Democrats in Washington work hard every day on behalf of their corporate donors to evade public scrutiny and pull proverbial wool over the eyes of the public. While that pattern continues, we’re excited to share a case study of how anyone can make a difference and help force accountability.
Can you join us today to help hold Pelosi accountable in more settings?
This week, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) endorsed the leading corporate Democrat in the House, Nancy Pelosi. The Union did so without any debate, a public vote, or any chance for its members to inform a decision driven by union leaders ultimately deferring to corporate influence.
It’s frankly foolish for SEIU to endorse Pelosi, for any number of reasons that a long overdue debate would make clear: SEIU members are among the most meagerly compensated members of any major union, and Pelosi is a mega-millionaire policymaker with a continuing history of insider trading, denying support to working families, and engineering tax breaks for the wealthy.
That’s why I was so grateful to be invited by rank & file union members who support our campaign to the virtual meeting announcing the union’s endorsement. It offered an important chance to inform members about the facts that apparently neither the party, nor union leaders, want them to hear.
Can you help expand our capacity to leverage more creative opportunities to reach voters?
While the format of the event did not permit me to speak, we posted an analysis in the zoom chat that members never got to hear. The union leadership disabled the chat in response.
Here’s what I posted before Pelosi’s enablers cut me off:
“Pelosi has been working for decades to put Wall Street before working families. Her positions on healthcare, rent & mortgage relief, and congressional insider trading all prove the point.
She has never debated an opponent in 34 years. How many of you get to go so long without ever sitting for a job evaluation?
SEIU members deserve a chance to hear the alternatives before them, including a voice more committed to Green jobs, as well as human rights to basic human needs including healthcare, housing, and food.
Don’t let the House continue to put the military industrial complex before our communities. You deserve better.
Demand it.”
The looks on their faces were priceless. But they’re no substitute for a debate.
Why are corporate Democrats—and their enablers in labor unions that should be dedicated to their members’ interests—so afraid of debate?
Had SEIU invited me to debate Pelosi, I would have emphasized a particular point of special interest to labor: that she & the Democratic establishment opposed the Protecting Right to Organize Act until spring 2020, when mounting support for our campaign forced her to abandon her previous opposition. I’m grateful that she caved, and hope that labor might recognize the distinction between solidarity and opportunism.
Many SEIU rank & file members have publicly shared their frustration with their union leadership denying them democracy. What other organizations have you seen defer to the Democratic Party machine in which that pattern of deference can be contested?
We’re eager to address any forums to help expose the corruption of the bipartisan corporate establishment. Please don’t every hesitate to reply with your suggestions!
Thanks for being part of the solution, and for helping us hold Washington accountable!
Shahid