USAS November 5, 2020 Statement
The events of this year have increasingly brought to light what many of us have always known to be true: this system is failing everyone, and working people are ready to fight back. We are witnessing the self-destruction of capitalism right before our eyes, so how can we use the momentum in the streets right now to build our power as student organizers, as workers, and as the future leaders of the labor movement? It’s time to dream big!
Although we celebrate tangible electoral wins, such as returning the right to vote to 50,000 Californians on parole for felony convictions and the passing of a $15 minimum wage in Florida, we recognize that those wins were only made possible through years of organizing and movement building. The people in power don’t care about us unless we force them to, and ultimately, the two-party system does not serve the working class communities who have been hit the hardest during the pandemic. We have seen in the past that no matter who is leading this country, working class people have never been prioritized, let alone had our basic needs met. As the student arm of the labor movement, we must think beyond the two-party system and towards a future where workers are in charge of their own destinies.
We are living in a moment where Black people are being systematically murdered by police, essential workers are risking their lives on the job, students are drowning in loan debt, our air quality is slowly killing us, and ICE is running rampant through our neighborhoods. Workers and students have been on the front lines of movements for justice, mobilizing to stop evictions while California was on fire and protesting against police brutality in the midst of a global pandemic. Our very own universities are continuing to put profit over student and worker safety, and USASers across the country are fighting back! Already, we have won PPE and hazard pay for student workers at the University of Illinois Chicago, we secured paychecks for student workers at the University of Alabama, and we pressured Gonzaga University to publicly post their COVID-19 testing data. These victories have shown us that a strong, nationally coordinated student movement is needed now more than ever before, regardless of who is in the White House, because we know that true liberation will only be realized when we build worker power from the ground up.
We refuse to let the results of any election hinder or distract us from our main goal: organizing for collective liberation from capitalism and all other forms of injustice. USASers are gearing up to fight harder than ever before, laying the groundwork for the future we deserve. With 23 years of building student and worker power under our belt, we are only just getting started.
Written by: USAS Local 617 at University of Massachusetts Boston, USAS Local 559 at Fresno City College
Endorsed by: USAS Coordinating Committee