Defending the sacred freedom to organize

[Omaha Steve]

https://www.afscme.org/blog/defending-the-sacred-freedom-to-organize

By Lee Saunders · Friday, July 04, 2025

On the Fourth of July, we celebrate freedom and the revolutionary idea that we all deserve a voice in our future. In the labor movement, we believe freedom means having agency and power over our own lives – in the workplace and beyond. Freedom means being able to see a doctor and make health decisions without worrying about medical bills or government interference. Freedom means being able to safely earn a living, retire securely, and live with dignity if we develop a disability. Freedom means having the power to use our voices and our votes to shape our workplaces, our communities and our country for the better.

But this year, as we gather at barbecues and kick back with family, we face a hard truth: our jobs, livelihoods, and freedoms are in danger. The budget just passed by Congress is an all-out assault on the public services our communities count on – and the workers like us who provide them.

Let’s be clear about what’s inside this so-called “big beautiful bill." While billionaires and big corporations enjoy debt-exploding tax cuts, working families get hit with a one-two punch in the form of higher health care costs and grocery bills. That’s because it includes the largest cuts to Medicaid, affordable health care, and food assistance in American history – ripping coverage away from over 17 million people and leaving as many as 3.5 million Americans at risk of going hungry.

But the consequences don’t end there. These devastating cuts will create painful shortfalls for our states, cities and towns. For AFSCME members, this means layoffs, understaffing, stagnant wages, weaker contracts, less workplace safety, and the threat of more privatization. For our communities, it means fewer nurses in our hospitals, fewer staff in our schools, fewer first responders answering calls, and fewer public service workers on the job.

FULL story at link above.