Workers union on the election

United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America -The "blue tsunami" of Democratic wins in Tuesday's midterm elections was a stunning rebuke of division, war, and corruption, and of the corporate crime wave that Republican rule has enabled. However, the credit for these wins belongs not to the Democratic Party - whose leadership has offered at best tepid resistance to the Republican agenda over the past two years - but to the working people across the country who have spent the last two years organizing and fighting back in their communities and workplaces.

From bringing food to neighbors too terrified of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to leave their homes, to confronting ICE in the streets, to turning out in the largest demonstrations in our country's history, everyday working people created the momentum that led to this point. Trump's approval ratings began to fall after the working people of Minnesota demonstrated in January that it was possible not only to stand up to, but to defeat his authoritarian agenda. Tuesday was not just an electoral victory, but an organizing win.

Crucially, the margins of victory in this election were so large that Trump's pre-election threats not to recognize the results, based on unfounded allegations of voter fraud, were rendered irrelevant. They were "too big to rig," as a source within the Trump administration admitted to CNN....

While President Trump has promised to veto any legislation passed by the new Democratic Congress, Democrats must not use that as an excuse not to craft and pass legislation to constrain corporate power and put more money in working people's pockets. Let Trump clearly demonstrate which side he is on by vetoing legislation that would improve workers' lives.

At a minimum, the new Democratic Congress should:

Raise wages with an immediate boost to the federal minimum wage, which still stands at a paltry $7.25 per hour, unchanged since 2009. A number of the candidates elected on Tuesday campaigned on fighting for a $25 minimum wage.

Lower costs by both investigating corporate price-gouging, especially by oil and food companies, and addressing the biggest costs for working families: healthcare, housing, education, and childcare. Over the past four decades, costs for these four items have risen from one and a half to six times faster than inflation, driven largely by bad policy choices. Good federal policies can ensure that every American has healthcare, stable housing, quality public education, access to higher education, and the ability to raise a family comfortably.

Pass Medicare for All. With double-digit increases in healthcare costs on the horizon, now is the time to finally join the rest of the industrialized world by implementing a universal healthcare system which takes healthcare off the bargaining table and guarantees it to every American.

End attacks on higher education and ensure that our nation's universities have the funding they need to do research that benefits society, without political strings attached.

Expand and fully fund Social Security so that all Americans are guaranteed a decent retirement.

Tax the rich and corporations. In 2017 and again in 2025, President Trump and the Republicans gave massive tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Those tax cuts should be immediately reversed, and the resources devoted to programs which benefit working people.

Dismantle the rogue ICE and Department of Homeland Security agencies and rebuild our immigration system. The Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement has been especially cruel, indiscriminately killing people, grabbing children off the streets, and detaining people in inhumane conditions. However, it is built on a fundamentally broken system, which through both Democratic and Republican administrations has separated families, punished hard-working people who have contributed to our society for generations, and been a drag on our economy. It is long past time to pass immigration reform legislation that includes a legalization program, prioritizes family reunification, and protects worker rights for both current and future immigrants.

Slash funding for war and end U.S. financial support for the Israeli military, and redirect those resources to meeting working people's needs.