IUPAT General President Jimmy Williams Jr. on Executive Order: Biggest Attack on the Labor Movement in US History
Press Releases
Hanover, MD — International Union of Painters and Allied Trades General President Jimmy Williams, Jr. released the following statement in response to the Executive order issued last night by President Trump that illegally cancels bargaining agreements for roughly 700,000 federal workers:
“This may be the biggest attack on the Labor Movement in American history. Approximately 700,000 federal workers have been stripped of their right to collectively bargain. The people who make sure your food is safe to eat, care for veterans, and protect us from public health emergencies no longer have collective power and a voice at work.
This is what we mean when we say the Trump administration is coming for unions, and they are not afraid to hide it.
When union busting begins at the White House, it gives power to other bosses to do the same, and we can’t let that happen. Part of what made President Reagan’s 1981 attack on striking Air Traffic Controllers so devastating to our movement was our response. We cannot make the same mistake.
If President Trump wants to continue his war on the working class with the support of his oligarch friends, then workers must fight back.”
General President Williams is not afraid to ask tough questions or to say what he truly believes, no matter who is in the White House. For interest in interviewing or booking President Williams on your program, please contact Ryan Kekeris at rkekeris@iupat.org or Alejandra Buonovino at abuonovino@iupat.org.
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The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) represents a growing community of over 140,000 active and retired craftspeople in the United States and Canada. The IUPAT membership extends far beyond the workplace. Recognized as one of the most active unions in the labor movement, IUPAT members help shape their communities in many ways: through an abiding commitment to service, by fighting passionately for workers’ rights that benefit all working families, and through effective worker education and mobilization.