On the Fourth of July, we celebrate freedom and the revolutionary idea that we all deserve a voice in our future. In the labor movement, we believe freedom means having agency and power over our own lives – in the workplace and beyond. Freedom means being able to see a doctor and make health decisions without worrying about medical bills or government interference. Freedom means being able to safely earn a living, retire securely, and live with dignity if we develop a disability. Freedom means having the power to use our voices and our votes to shape our workplaces, our communities and our country for the better.
But this year, as we gather at barbecues and kick back with family, we face a hard truth: our jobs, livelihoods, and freedoms are in danger. The budget just passed by Congress is an all-out assault on the public services our communities count on – and the workers like us who provide them.
Let’s be clear about what’s inside this so-called “big beautiful bill." While billionaires and big corporations enjoy debt-exploding tax cuts, working families get hit with a one-two punch in the form of higher health care costs and grocery bills. That’s because it includes the largest cuts to Medicaid, affordable health care, and food assistance in American history – ripping coverage away from over 17 million people and leaving as many as 3.5 million Americans at risk of going hungry.
But the consequences don’t end there. These devastating cuts will create painful shortfalls for our states, cities and towns. For AFSCME members, this means layoffs, understaffing, stagnant wages, weaker contracts, less workplace safety, and the threat of more privatization. For our communities, it means fewer nurses in our hospitals, fewer staff in our schools, fewer first responders answering calls, and fewer public service workers on the job.
Our union fought this budget relentlessly through our Get Organized campaign. AFSCME members, retirees, and activists flooded congressional phone lines, packed town hall meetings, and traveled thousands of miles to Washington, DC, to speak out.
Nurses, caregivers, and other public service workers met with lawmakers to detail the threat posed to our local hospitals, nursing homes, health centers, schools, and all essential services. Make no mistake: our voices were heard in this fight. Despite strong anti-worker majorities, Congress only managed to pass this deeply unpopular bill by the skin of their teeth.
As state and local governments brace for the impact of these cuts, we know that AFSCME members will face a much tougher time providing services to our communities and negotiating at the bargaining table. That is why our task now is to do everything we can to keep protecting public services.
If there was ever a time to get organized, this is it. If there was ever a time to grow our union and build our power at the bargaining table, this is it. If there was ever a time to talk to co-workers and ask them to join our family, this is it.
We know the billionaires slated to benefit from these tax cuts are the same billionaires who want to privatize public services and take away our seat at the table.
But we are not powerless. Our power comes from the freedom to organize – a freedom at the very heart of our democracy. And the best way to defend that freedom is to use it, every single day, to build a union that’s strong enough to fight the battles ahead.
This July Fourth, let’s celebrate the democratic freedoms we all hold dear – including our freedom to form a union, sit down at the bargaining table, and hammer out a contract that gives an honest day’s work the respect it deserves.