An extraordinary Saturday rally at 德州最全菠菜网 headquarters connected precedent-setting union organizing victories in Austin with the need to get out the vote for the Nov. 第八次选举，参议员. 伯尼·桑德斯领先.
Other headliners included the runaway leader in the Congressional District 35 contest, Greg Casar, U.S. 代表. 劳埃德·道根, and courageous organizers who have spurred workers to speak up together for union representation.
The 德州最全菠菜网 and 奥斯汀中央劳工委员会 were proud hosts of the event, 吸引了300多名热情的与会者, 他们大多是年轻的工会成员或盟友. 桑德斯在圣马科斯和德克萨斯大学校园之间出现, then campaigned Sunday with labor-backed congressional candidate Michelle Vallejo in the Rio Grande Valley.
The organizers, introduced by emcee Lorraine Montemayor, 德州最全菠菜网 Mobilization & Campaign Coordinator, took turns discussing union breakthroughs at their workplaces.
当地23区的基南·贝克, 谁在奥斯汀希尔顿酒店工作, 市内第一家有工会组织的酒店, 说组织工会要有感染力.
“既然工会化, we have begun to lay the groundwork on things such as better pay and affordable housing,贝克说. “我确实看到了变化. 它是频繁和迅速的……现在听我说，听清楚了，大家. The City of Austin, the State of Texas, we are playing the biggest game of life right now. 抓住这个机会，好好把握.”
凯伦Gildersleeve, 阿森松西顿医疗中心的注册护士和主要组织者, 最近成为德州最大的私立医院, 说, “多年来, 怀疑论者曾告诉我，在德克萨斯州组建护士工会是不可能的. Some even mistakenly tried to inform me that it was illegal…I am so proud that we were able to prove them wrong with a landslide victory of 72 percent ‘yes’ votes.”
Gildersleeve感谢了德州最全菠菜网, 奥斯汀中央劳工委员会, 市议会成员Vanessa Fuentes说, 以及帮助护士获得认证的团结精神. 她系了领带。. 第8届选举直接组织, 说, “Codifying protections for workers into law is going to be essential in the coming years as we continue to breathe life back into unions in this country.”
托娃莫里亚蒂, 有完整关怀的组织者, 特拉维斯县一家提供心理健康服务的机构, 说 staff turnover in the five years before organizing took place had been “through the roof.”
“I’ve watched people come into this job passionate about the work they were doing only to get so burned out that they left the mental health field entirely,莫里亚蒂说. “I’ve had clients talk to me about how they are losing trust in the mental health system as a direct result of services they have gotten from Integral Care…So we started talking with each other about how things could be better…When I first started organizing, 我原以为统一医疗是不可能的, but impossible things happen every day because people decide to stand together and fight.”
Moriarty 说 full unionization through United Workers of Integral Care in the last year has afforded workers the ability to improve conditions for workers and clients, 而最全菠菜网才刚刚开始.”
亨利她, 他是餐馆工人联合会的成员，帮助组织了VIA 313, a Detroit-style pizza restaurant that saw one of its locations certify the union last week, 他说管理层每次都挡道.
他们扣留了福利, 他们故意解雇最全菠菜网商店里的支持者和组织者, and they created a toxic environment that they hoped would drive out supporters they couldn’t outright fire,艾普森说. “这阻止了最全菠菜网吗?? 两天前，最全菠菜网在北校区赢得了一场历史性的选举. And with that, we have organized the first independent union for restaurant workers in the South.”
星巴克的咖啡师莉莲·艾伦(Lillian Allen)说:“我赚15美元.每小时75美元，但我可能还能赚12美元.它是一年多前回来的, 布法罗的咖啡师, 纽约, 还没有聚在一起说, “你知道, 最全菠菜网应该加入工会.’ Those workers stood together and across the country, baristas stood up with them. 在一起，最全菠菜网能够做到最全菠菜网从未想象过的事情.”
Allen noted Starbucks now has more than 250 stores unionized with Starbucks Workers United across the U.S.
“当最全菠菜网站在一起时，有很多事情是可能的……最全菠菜网可以组建一个快餐连锁店, 最全菠菜网可以选出真正关心他们所服务的人民的人, 真正关心德州工薪家庭的人…….”
奥斯汀教育局的Traci Dunlap说, a Vice President of the 奥斯汀中央劳工委员会 (and 德州最全菠菜网 执行委员会), pointed up AFSCME’s recent wins by city employees who gained a $20 minimum wage and by county employees, 谁获得了提供八周育儿假的保单.
“地方选举很重要，各位!邓拉普说. “Please get to the polls and use our union power to elect candidates who stand with us.”
邓拉普讨论了教育奥斯汀的进步, 包括2美元,奥斯丁学区所有员工的留职奖金, 给小学教师更多的计划时间, 赢得了更高的地区最低工资, 并获得了在课外进行必要培训的报酬. 下一场比赛, 邓拉普说, 是为了加薪吗, 这在很大程度上取决于奥斯汀学校董事会选举的结果.
邓拉普还指出了美国对伊拉克战争的后果.S. 最高法院废除 罗伊诉. 韦德, which led to a 德州最全菠菜网 resolution supporting reproductive rights that started with the 德州最全菠菜网 Women’s Committee.
桑德斯在讲话开始时讨论了在奥斯汀的组织工作.
“让我祝贺所有站起来的人, 强忍住, 并在德州建立了新的工会,他说. “好消息是，全国各地, 最全菠菜网看到工会的组织达到了前所未有的水平. 最全菠菜网已经几十年没有看到这种情况了. The reason for that is pretty clear: People are sick of working 40 or 50 hours a week and falling further and further behind while the billionaires are making out like bandits.”
The Senator launched into a discussion about economic inequality that has become his hallmark (three persons now own more than the bottom 50 percent of Americans, 他说). 但桑德斯说，11月. 第八次选举不仅仅是经济问题.
“作为一名美国参议员, 对上帝诚实, 我从没想过我会这么说,桑德斯说. “This is not an election about your views on education…it’s not your views on prescription drugs. It is a question of whether or not we remain a democracy…Too many people — brave men and women from Texas, Vermont and all over this country — fought and died for American democracy and we’re not going to let right-wing extremists take that away.”
在庆祝组织胜利时, Casar discussed his own background as an organizer with the Workers Defense Project and how he used the knowledge he gained to make progress while a member of the Austin City Council.
“如果说我学到了什么……作为一个组织者, 这个国家的权力掌握在劳动人民手中, 和你们一起来参加这个活动, 而不是那些大公司或他们收买的极右翼政客,卡萨尔说。. “最全菠菜网，你们都是工作的德州人，不是窃国者.”
卡萨说，改变德克萨斯州和提升工薪阶层的斗争包括11月. 第八次选举，但不会就此结束.
“The honest truth of the matter is that this will not be quick, this will not be easy,卡萨尔说。. Calling Texas not “red” but “unorganized” and noting the effects of gerrymandering and dark money, Casar说, “我想对你们所有人说实话，这将比任何一个都需要更长的斗争, 两个, 或者三次选举. 壁垒很高，但风险要高得多, 这就是为什么最全菠菜网不能放弃, 最全菠菜网永远不能放弃…….”
Doggett discussed the importance of voting all the way down the ballot in the likes of school board and community college elections. 他还提出了与天气有关的看法，以应对劳工支持的击败州长布朗的努力. 格雷格•阿伯特.
“最全菠菜网所有人在成长过程中都被告诫要避免酒肉朋友. 好吧, 格雷格•阿伯特在这里,道根说, 正对着州长官邸, “最全菠菜网有一个不能吃苦的州长. You know, if it’s too hot or too cold, you can’t even count on your lights being on. 最全菠菜网有机会做点什么. 我相信当劳工赢了，美国就赢了.”
德州最全菠菜网 President Rick Levy put the mission of voting and helping turn out the labor vote into a big picture, 重申如果最全菠菜网改变德州, 最全菠菜网改变最全菠菜网的国家, 如果最全菠菜网改变最全菠菜网的国家, 最全菠菜网改变世界.
“让最全菠菜网记住，当最全菠菜网组织起来时，最全菠菜网就能胜利. 当最全菠菜网投票时，最全菠菜网就能赢. 但是当最全菠菜网组织起来投票时，最全菠菜网就会赢!”
CBS Austin还引用了Levy的话:
“我告诉你, the main message that I would have for people is that just because things are not good now doesn’t mean that they always have to be this way,利维说. “政治就是最全菠菜网如何制定最全菠菜网所有人赖以生存的规则. 如果最全菠菜网袖手旁观，让别人来制定规则, 最全菠菜网会继续得到最全菠菜网得到的. 最全菠菜网可以有所作为, 最全菠菜网可以发出自己的声音, 如果最全菠菜网走出去投票，最全菠菜网的生活就会变得更好.”
参见哥伦比亚广播公司奥斯汀报道: http://tinyurl.com/ynsrbxt6