2024 Election Debrief
Like many, we are shocked and saddened by the results of the Presidential race, and that Republicans have also gained control of Congress, as well as the Governor's office in NH. We are scared for our unions, for the laws unions have already fought so hard for to protect workers, for the rights of women, for basic kindness in how we talk about each other, and so much more - but we are ready for the next phase. The mission doesn't change - only the state of play. Now we play defense in DC and we fight for gains here in MA while we continue to organize and grow worker power. We are so proud and thankful for the work unions from MA did to talk to union members in key battleground states across the country about how much is stake. Union members voted for the Harris-Walz ticket by more than 17 percent over the general public. That shows our labor program makes a difference - but it also shows that our members need to start seeing Democrats do more to center working people before they are voting that way. You can find the MA AFL-CIO statement on the outcome of the federal elections here.
Statewide in Massachusetts, unions had two huge wins that they worked very hard towards for years:
- Congratulations to the MA Teachers Association and the American Federation of Teachers for their successful Yes on 2 campaign which will remove the high-stakes nature of the MCAS exam high school students are required to take. You can find the MA AFL-CIO statement on the outcome of Questions 2 here.
- Congratulations to SEIU and IAM on their successful Yes on 3 campaign to give Uber/Lyft drivers the right to join a union. You can find the MA AFL-CIO statement on the outcome of Question 3 here.
Down the ballot here in Massachusetts, we had some big wins in our legislative races, and we have shown the Legislature the difference we make in their elections when we are united. We are still compiling an overview of how all our endorsed State Legislative candidates did but we were successful in the vast majority of down ballot races we endorsed in. We will debrief more in depth, and look ahead to discuss our strategy for 2025-2026, at our upcoming Political and Legislative Roundtable on November 20th, and at our next Executive Council meeting in December.