Like many other victories, Labor Day was won on a battlefield where brave patriots fought for the ideas that make this country what it is. The battlefield was not in some far-off land but in the shop floors, textile mills and the mines. The heroes were people like Joe Hill, Mother Jones and John Lewis. These champions of labor lived by the code, “when we all do better, we all do better.”
When I served in the military, I learned the Army’s values, a simple set of words that my brothers and sisters in arms lived our lives by. Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage. The Union Veterans Council members continue to live by these values every day. Brothers and sisters, veterans and family members, I am calling on you to once more enter the fight. The values, rights and protections that were won in the past are under attack like never before, and our new battlefields are now in the state capitols, the courtrooms and the halls of Congress.
The Union Veterans Council has drawn a line in the sand and it started in Missouri where local union veterans stood up to the opponents of the working people of America. Unlike the streets of Iraq and the jungles of Southeast Asia, we can see them and we know who they are. They wear the uniforms of big banks and corporate lobbyists; their weapons are dark money PAC’s, special interest loopholes, an economy rigged by politicians that only support the 1%. They are the ones attacking the America we survived and love.
On this Labor Day I ask you to rest up, enjoy your family and the weekend that was fought for and won in years past. However, I want you to make a pledge that come Tuesday morning you get back into the fight. It is more important than ever that you stand with your brothers and sisters in the labor community; sacrifice some of your personal time, sweat and blood for the labor movement.
You see, the members of the Union Veterans Council have a new mission, we will be the tip of the spear for working people across this country as we fight back to regain our economic freedoms. Rest assured we will make our voices heard!
Be proud that you are once again fighting for your fellow Americans. Let the people know that union members are among the most patriotic people nationwide and we have earned the right to have a say in our own economic future.
