When One Worker is Attacked, We Are All Attacked

Editor’s Note: The following is a speech given by LUEL Heartland Chapter Chair M. Drezner at a rally for AFGE workers in Sioux Falls, SD on April 25, 2025.

Good afternoon brothers and sisters. My name is M. Drezner and I represent the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 426 right here in Sioux Falls. I’m proud to be here with all of you today to take a stand against what the Trump administration is doing to our unions representing federal workers. Right now, workers at AFGE and other unions representing government employees are in a fight to preserve collective bargaining, a cornerstone of the labor movement. The working class movement has always been at its strongest when workers band together to fight for respect and dignity in the workplace. Now viewing this strength as a threat, the Trump administration is working to dismantle these unions which represent hundreds of thousands of workers across the country.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of Trump’s attacks on the working class. Alfredo Juarez, a leader of Familias Unidas por la Justicia in Washington was detained by ICE. Mahmoud Khalil of UAW Local 2710 was abducted for exercising his first amendment rights. Kilmar Garcia, a SMART Local 100 apprentice was arrested and sent to a Salvadorian prison. Our union brothers and sisters around the country are under attack at this very moment.

Attacking the working class will not fix the problems we are facing in this country. All workers deserve a life of dignity and safety, collective bargaining, good wages, and the ability to retire. By attacking unions and the ability for workers to collectively struggle for better conditions, we are making the situation worse, not better. It is easy to attack workers as being “entitled” for wanting more when we have become complacent with asking for so little and not realizing that it is our efforts that set this economy into motion every day. What the working class needs more than anything right now is more unity, not more division.

We must remember that when one worker is attacked, we are all attacked. That is why I stand here today in solidarity with our AFGE brothers and sisters, this is the whole meaning behind working-class solidarity. An assault on union rights for federal workers today will lead to an assault on workers in the construction trade like myself tomorrow. I urge everyone here today to get involved in your community. If you’re in a union, attend your meetings, voice your opinion and work to strengthen solidarity within our organizations. The task before us is big, but it is not insurmountable. We will quickly find out that all of us have more in common with each other than we ever thought. Solidarity!