A Message from Business Manager Chris Erikson
Growing up in Flushing, New York, in the 1960’s and 70’s was amazing. There were hot summer nights with no A/C in Electchester back then. Windows were wide open, neighbors out late sitting on the benches, and kids running free. Doors weren’t locked. We were safe, and we had fun. In my community, Local 3 was the constant, it was everything – our jobs, the fights to protect what those before us had earned, and the politics. The cars were loud, and the music was folk, rock and roll, and Motown.
Our bubble was rocked as we lived through the assassinations of the Kennedy's and MLK Jr. We came to grips with difficult race relations and civil rights marches. We watched the Vietnam War and the killings nightly on the Five O’Clock News. We participated in bomb shelter drills as America faced its biggest threats – Russia, Communism, and nukes in Cuba. It scared the hell out of us.
In Queens, New York, they say you are what you eat. We had Italian pizzerias, Jewish delis, Irish bars, Greek diners, and Chinese take-out. That was and is my America. We were children of the greatest generation America had ever seen. They survived the Great Depression and World War II while building the labor movement and the middle class. They supported America’s efforts to help feed the hungry and the sick all over the world. They supported NATO, the UN, and democracies everywhere.
Today, we are facing the greatest challenge I believe we have ever faced. These last few weeks have produced winners in Trump’s America: Russia and Putin, dictators, Trump’s MAGA mouthpieces, Elon Musk, billionaires, oil and gas corporations, “Right to Work” advocates, and cryptocurrency. The losers: America, Ukraine, NATO, federal workers and their agencies, climate change and the health of our planet, renewable energy and the IBEW jobs that came with it, as well as the poor Medicaid recipients in the U.S. and all those across the world who depended on American aid. If you’re paying attention, nothing for those Americans who bought into fixing the economy and lowering inflation, and this is just the beginning.
We will not be silent.
