NJEA’s officers, President Sean Spiller, Vice President Steve Beatty and Secretary-Treasurer Petal Robertson, released this statement today regarding the latest Trump administration executive order, which targets the collective bargaining rights of federal employees:
“If anyone needed more evidence that the Trump administration has declared war on working families, his latest executive order attempting to end collective bargaining rights for most unionized federal workers is proof.
“As a casino owner and real estate developer, Trump was famous for refusing to pay people after they did work for him. Now he is abusing his position as president, hoping to make millions more families across America live in fear that their next paycheck could be in jeopardy if they don’t support his harmful agenda. It’s hard to imagine something more un-American.
“It’s also further evidence that he’s a weak president who fears the power of the American people, and of union workers in particular. He knows that when working people stand up for their rights and dignity, he and his billionaire buddies don’t hold all the power. Unions are a powerful voice for working people. That’s why Trump fears and resents them.
“Nearly every action he has taken as president, whether threatening Social Security or trying to close the Department of Education or eliminating funding for programs that feed hungry children, has been targeted directly at American families.
“It’s time for Congress to decide where it stands. Will it keep submitting to Trump’s anti-union, anti-worker, anti-family agenda or will it finally stand with the American people and oppose this latest attack on our fundamental rights?
“As proud union leaders and advocates of social justice for all people, we know exactly where we stand. We are in solidarity with the federal workers and their families whom Trump is attacking today, just like we have stood in solidarity with every group that has been targeted by his other cruel and harmful policies.
“We will always take the side of working people who unite to fight exploitation, abuses of power and the insatiable greed of people like Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the other corporate elites who fear our power.”