Labor Goes on Election Defense
A thousand union members rallied outside New York City's main post office on October 15, vowing to defend fair and democratic elections. Photo: SEIU 32BJ
New York City unions representing 1 million members launched a new coalition October 15 to defend the right to vote ahead of the midterm elections November 3. A thousand members rallied outside the city’s main post office, pledging to mobilize the labor movement to defend the elections from Trump administration interference.
The throng included large contingents from Laborers Locals 78 and 79, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, building services and airport workers from SEIU 32BJ, and health care workers from 1199SEIU. There were also union telecom workers, nurses, stagehands, municipal workers, retail workers, postal workers, electricians, grocery workers, office workers, and painters.
The NYC Central Labor Council initiative, called “Our Voice, Our Vote, Our Democracy,” aims to turn out union members and their communities to protest peacefully and to document intimidation of voters. It was announced just ahead of October 17, when the No Kings coalition held 3,000 events nationwide to promote early voting.
“We are demanding democratic and fair elections,” said SEIU 32BJ President Manny Pastreich in a statement to Labor Notes. “In anticipation of possible election sabotage, unions have hosted dozens of know-your-rights trainings, have organized hundreds of poll-watchers, and have created rapid-response networks.”
32BJ will mobilize members to monitor poll sites in swing districts on Long Island and the Hudson Valley. Pastreich added that if Trump takes unlawful action, unions are prepared for acts of civil disobedience.
In March, Trump issued an executive order to prohibit mail-in voting except by people on a list of eligible voters submitted by states to the Postal Service. But in September, the courts blocked implementation of this order.
The Trump administration has also tried to restrict voting access through the SAFE Act, which passed the House but was blocked in the Senate. It would have banned voter registration by mail, at motor vehicle offices, or online, and required voters to document their citizenship with a passport or birth certificate, along with a marriage license for women who changed their names.
On the steps of the post office, Joseph Martier, president of the New York Metro Area Local of the Postal Workers (APWU), led the crowd in chants: “Whose post office? The people’s post office!”
In the last election, Martier said, 48 million Americans cast their ballots by mail. He argued it’s “not a convenience” but “a vital way to participate in our democracy" for people in the military, students, people with disabilities, flight attendants, and the elderly.
“Our postal workers are trusted public servants,” he said. “They don’t deliver Democratic mail or Republican mail. They deliver America’s mail. Vote by mail is not a partisan tradition. It’s been part of our election system for generations. So we must ask: if this system is working, why are they making every effort to restrict it?”
