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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Steven Greenhouse

‘January 6 was a real wake-up call’: US unions fight to save democracy

Hundreds of members of Unite Here rally for voting rights in Washington DC in June 2021.
Hundreds of members of Unite Here rally for voting rights in Washington DC in June 2021. Photograph: Allison Bailey/Rex/Shutterstock

Many union leaders used to pooh-pooh talk about saving democracy, according t0 Shane Larson, the Communications Workers of America’s director of government affairs. All that changed after the January 6 assault on the Capitol and after many Republicans pushed to overturn Biden’s victory in several states.

“Just a few years ago, some union leaders would complain, ‘Why are we focusing on these do-good democratic issues?’ They’d say we need to focus exclusively on labor rights and jobs, jobs, jobs,” Larson said. “Now no one is complaining about this at all. There’s a real recognition that the entire labor movement has to be involved in this effort, that we have to do something for our democracy or we can lose it.

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