in state legislatures across the country were busy at work trying to undermine democracy by making it harder for young people and people of color to vote in our next elections.

The bad news is, many of these problems still exist and the kind of bold and urgent action that we need from Washington, D.C. has not taken place.

And since there is not one single Republican in the Senate who is willing to address any of these crises it is, sadly, up to the Democratic Party alone to get it done.

And get it done we must, because nothing less than the future of our democracy, and the future of this planet, is at stake.

The good news is that, all across the country, people are waking up to the fact that we must think big, not small. There was widespread support for the American Rescue Plan which provided unprecedented financial support to low income and working families early in the year, which reduced childhood poverty by 40%, and which helped rebuild our economy devastated by the pandemic.

And today, poll after poll shows that the American people are demanding that the rich start paying their fair share of taxes, that we take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry, that we expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision, that we provide the quality child care that our kids need and that we address the existential threat of climate change.

Further, all across this country, people are waking up to the fact that we don’t have to wait for Washington, D.C. to create the change we need. They understand that real change always begins at the grassroots level, when people stand together to fight injustice.

And they understand that strong unions, winning fair contracts, are the best way forward if we are to rebuild our crumbling middle class.

Remarkably, during the last year we saw courageous workers in some of the most conservative states in the country win strikes as they fought for adequate wages, benefits and the ability to control their own lives.

Striking workers at John Deere waged their first strike in more than three decades, stayed on the picket lines and eventually won a contract with strong wage increases, a ratification bonus and improved health insurance.

Striking nurses in Buffalo won raises which moved all workers to $15 an hour and a reduction in staff shortages. These nurses fought not only for themselves, but their patients – and they won.

Kaiser Permanente health care workers won a major victory after rejecting a contract that would have given new workers lower wages and benefits.

Nabisco workers, struggling against forced overtime, inadequate wages and pensions and the outsourcing of jobs, went on strike and won.

More than 1,400 Kellogg’s workers in Michigan, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Nebraska went on strike for months and won, fighting back against a plan to give new workers lower wages and benefits as well.

Brave Starbucks employees in New York State, for the very first time, organized a unionship in a fight against a giant corporation that did just about everything they could to stop them.

If you believe, as I do, that at a time of massive income and wealth inequality the key to creating an economy that works for all, and not just the few, requires a resurgent labor movement – then we've got to do everything we can to make that happen. That includes exposing the outrageous culture of corporate greed, supporting striking workers and making it easier for people to join a union. When a union wins a decent contract it is a victory not only for them, but for the entire working class. And the American people understand that.

A recent Gallup poll showed that 68% of Americans now approve of labor unions, the highest Gallup has measured since 1965.

So yes, there is a lot more to do in 2022.

Yes, we must pass Build Back Better.

Yes, we must lower the cost of prescription drugs and guarantee health care as a right for all of our people.

Yes, we must forgive student debt and fight for free tuition at public colleges and universities.

Yes, we must demand an end to the systemic racism, sexism, xenophobia and bigotry which remains much too prevalent in our country.

And yes, we must finally take on the not-so-small matters of preserving our democracy and our planet for future generations.

But we should also be proud of some of the things we accomplished in 2021. Because change never happens from the top-down. It always happens from the bottom-up.

And what we are seeing in state after state is that people are finally standing up and saying, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. No, the wealthiest people and most powerful corporations cannot have it all. And if Congress will not act, we will.

You should be very proud of the role you played in some of these victories — the solidarity you showed with working people across the country. You made your voice heard. You contributed to strike funds that allowed workers to hold out and win. You also contributed to civil rights organizations fighting racism and to those who are working hard to save our planet.

These are not things most political campaigns ask supporters to do. But we asked, and you answered, because you know that there is nothing more important than building a strong grassroots progressive political movement.

But now, with one year winding down and another set to begin, I want to ask for your continued support to help fund our work in these fights. Because I cannot do it alone:

Can you please make a year-end contribution of $2.70 – or whatever you can afford – to my campaign committee to help me continue to organize and advocate for working people across the country and progressive change in Washington, D.C.?

CONTRIBUTE $2.70

2022 is not a time for despair or cynicism. Now is a time for hard work. Now is a time to stand up and fight for the country that we know we can become.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders