Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who narrowly missed becoming the nation’s first female African American governor in 2018, urged AFSCME members to fight for fair, free and secure elections this November and underscored that the outcome will determine the future of the American labor movement.
After the close of the Georgia election, which was marred by allegations of widespread voter suppression, Abrams set up Fair Fight, a group dedicated to ensuring fair elections and fighting voter suppression.
In a speech to the delegates to the AFSCME 44th International Convention, Abrams called on Congress to expand vote by mail to keep voters safe from the COVID-19 pandemic, extend early in-person voting and keep polling places open, safe and accessible.
Praising former Vice President Joe Biden as a champion of labor rights, Abrams said, “Who we vote for this November will determine the direction of the labor movement and the next generation of leadership.”
“There’s a war on unions as we all know, from the White House to the State House to the Supreme Court. Donald Trump has done his level best to erode the power of public sector labor unions,” she said. “It’s at the ballot box where our struggle to promote the freedom and opportunity for all working people counts the most. The vote is the most essential building block in building a better society.”
Abrams, who’s also the founder of Fair Count, a group devoted to making sure everyone is counted in the 2020 Census, urged AFSCME members to complete the census, underscoring that billions of dollars of government funding are at stake.
“Every labor member must commit to complete the census or they will finally be able to count us out,” Abrams said.