The power of union partnership was on full display Wednesday as the leaders of three of the largest unions pledged to continue fighting together to protect workers’ rights, public services and democracy itself.
“Because we are all unions of public service workers, we share the same values, not just fighting for better wages and working conditions, but also strengthening our communities, helping our neighbors and advancing the common good,” President Lee Saunders said during a panel discussion at AFSCME’s 47th International Convention.
In addition to Saunders, the other two union leaders on stage were American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President April Verrett. National Education Association President Becky Pringle is also part of the partnership but was unable to attend the event in Chicago.
Together, the four unions represent nearly 9 million workers across the country.
The union leaders talked about protecting and expanding collective bargaining rights, neutralizing the anti-worker agenda that seeks to diminish public services in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy, and preserving democracy.
Weingarten said unions can help make the connection between having a voice on the job and a voice in whether our democracy serves the working class or the billionaire class.
“When we do it in solidarity as unions together, at a local level talking to people, and when people see who cares about gas prices and who cares about ballrooms, then all of a sudden the choice becomes clear,” said Weingarten, who was elected AFT president in 2008.
Verrett noted that the same forces attacking unions in the workplace are the same forces rigging the economy against working people.
“There is no vibrant healthy democracy on this planet where there is not a vibrant healthy labor movement,” said Verrett, who in 2024 became the first Black person elected president of SEIU.
Saunders said the collaboration by the four unions has been extensive, such as partnering on lawsuits to block harmful administration policies. Staff from all four unions also collaborate closely and strategize to resolve issues common to all public service workers.
“By joining forces and aligning our efforts, we were able to have greater influence at a very pivotal moment. Let me tell you: When the four of us walk into a room together, it is a show of power, and it matters” Saunders said. “Elected officials take notice. Our adversaries know we mean business.”
Saunders, Weingarten and Verrett all predicted the unions’ partnership would endure in the future, long after Saunders retires this week.
