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CTU president Stacey Davis Gates urges solidarity and links labor history to present fights
Summary
Stacey Davis Gates framed labor power as central to democracy and racial justice, argued that multiracial coalitions and general strikes historically produced public institutions, and urged delegates to use organizing and legal strategies together to defend schools, public services and workers' rights.
Stacey Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and an AFT vice president, told the Washington State Labor Council convention that workers' power and multiracial coalitions created many public institutions and protections that people often take for granted. Drawing lessons from abolitionist organizing, the Freedmen's Bureau and past labor actions, Davis Gates argued that coordinated labor action can produce lasting public goods such as public education, public health and civil-rights protections.
"Your power is embedded in finding solidarity," she said, invoking historical examples including the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the Flint sit-down strike and the Chicago teachers' movement. Davis Gates urged unions to combine legal pressure and mass organizing: "It is a time of 'and' — legal action and worker-led public pressure." She warned of current threats, including aggressive immigration enforcement and budget cuts to Medicaid and school funding, and recommended sustained campaigns that include both workplace organizing and community coalitions.
Her address tied historical narratives to present tactics, encouraging delegates to build broad coalitions, prioritize protection of public services and escalate workplace actions to win durable gains.
