An injury to one

In the labor movement, we often talk about the importance of solidarity: that an injury to one worker is an injury to all workers.

We have built incredible power and solidarity within our union and with other UC workers as we have fought to reset UC's priorities. 

We will stay true to those values as the federal government terrorizes our communities and assaults union leaders like SEIU California and United Service Workers West President David Huerta, who stand with them.

What message will we send if we do not stand up and speak out when they attack our immigrant union siblings, family members, and neighbors?

This is not about Democrats and Republicans: this is about workers sending a message to every politician that we have one another's backs—that we will not allow other workers to be silenced or targeted for speaking out. 

This is about recognizing that immigrants are not the reason that working people are struggling: it is the billionaires who support politicians from both parties.

We will be mobilizing to attend rallies and marches to demand an end to these raids and to drop the charges against David Huerta.

We also need to support union leaders like Ada Briceño, co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11 in Southern California, who recently stepped up to run for office in Orange County as a worker advocate, who has joined our strikes, and who UPTE has endorsed.

Our employers and the billionaires want to divide workers so they can keep as much wealth and power as possible.

The only way to stop these attacks for good is to build a much larger and stronger workers' movement: one that can take on the billionaires and win. That is what we are going to do.

In solidarity,

Dan Russell
UPTE President & Chief Negotiator
Business Technology Support Analyst, UC Berkeley