Labor activists: ‘We have a lot of work to do’ in Trump era

PAUL WILLIAMS III | THE CHARLOTTE POST

AFL-CIA Secretary Fred Redmond addresses a rally Monday in Charlotte as part of the labor organization's national tour for greater activism for workers' rights. The AFL-CIO bus tour will stop in 26 states through Labor Day.

Organized labor is working to lift Americans who toil for a living.

The AFL-CIO national bus tour stopped Monday in Charlotte on behalf of unions as promoters of community, fairness and security. The tour coincides with the 116th NAACP national convention in Charlotte, whose theme is “The Fierce Urgency of Now.”

AFL-CIO Secretary and treasurer Fred Redmond said working people built the United States from the ground up, which gives them reason to align and be proactive. That’s the tour’s message as it continues to 26 states before Labor Day. 

“It’s workers that wake this country up every morning and tuck this country to sleep at night,” he said. “We have a lot of work to do, and we’re going to tell the truth and go around this country, because if not laborers, then who?”

NAACP Labor Committee Chair Robin Williams said Project 2025 and other government attempts to eliminate the voice of laborers is what the working community should be standing for. Nearly half of the initiative to remake the federal government and U.S. society has already been put into place by the Trump administration, according to the Project 2025 tracker.

C.J. LEATHERS | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Scores of labor activists and supporters braved temperatures in the low 90s to rally for workers rights at the AFL-CIO bus tour July 14 in Charlotte.

“It is to dismantle our federal government, so we have no structure in this country. When you dismantle the federal government, that means you dismantle and take away our jobs,” Williams said. “Well, guess what? Those jobs have no color attached to them, so those that thought they would not be hurt under this administration, are all feeling the pinch of this administration.”

NAACP Charlotte-Mecklenburg Branch President Rev. Corine Mack also said there is an importance in unity and community, but also being able to stand for something, so they don’t fall for anything. 

“We can’t just talk about it, we got to be about it,” she said. “Folks who are not willing to put themselves on the line, sacrifice themselves, folks who don’t really know what a union is, because constantly, they’re undermining their leadership.” 

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