Good morning, everyone.
Thank you Brother Kenny [Williams] for that kind introduction, and I’d like to thank you and Gloria [Alverez] and the entire Orange County Labor Federation team for your commitment to the labor movement and dedication to Southern California’s working families.
You all have been terrific advocates for all working people at a crucial time in our nation’s history.
It’s so important that we have leaders who are out in front in our communities and working to make sure all voices are heard and represented.
And it’s just as important to have those kinds of leaders in public office—leaders who truly understand what workers mean to this country.
Leaders who know that this country was built by labor. And that the future of this country depends on the labor movement.
Dr. King knew that. He knew there could not be racial justice without economic justice.
He knew that social and racial equality depends on economic security.
He knew a collective bargaining agreement is the best way to fight discrimination and income inequality. And that a good, union job can be life-changing.
That’s why Dr. King worked so hard to bring the civil rights movement and the labor movement together.
So our movements could be stronger together…and realize our shared values of economic justice, and political and social freedom for all people.
The labor movement continues to live and breathe Dr. King’s legacy. It’s one we helped shape. It’s one we inherited. And it’s one we have to build upon.
And the best way to honor Dr. King’s memory is by locking arms and carrying his torch forward together.
By organizing workers and growing this movement…by advancing social justice…by advancing civil and human rights…by being a force for economic opportunity for all people.
It’s on us to keep it up. Because our movement for dignity and equality—for building power for workers on the job and at the bargaining table and in the voting booth—starts with each and every one of us.
We are living in what Dr. King called “the fierce urgency of now.” One year before he was killed, Dr. King said that, “…there is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
The time is now and we can’t afford to be late.
We all have to act. We have to join together and pull in the same direction.
We have to organize and mobilize and have meaningful conversations with our fellow workers…with our family and friends and members of our community about our vision for the future as we head into this year’s elections.
About the progress we can make by re-electing Joe Biden and pro-worker candidates up and down the ballot…
Electing leaders who care about the needs of working people—who care about good jobs and will stand up to corporate greed.
These leaders don’t just magically appear.
It takes hard work. It takes vision and dedication. It takes our greatest effort to elect leaders who will advocate for us and deliver the legislative wins that will improve our lives…here in Orange County, in California and in Washington, D.C.
Your hard work—the doors you knocked. The calls and texts. All of the conversations you had with your members and with union families. It made the difference in 2020 and again in 2022…
And it’s going to make the difference again this year.
For pro-worker candidates like Joe Kerr. You know him well. He served on this labor federation’s board. He’s a firefighter and a union guy through and through, and he knows our issues inside and out and we need his voice in Washington.
For Kim Nguyen Penaloza. She’s been a fierce advocate for the working families of Garden Grove for many years now, and now we need to have her strong leadership in Washington.
And for Congressman Lou Correa. He cares about workers and about our democracy. Let’s make sure he’s re-elected and let’s flip the House back to democratic control.
Now look, I know it seems that every election of late has been called the most important election of our lifetime.
But these House seats here in Orange County could be the difference between a Congress that functions and advances our pro-worker agenda…
Or just another Congressional term where all they do is vote on who is going to be Speaker of the House over and over…or worse.
But that’s not all that’s at stake.
Right now we have a president in Joe Biden who truly believes in the rights of workers. In American jobs. In civil rights and economic and social justice, President Biden and his administration are doing everything in their power to reverse years of damage and make social and economic progress—as he likes to say, from the bottom-up and middle-out.
He’s made the investments we need to rebuild our infrastructure and advance American manufacturing and improve our supply chains.
And the Biden administration is making sure the jobs created are high-road, good-paying jobs.
He fought to protect workers’ pensions. Lowered the cost of prescription drugs. And is making sure the wealthy and large corporations are paying their fair share in taxes.
He talked about needing to strengthen workers’ rights during the State of the Union address.
He walked on a picket line.
In short, President Biden has our backs, and Joe Biden is the key if we want to keep our momentum.
We cannot afford to take a step backward…because a step back could send us into a free fall.
All of the momentum we have right now as a movement could disappear overnight.
And if things don’t go our way in the 2024 election, we could lose a lot more than momentum.
Our rights, our freedom, our democracy.
Our progress in the fight for racial and economic justice. That’s at stake.
Our right to vote. The right to affordable health care and a quality public education. The right to privacy. The right to clean air and water. The right to organize and collectively bargain.
That’s at stake.
Our members need to hear from us. We need to lay out the issues. We have to make sure our members know who truly is delivering for workers and who is just delivering hot air.
Now look, we’re facing a deep political divide. There’s a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of mistrust.
But the labor movement can bridge the political divide.
When we engage and listen to our members, we earn and build trust.
When we have those honest conversations at worksites and hear about their struggles at work and at home…. hear what keeps them up at night, we form a connection around the issues and values we share as trade unionists.
That’s how we can break through the noise. That’s how we can be that trusted source of information on the issues that matter to our members…
And then we can point to the candidates who will address those concerns and ease our struggles. The candidates who share our hopes and dreams and who care about working people and our rights.
That’s how we elect pro-worker candidates up and down the ballot…and pass the legislation and policies that matter to working people.
How we can continue to be a force for workers and in the fight for racial and economic justice.
This moment demands our full attention.
It demands our focused effort.
It demands our unity.
It demands a “fierce urgency.”
Let’s show the nation what grassroots power looks like.
Let’s show the nation what we can achieve when we stand together.
And let’s build a future that works for all of us—for generations to come.
Thank you.