Erik Loomis

I mean, people came out and they occupy those airports and it forced Trump on his heels and it gave, uh, it gave courage to judges to push back on Trump. And like, I feel like there's an attitude up here and maybe we learn our history wrong. Maybe this is a problem in that, like, people seem to think, well, we tried this one time and it didn't work, so I don't know.

I mean, people came out and they occupy those airports and it forced Trump on his heels and it gave, uh, it gave courage to judges to push back on Trump. And like, I feel like there's an attitude up here and maybe we learn our history wrong. Maybe this is a problem in that, like, people seem to think, well, we tried this one time and it didn't work, so I don't know.

And it's like the civil rights movement, it was not just a march on Washington and then everybody just sort of said, oh, okay, like, Martin Luther King is correct. Like, it didn't happen that way. It was decades of hard work of people dying, right? The Women's March, the anti-Muslim ban action, these were hugely effective actions. And it disturbs me that people have kind of like lost that.

And it's like the civil rights movement, it was not just a march on Washington and then everybody just sort of said, oh, okay, like, Martin Luther King is correct. Like, it didn't happen that way. It was decades of hard work of people dying, right? The Women's March, the anti-Muslim ban action, these were hugely effective actions. And it disturbs me that people have kind of like lost that.

But there is a glimmer of hope out there, which is that never in American history, including at the peak of union power in the 40s and in the 50s, have unions polled as strongly as they do today. Americans kind of love unions today, at least in theory. It doesn't mean they're part of one, because we know 10% of American workers are members of unions, 6% of private sector workers, as you said.

But there is a glimmer of hope out there, which is that never in American history, including at the peak of union power in the 40s and in the 50s, have unions polled as strongly as they do today. Americans kind of love unions today, at least in theory. It doesn't mean they're part of one, because we know 10% of American workers are members of unions, 6% of private sector workers, as you said.

So very few people are actually part of unions, but they poll tremendously well. Unions are actually quite popular. The problem is the total capture of the union process, the union election and contract process by corporate America. Joe Biden typically attempted to do something about this. And that was the PRO Act, which had a lot of support in the Senate, but not all Democrats supported it.

So very few people are actually part of unions, but they poll tremendously well. Unions are actually quite popular. The problem is the total capture of the union process, the union election and contract process by corporate America. Joe Biden typically attempted to do something about this. And that was the PRO Act, which had a lot of support in the Senate, but not all Democrats supported it.

And you're not going to get it through without getting rid of the filibuster anyway. But that would have taken away a lot of the power that corporations have to bust unions and to stop elections from happening and to be forced them to sign contracts and these sorts of things. So We're at a moment in which there's a lot of people who are looking for something, right?

And you're not going to get it through without getting rid of the filibuster anyway. But that would have taken away a lot of the power that corporations have to bust unions and to stop elections from happening and to be forced them to sign contracts and these sorts of things. So We're at a moment in which there's a lot of people who are looking for something, right?

And they're looking for a movement that can mobilize them and get them to do something. Because I think people do feel unmoored and lost sometimes. And so people see unions as maybe the kind of thing that could happen. And like the Starbucks union campaign is an example of how this can kind of mushroom up. Or the teacher strike wave in 2018 was another case which went from deep blue L.A.

And they're looking for a movement that can mobilize them and get them to do something. Because I think people do feel unmoored and lost sometimes. And so people see unions as maybe the kind of thing that could happen. And like the Starbucks union campaign is an example of how this can kind of mushroom up. Or the teacher strike wave in 2018 was another case which went from deep blue L.A.

to deep red West Virginia and Oklahoma that transcended politics and mobilized teachers around the country. But it's hard to take that kind of like vague, I really hope somebody will organize me and get your actual union, right? And that's because...

to deep red West Virginia and Oklahoma that transcended politics and mobilized teachers around the country. But it's hard to take that kind of like vague, I really hope somebody will organize me and get your actual union, right? And that's because...

Companies can do so much to stop a union election from happening, engage in intensive anti-union meetings and put tons of propaganda on workers that makes them scared. And then even if the workers win that election, the company can delay and delay and delay into signing a first contract, which is why you still don't have any contracts at Starbucks.

Companies can do so much to stop a union election from happening, engage in intensive anti-union meetings and put tons of propaganda on workers that makes them scared. And then even if the workers win that election, the company can delay and delay and delay into signing a first contract, which is why you still don't have any contracts at Starbucks.

And this leads to one final point, which is that Democrats actually have to be pro-union. And I would be remiss here in not talking about how disgusted I am by Colorado Governor Jared Polis right now, who the Colorado legislature passed a law that would repeal their right to work statute, which came out of the horrible Taft-Hartlack in 1947 that is called right to work.

And this leads to one final point, which is that Democrats actually have to be pro-union. And I would be remiss here in not talking about how disgusted I am by Colorado Governor Jared Polis right now, who the Colorado legislature passed a law that would repeal their right to work statute, which came out of the horrible Taft-Hartlack in 1947 that is called right to work.

But what it really does is allow workers to leech off the unions without becoming members. and is used as an anti-union tool in Republican states. Colorado has moved significantly to the left in its politics. They have a Democratic legislature that passes a bill to repeal this, which should be the peak demand of any Democrats in purplish states.

But what it really does is allow workers to leech off the unions without becoming members. and is used as an anti-union tool in Republican states. Colorado has moved significantly to the left in its politics. They have a Democratic legislature that passes a bill to repeal this, which should be the peak demand of any Democrats in purplish states.