Democracy in Troubled Times: Max Page and Others – Panel on Union Organizing and Political Activism Around the Elections

The panel will explore the multifaceted role of labor unions in the 2024 elections, their contribution to workplace democracy, and to a range of key economic policy debates. The panelists will discuss how unions engage in the political process through endorsements, campaign contributions, ballot initiatives (such as the upcoming question 2, MCAS ballot initiative), and voter mobilization efforts, while also discussing their historical influence on major legislative achievements. The panel will address unions' broader impact on political participation, including their ability to increase political engagement among members and represent working-class interests in policy debates. Challenges facing the labor movement, such as declining membership and legal obstacles, will be considered alongside emerging opportunities and organizing strategies. The discussion will also touch on how the Massachusetts Teachers Association engaged the political process in a way that won universal sick leave, the $15 minimum wage, universal paid family leave, and taxed the rich in order to secure funding for major new investments in public schools, colleges, and transportation, including the newly established policy of tuition-free community college in the Commonwealth.