Sacramento Labor gathers for annual picnic

By Sheri Williams

Hundreds of union members, friends and allies gathered together at Fairytale Town in Sacramento to celebrate Labor Day, an annual tradition that brings the family of Labor together.

“We celebrate today to celebrate not just the fact that we have a Labor Day, but we also have the weekend, and the 40-hour work week,” said Sacramento Central Labor Council executive director Fabrizo Sasso. “All of that came from the Labor movement.”

Sasso also struck a serious note during the event, reminding union workers that despite the many gains that unions have brought to workers and communities, the current administration has been slashing those rights and attacking unions.

“All of that is being threatened,” Sasso said. “And I don’t have to tell you what’s going on, because you’re probably feeling it back at your unions, or maybe back home.”

Most recently, the federal government suspended collective bargaining for the Bureau of Prisons, stripping collective bargaining rights from more than 30,000 correctional officers. That announcement came in late September, affecting another union contract of the American Federation of Government Employees, which has been under repeated attack.

“This is not just an attack on our union—it is an attack on every federal employee who serves this country with dedication and sacrifice,” said Brandy Moore White, president of the Council of Prison Locals, in a statement. “The Collective Bargaining Agreement is the foundation that ensures fair treatment, workplace protections, and a voice for our staff. Removing it undermines the very principles of fairness and democracy in the workplace.”

More than 80 percent of federal workers, or 4 out of 5 workers, have lost their union protections under the Trump presidency.

Unions have increasingly become some of the few organized entities with the political power and human capital necessary to fight back against these cuts.

“We sacrificed to get to this point in this country, and we’re sacrificing now, and we’re organizing, and we’re sticking together in solidarity, and that’s why we honor Labor Day,” said Sasso. “It’s not just a holiday, but it’s a reminder that we built this country.”

Sasso continued, “But under this administration, we’re fighting for our own lives. Our brothers and sisters in the AFGE unions across this country have been stripped of their collective bargaining rights. Can you imagine just waking up one day and with the stroke of a pen being told you no longer have a union?

That’s what’s happening right now, and if it could happen to them, believe you me, it can happen to you. An injury to one of us is an injury to all of us.”

Sasso also warned that the economic package dubbed by Trump as the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” will have devastating consequences on costs and health care.

“This bill is designed to give the wealthiest people more money in their pockets,” he said.

“Meanwhile, they’re stripping away your Medicaid, attacking your Social Security, and they’re putting all of us at risk. It’s going to shut down hospitals, home care workers out of work, and it’s going to force people into bankruptcy.”

Sasso ended on a positive note, pointing out that the solidarity of the Labor movement and the commitment of union members has always been a powerful force. Currently, California Labor is fighting to pass Proposition 50, which would help Democrats have a fair chance to retake at least one house of Congress during the midterm elections, creating a check to Trump’s power.

“Now more than ever, Labor matters, and each of you matters,” Sasso said. “We need to fight.”