During our campaigns for president, I stated time and time again that the future of our country was dependent on our willingness to make a political revolution — to think big, not small, and to involve millions of our fellow citizens in our collective struggle for justice.
I stressed what has been clear to me for a very long time — that real change never takes place from the top on down, but always from the bottom up.
During this devastating pandemic, millions of workers across the country have struggled to keep themselves and their families safe, to be treated with basic dignity and respect, and to earn a decent living.
But while working people have been barely scraping by, often wondering how they’re going to pay their next bill or put food on the table, large corporations and the billionaire class have never had it so good.
Corporate CEOs are paying themselves tens of millions in compensation and corporate profits are through the roof.
We have the absurd situation in which two multi-billionaires own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans, the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 92% and the gap between rich and poor is wider than at any time in the last 100 years.
If there was ever a time to organize the working class of this country to take on the corporate elite from the bottom-up, that time is now.
One organization that’s playing a key role in that fight is the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, or EWOC. Since March of 2020, EWOC has connected hundreds of workers with experienced labor organizers to help them organize their workplaces and win demands for better wages and working conditions.
2021 was a busy year for EWOC. They played a pivotal role in three successful union recognition campaigns, winning unions for hundreds of previously non-unionized workers.
They fostered the development of lasting workplace organizations for theater workers, social service workers, and restaurant workers, laying the groundwork for future workplace struggles while building long-term worker power.
They also produced highly accessible online resources for workers who want to organize their workplaces and for those thinking about quitting their jobs.
What EWOC does is quite remarkable. They are the only organization where any worker, from anywhere in the country, working in any sector and for any employer, can pick up the phone and get the dedicated support, training, and resources they need to organize on the job.
The EWOC and the workers they’ve helped organize remind us that improving one’s lot in life is not a spectator sport — it’s something we have got to fight for.
That’s why I’m asking you directly:
These are challenging times for millions of working people. But despair is not an option. Together, we must rebuild the labor movement and transform our society to one that works for working people, not just the billionaires and large corporations.
Thank you in advance for supporting EWOC in our fight.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
