The 2024 US presidential election is over. No more TV ads, no more mailers, no more posts. We can move on.
Except democracy and politics aren’t things we engage in every four years. As the Los Angeles chapter of DSA reminded us, your boss, your landlord, your insurance company, and other members of the ruling class use their political power every day to keep your pay low, raise your rent, and deny you coverage. We must organize in between elections, too.
In fact, this is the whole reason we organize. We as socialists and organizers are fighting for a world where we can engage in democracy every day through organized workplaces. It doesn’t have to be a distant future, either; by building and wielding our unions, we can actively fight for improvements today at work and beyond.
Trump Re-elected
With Trump returning to the White House, we’re unlikely to see a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as friendly to labor as we’ve seen over the last four years. During his first term, Trump stacked the board with members who would side with bosses and ran their playbook. As the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) put it in their report comparing Trump and Biden, “…the Trump board had taken action on all 10 of the [US Chamber of Commerce’s] top priorities, all of which gave more power and rights to employers at the expense of workers.”
The succeeding Biden administration largely rolled back many of the excesses of Trump’s term, but we have every reason to believe we’ll see a return to an NLRB that backs bosses over workers. In fact, Trump may back an end to the NLRB altogether. Additionally, his campaign has repeatedly made clear that it would back further restrictions on abortion and immigration and further weaken environmental regulations, all of which would make daily life worse for workers.
What’s Next for Labor Organizing
While the terrain may shift under our feet, our objectives are still clear. The federal government may make more or less favorable conditions for our organizing, but the organizing continues. Meanwhile, countries and companies continue to delay or fight efforts to address climate change, putting workers on the frontlines. We have no choice but to stand together and fight.
Labor unions have a real opportunity to engage in new worker organizing, potentially bringing thousands, even millions, of workers into the movement. Workers stand to win big gains for themselves and the working class as a whole by building power on the job.
That power doesn’t live just within our workplaces, either; an organized working class with more control over the levers of society means we can fight for and win a more just society regardless of which capitalist party holds which seats. As Eugene Debs said, “What can Labor do for itself? The answer is not difficult. Labor can organize, it can unify; it can consolidate its forces. This done, it can demand and command.”
As workers, we can build our power by having those first conversations with their co-workers about a better future. It can be difficult, it can be painful, and it can take all of your energy, but the end reward goes beyond basic benefits — you can have a voice at work and solidarity with your co-workers. We can build this power without a friendly NLRB or a friendly president, but they certainly help make the terrain smoother. In the meantime, there’s no better time to start building that power than now. Talk with a workplace organizer or join up with EWOC if you’re ready to help build that power for yourself or other workers.
