Victory is within our reach

By Fabrizio Sasso
Executive Director, Sacramento CLC

Happy Labor Day, and I do mean happy.

For the first time in a long time, our national politics are giving working families something to celebrate. Don’t get me wrong. Joe Biden was and is a champion of Labor. He’s fought for working families for decades and deserves our respect and thanks.

But the prospect of a Biden-Trump race had no one excited. Now, with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz topping the ticket, there is a new sense of enthusiasm and hope. We all feel it.

For unions, the Harris-Walz ticket couldn’t be stronger. Harris has long followed Biden’s path, helping working families not only to survive, but thrive.

As you can read about on our front page, she has a long list of bonafides to back that up. As our vice president, she helped pass infrastructure funding that included good-paying union jobs. She has helped push down costs of prescription drugs like insulin, and promises to do more when elected to make sure medication—and healthcare—is affordable for all Americans.

More recently, she has unveiled policy proposals that center on the middle-class, protecting those in it already and creating more pathways for struggling Americans to find that economic security. Dubbing it the “opportunity economy,” Harris promises to build three million housing units and provide $25,000 in downpayment help to get more people into their own homes. That is the kind of smart, compassionate policy that builds a stronger nation by building better lives for people.

And then there is Tim Walz—a union teacher for decades. Walz doesn’t just know about union values, he’s lived them. Having him inside the White House is a huge win for working families, because he is one of us.

Together, Harris and Walz represent the kind of energy and vision we need.

But despite the excitement and energy surrounding Harris and Walz, their victory is far from certain. These next few weeks are critical not just for the race, but for our future.

We as union members need to be at the front of this fight. We have the organizing know-how, the determination and the energy to bring this victory to the finish line.

So many of you are already involved. We’ve got phone banks and canvassing going strong, even sending members to battleground states including Nevada.

But we must do more. All of us. If you are not yet involved, please consider volunteering. Whether that means staying at home and writing postcards or jumping on a plane to help in Arizona, every single one of us matters. And every single one of us can make a difference.

While I am amazed and disheartened that anyone could support Donald Trump, this race is going to be close. In those battleground states, it will come down to a few thousand votes. Maybe a few hundred.

If we put in the work, we can reach those critical voters.

And if we reach them, help them to understand what is at stake, we can win the future our families need and deserve.

Because when we fight, we win.