NWU led 2017 UAW Labor Day contingent at Trump Tower after the Nazi Charlottesville rally.
Our job just got harder. With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, writers, journalists and media workers across the board can expect increased attacks on the press and media. We can look for more book banning and for more journalists and their confidential sources to face arrests, raids on our homes and offices, tapped phones, and an attempt to terrorize us into self-censorship. This process is already well underway in terms of coverage of the Gaza war and retaliation against those who speak out against the administrations in Washington and Tel Aviv. This retaliation was documented in the NWU report, Red Lines.
Billionaire newspaper owners Jeff Bezos (WAPO) and Patrick Soon-Shiong (LA Times) set the tone when they cancelled their papers’ editorial endorsements of Kamala Harris. And they were not alone. According to Axios, “The vast majority of America’s largest newspapers by circulation aren’t endorsing a presidential candidate,” largely due to “growing polarization and fears of political retribution.”
You may remember that in February 2017, CNN, Politico, BuzzFeed, HuffPost and The New York Times were banned from the West Wing press briefing at the White House. The Trump administration introduced us to the world of “alternative facts,” and declared the press “the enemy of the people.” And prior to Trump, the Obama Administration prosecuted nine cases under the Espionage Act, more than all previous administrations combined, to silence whistle blowers like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. Trump and Bannon came charging through an open door.
On January 6, 2021, a racist mob, incited by Trump, attacked the US Capitol building and assaulted media workers covering the riot. Journalists outside the Capitol were threatened and surrounded, equipment destroyed and stolen. “Murder the Media” was scrawled on a door inside the Capitol and a noose was made from media cables and hung from a tree. Not only will some of those rioters be back on the street and marching in the inauguration parade, but Trump will have the support of Project 2025, and Supreme Court granted immunity. Already the federal cases against him are being dismantled, and Special Prosecutor Jack Smith is packing his bags.
My father worked in the NYC garment center for 45 years, a member of the communist-led Fur and Leather Workers Union when the garment center was home to 200,000 mostly immigrant workers from around the world. Prior to every Presidential election he would say, “No matter who wins, I have to go to work in the morning.”
And so do we, and here I am referring to the work of our union. Our 2024 Delegate Assembly is next week. That will be our first response, that we are not afraid of Donald Trump, that we will continue to fight for a free press, for the ability of freelancers to work safely and securely, and to build a fighting union based on anti-racism and international solidarity. Our union will be needed now more than ever. The election is over. Let’s get to work!
