After the Election, the Fight Continues

The result of this week’s Presidential election is obviously not what the Labor Movement hoped for, for many reasons. The Biden-Harris Administration has been the most pro-Labor in United States history, and union members turned out across the country in an effort to keep that momentum going. AFL-CIO affiliate unions alone engaged directly with more than 7.1 million members, and despite the outcome union voters look to have actually outperformed their 2020 numbers in support of Vice President Harris.

There were still bright spots to be found Tuesday—here in New York State, voters passed Proposition One, the Equal Rights Amendment, which was supported by Labor. And the state has picked up three pro-Labor congressional seats including NY’s CD-04, CD-19, and CD-22, all of which will be crucial in the effort to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives and avoid a GOP trifecta which would only make it harder to fight off the unprecedented anti-worker proposals outlined in Project 2025. NYC union members helped make those wins possible, with thousands answering the call to phonebank and knock on union household doors in the weeks and months leading up to Election Day.

While we await the outcome of the remaining House races along with control of the House itself, and prepare for a peaceful transfer of power in January, we’ll continue to mobilize, organize, empower workers and protect working families. New York City has always been and will always be a Union Town, no matter who sits in the White House. We’ve been in tough places before, and we know that working New Yorkers are stronger and more resilient than those who try to divide us or keep us down.

As AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said this week, “We’ve seen assaults on our fundamental rights before. In the days, months, and years ahead, labor’s task will be to defend working people when it happens again. The labor movement gives voice and clarity to the struggles of working people—that’s what we do, and what we’ve always done. Every workplace we organize is a victory for democracy. Every contract we bargain for is a step toward a fairer economy. Every strike is a lesson for rich bosses that they can’t keep the working class down. No one—not Donald Trump or JD Vance, nor any one CEO—can stop solidarity.”