Chicago Labor Unions Say General Strike Is An Option If Fair Election Is Threatened

Chicago-area labor leaders are preparing to take nonviolent action, from a rally planned for Wednesday up to a general strike, in the event Tuesday’s presidential election does not go smoothly.

Some of the city’s powerful labor groups stood outside the Thompson Center Monday morning and declared the measures they’re willing to take to ensure every vote is counted and any transfer of power is peaceful.

Their endorsements have gone to former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, and they say they are worried because President Donald Trump has not committed to a peaceful transition should he lose. The latest polls show Biden leading Trump in key swing states.

“Donald Trump wants to steal this election. We won’t let him, and we are prepared to engage in mass non-violent protest -- up to and including a general strike of all working people, if necessary -- to protect and defend our democratic rights,” eight Chicago-area unions said in a joint statement released later Monday.

Also Monday, some downtown businesses were boarding up their windows in anticipation of possible unrest tied to the election.

The unions “are very concerned about some of what is being said about how this election is going to play out over the next few days," said Carl Rosen, president of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, which represents 35,000 members nationwide. "... And when we have a candidate who is saying that he’s going to try to shut down the vote count as soon as the polls close, that’s not how democracy works, that’s not how our election system works, and the only reason he is saying it is because he knows he is losing this vote, that he’s lost the support of the American people.”

The world is already “upside down and inside out,” from fires on the West Coast to hurricanes in the southern United States and a pandemic that has killed more than 230,000 Americans, said Stacy Davis Gates, vice president of the 25,000-member Chicago Teachers Union.

“Now we are in the middle of an electoral process that we have done many times before, that we fully intend to shift the trajectory of everything that is upside down and inside out at this moment,” Davis Gates said. “And in order to do that, every single vote has to be counted. That’s not an if, there is not a but, there is an expectation, there is past precedent, there is law that under-girds the sanctity of our vote in this country. Our democracy depends on it. Our freedom depends on it. Our lives literally depend on it.”

The labor movement has a proud history of standing up for democracy and fair elections, said Dian Palmer, president of SEIU Local 73, representing 29,000 public employees in Illinois and Northwest Indiana.

“We intend to stand up and speak out peacefully and legally to protect every single vote,” Palmer said.

Others brought up the contested election 20 years ago between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which was ultimately decided in Bush’s favor by the U.S. Supreme Court.

History doesn’t need to repeat itself, said Roberto Clack, associate director with Warehouse Workers for Justice.

“We need the labor movement to be in there, to fight for workers, to make sure that we have justice, to make sure that every vote counts,” Clack said. “We will be there, we will stand in solidarity, we will fight back against any attempt to steal this election. Twenty years ago when the election as stolen it brought us the Iraq War, it brought us lower labor standards... We need our members to continue to show up to the polls, we need the labor movement to be out in the street if they do try to steal this.”

The labor groups have scheduled a protest for 5 p.m. Wednesday at Daley Plaza “to defend the vote.”

Rosen said that’s the plan “unless there has been a concession at that point , which we aren’t guessing there will be, given the propaganda that’s coming out of out of one of the campaigns."

He said the unions "are prepared to continue action, whatever it takes to make sure that democracy is sustained in this country. We know what it’s taken in other countries that have faced tin-pot dictators trying to stay in office after the people of their country have voted them out, and people have to stay in the streets. There may have to be general shutdowns of workplaces, which would be called a general strike. There may have to be ongoing peaceful mass protests.”

In addition to safeguarding the outcome of the election, the labor leaders also made a last-minute voting plea.

Shantonia Jackson, a certified nursing assistant and member of the SEIU Healthcare Illinois union, said this vote feels especially important after losing co-workers at a City View multi-care center in Cicero, one of the many Illinois nursing homes affected by a COVID-19 outbreak. Throughout the Midwest, SEIU Healthcare represents more than 91,000 workers.

“My vote counts and I’m voting for them, to make sure that all our votes count, and all our union brothers and sisters are together and we stand as one,” Jackson said. “... I need all the essential workers to get out and vote, I need everyone to get out and vote, because the world is changing. And it’s been very hard for me, as an essential worker, I’ve worked 16 hours a day. I’ve worked to help care for the loved ones... people who can’t get their loved ones at home, I’m there for them and I want the American people to know this is a very important election.”

In the “Joint Statement of Chicago-area Labor on Protecting Our Democracy," calling for every vote to be counted and the election results to be respected.

“We stand firmly in opposition to any effort to subvert, distort, misrepresent or disregard the final outcome,” the statement begins, asking other workers, public figures, and community and religious leaders to join their cause.

“We believe that the labor movement has an essential role in demanding and defending democracy," the statement continues. "We believe in the power of the people -- the multiracial, working-class majority -- and we are ready to defend our right to a free and fair election and a peaceful transition of power. Donald Trump wants to steal this election. We won’t let him.”

Signers to the statement included Rosen, Clack, Palmer, Davis Gates, CTU President Jesse Sharkey, SEIU Healthcare regional president Greg Kelley, AFGE Local 704 president Nicole Cantello and Cook County College Teachers Union president Tony Johnston.

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