Amie Stager at Workday Magazine Minnesota reports that in early February, a room of almost 60 Union Members and Organizers representing 17 different Unions gathered during a classic Minnesota snow emergency for a half-day long “Democracy Defense” training. Led by St. Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) Local 28, attendees worked in groups to identify authoritarian strategies and narratives, and how to disrupt them. The training did not focus on any one specific policy or action, but instead was a space for broad, discursive discussions on the many ways those in power can divide us. Workers used examples from their lived experiences and Labor and Social Movement History. They were also trained on how to have conversations with Co-Workers and community members about issues affecting Working Class Communities. “I came here because I care about my students and they are afraid,” said Alli Kildahl, a Sixth Grade Social Studies Teacher and SPFE Member of SPFE. It is a frightening time for many communities being targeted by the Far-Right Authoritarian Movements that have been on the rise across the globe. Organized Labor has the knowledge and experience when it comes to handling bad bosses, and many Workers are responding with alarm as the bosses currently at the helm of the U.S. government dismantle and defang the agencies tasked with enforcing Workers’ Rights and Protections. As of this moment, it’s uncertain whether or not the Trump administration will abide by or challenge the authority of court orders pushing back against the slew of Executive Orders. This uncertainty and the anxiety that it produces can be acknowledged, Labor Leaders say. At the gathering, Workers talked about how this means taking and making opportunities to be curious about the beliefs of fellow Union Members, Co-Workers, and neighbors, and preventing burnout by practicing self- and community care. “We are in this for the long fight,” Bolton said.

To Read This Labor News Report In Its Entirety, Go To: “We Are In This For the Long Fight”: How Workers and Unions are Reclaiming the Labor Movement - Workday Magazine

Photo Courtesy Of The American Federation Of Government Employees’ Facebook Page.