There’s no sugarcoating it.

Election Day was a tough one for Organized Labor nationally.

The second Presidency of Donald Trump will challenge us all to defend the achievements of the last four years, and the rights and benefits that the Working Class has earned through years of struggle.

We have to redouble our efforts to reach out to the unorganized.

We have to reach within our own organizations to listen and learn how we can better serve our Members and our broader community.

Make no mistake - the Nation is moving from the most Pro-Labor Administration ever, to a transactional Presidency that views us as expendable.

Come January, the billionaire class will control not only the White House, but the Congress, the judiciary, powerful media, and even many of our religious institutions.

It is not a pretty picture, but Workers throughout history have fought through tough challenges.

Our only answer is this - organize!

While the national picture is bleak, we can take pride in knowing that the 11 Counties in our Central New York Area Labor Federation came through for our AFL-CIO endorsed candidates.

In addition to the endorsed incumbents who won, John Mannion flipped New York 22 in the House of Representative and Josh Riley won New York 19.

Chris Ryan will be going to Albany to fill the 50th District seat.

Your efforts made the difference in that Senate race, which was so close it wasn’t decided for over a week.

Central New York’s Labor Community did its job.

There is much more work to come.

Stay tuned.