Some Thoughts on the 2016 Election and Beyond

(This article first appeared in the January-February 2017 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

I want to commend all the members who engaged in the political process of the 2016 election season, those who registered voters, knocked on doors, phone banked, distributed materials, worked the polls and helped get out the vote. 

Now that the election is over, many are contemplating what the future holds. Past APWU President Moe Biller gave us the answer, “the struggle continues…!”

I do want to share a few thoughts on the election and beyond.

Historic Upset

What a shocker it was for the pundits, the media, the pollsters, the elites and certainly many voters when Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in one of the biggest political upsets in modern U.S. history.

A “coronation” was planned before the election even started. Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton would be the nominees of the two major parties. One of these dynasty family members would then be crowned as U.S. President. It would be that satisfactory and simple for the Wall Street financial oligarchy.

It did not work out as the two corporate controlled parties planned. They failed to understand that the 99%, especially the working class, are fighting mad. We, the workers, have been kicked in the gut by a rigged system. We suffer from downward mobility, a loss of manufacturing jobs to rotten trade deals, tax structures favoring the wealthy, an infrastructure crumbling around us, our water poisoned, an economic “recovery” going to the top 1%, glaring and growing income inequality, and unaffordable health care and college education.

Yes, there were many negatives in this election. We were once again stuck with the “lesser of two evils” choice. There was no independent political party accountable to us, the workers. The two major party candidates were the most disliked and mistrusted in modern history. Voter suppression was widespread, largely directed at African-Americans, the working class and the poor. Massive gerrymandering through redistricting had politicians picking voters rather than the other way around. Libertarian and Green party candidates were kept out of the debates by the two major parties. Billionaire money spigots opened wide in the buying of elections. The undemocratic “Electoral College” overrode majority rule of the popular vote. Trump and his campaign promoted bigotry and division, attacking immigrants, women, the disabled, Muslims and Gold Star parents. Clinton labeled millions of Trump supporters “deplorables.” Anti-worker and anti-union politicians now hold the majority of Congress as well as the White House, a development that bodes ill for postal workers and our families.

But let me focus on what I believe are two very positive aspects of the 2016 election season.

First, many state-wide pro-worker ballot initiatives, dealing with raising minimum wages, supporting public education and establishing paid sick leave passed with strong support across the political spectrum. Going forward, I hope to see greater focus at election time on referenda issues that make life better for working families and unite us across political divides.

Second, this election was truly a revolt against the status quo, against the elites and against “politics as usual.” While we have many terrific friends in Congress, and will continue to work to elect worker-friendly candidates, the fundamental policies of both the Democrat and Republican parties over the last few decades have undercut and failed the working class. Such policies have resulted in huge tax breaks for the wealthy, support for trade deals like NAFTA, the bail-out of Wall Street and ignoring of Main Street, bloated military budgets and unjust wars that drain our economy and deprive us of needed social services, the school to prison pipeline, the undermining of civil liberties, a health care policy aimed at enriching Big Pharma and the insurance companies, and a poverty minimum wage.

The pro-worker, anti-Wall Street campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders, calling for living wages, free college tuition, getting corporate money out of politics, taxing the wealthy, stopping the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and promoting a “political revolution,” electrified millions, especially the young voters from all backgrounds.

At the AFL-CIO Council meeting last March, I predicted that if Sanders was not the Democratic Party nominee, Donald Trump would be the next President. Lo and behold, once Sanders was pushed out of the way by the mainstream Democratic Party forces, Trump, with his rhetoric, stepped into the void.

The hope that a billionaire businessman, who believes the minimum wage is too high, will help workers will undoubtedly be dashed, but the reason Trump won is fairly simple. If one is in pain and suffering and the prescribed medicine is not providing relief, trying experimental treatment is most tempting, even if the known side effects can be dangerous.

APWU’s great friend, Texas populist and well-respected commentator Jim Hightower said last July, “The real story, however, is not about the two maverick candidates, [Sanders and Trump] but about the waves of ordinary people who’ve created and lifted their campaigns… These voters are hurting today, distressed about tomorrow, and fed up with the two-party indifference to ‘people like us…’ The rebellion is on.”

Next Steps

The APWU leadership approached the 2016 election understanding that we represent 200,000 workers with varying political beliefs. We gave our guidance based on what we believed was best for the well-being of postal workers, always respecting that your vote was a personal choice.

Now that the election is over, we cannot allow ourselves to be divided by politics, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or hate. We must stand together and oppose any force that seeks to divide us for In our Unity, Lies our Strength.

We will diligently work with elected leaders to defend the public Postal Service and the well-being of postal workers. The right of the people throughout the country to have timely and exceptional postal services should never be framed as a Democratic or Republican issue. It is non-partisan, for the benefit of all people from every walk of life.

Always remember it takes movements of workers and people to motivate Congress and politicians to do the right thing, not the other way around. The great gains of the labor, civil rights and women’s rights movements all flowed from powerful, unstoppable crusades for positive change.

Elections come and go, but the struggle for social and economic justice always remains. Arm in arm with the people of the country, our sister unions and many allies, we will continue to strive to defend our national treasure, expand postal services, protect our jobs, build our union, improve our standard of living and build a more just society.

Onward in 2017!