Stacy Davis Gates: Labor and Community Organizing Must Fill the Void Left by Democrats’ Lack of Leadership, House Must Stand Firm.
- IFT
- 1 minute ago
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Educators to Join Veterans in National Day of Action to Say “No War on Our Cities,” Turn Back the Billionaire Agenda
CHICAGO - Illinois Federation of Teachers and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates issued the following statement regarding the Senate’s vote to capitulate to Republicans without protecting health care.
"What happened last night is not a deal, it is a betrayal of working families. Democrats’ inability to do anything but fold should be a call for all of us to take to the streets like everything we have to protect is on the line, because it is. Senate Democrats are reaffirming what history teaches us – elected leaders respond to organizing but do not lead it.
"We can’t rely on people who drop poll-tested curse words on social media but refuse to use the power they have. People are going to have to be in the streets because this fight won’t be won by people who come back from the negotiating table with black eyes, broken ribs, and compromises on our lives.
"In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson is setting a different example: tax the ultra-rich corporations to decrease violence and give young people schools, parks, and libraries so that they can thrive in our city. Why others in the Party aren’t following suit isn’t just a mystery, it's a failure of leadership. If Blue Cross can raise their rates 114% on Illinois families, Illinois can certainly consider raising taxes on the millionaires and corporations profiting from it by 3% at the very least.
"Especially after last Tuesday’s clear message that people want leaders who fight, not capitulate to fascism, it’s up to popular movements – built by labor and community united – to lead the opposition to MAGA now. That’s why tomorrow, we will stand with veterans across the country to say ‘no war on our cities.’
"Donald Trump and his billionaire friends are sending agents into our cities to kidnap our neighbors, bombing boats in the Caribbean, and robbing public agencies to line their pockets in front of our eyes. These are not people capable of negotiating with integrity, they are corrupt fascists to be shut down, stopped, and shamed. They are a force to counter by passing policy that actually helps our communities as the hallmark of our resistance.
“Anyone who is already struggling to pay for the day-to-day and is about to see our health insurance skyrocket has a stake in fighting back. Government will only respond if we make it. We have to strengthen our coalitions, deepen our organizing, and demand it deliver what working families deserve, a government that works for them, not against them.”
The Illinois Federation of Teachers recently held a rally in Springfield urging Governor Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly to tax the rich and make good on promised but undelivered funds for schools, transit, and health care. In the City of Chicago, the Chicago Teachers Union is pushing aldermen to keep their commitment to a TIF Surplus that would prevent massive mid-year cuts in Chicago Public Schools and to vote yes on the Protecting Chicago budget that would stabilize community safety and invest in young people by reinstating the corporate head tax that Rahm Emanuel removed when he was mayor.
As shutdown negotiations move to the House of Representatives, the IFT and CTU call on their representatives to reject any proposal that stops at enshrining Affordable Care Act benefits without further advancing protections for working people such as SNAP, releasing withheld funds for public schools, and blocking Trump' s troops from terrorizing cities and towns throughout Illinois.
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