Tuesday, August 27, members of SEIU 1021, 1000, 2015, USWW, CFA, and others gathered at the SEIU 1021 union hall in San Francisco to officially kick off the general election season. 

SEIU 1021 President Theresa Rutherford opened the special event with chants and cheers. “We’re making history as we’re meeting here right now. Every one of you who is here is the kind of person who knows the power that starts with commitment. We’re not talkers, we’re doers. We’re action people. You are determined and committed to do the work. We all heard our great forever First Lady Michelle Obama and VP Harris. They say, Don’t complain, do something.

“When I see a crowd of SEIU members, I know that we’re going to win. We change the world. And so we know that if we do the work, we will win, because when we fight, we win. They’re making it harder to vote. They’re doing everything to block working people. But what we know is, people don’t fight you if they think they’re going to win. They don’t fight you if they think you’re easy. They fight you when they fear you. They fight you because they know that you represent a threat. 

“We are going to put Kamala Harris in the White House. She belongs there and she’s going to be there. I want to remind you of someone else who ran for President in 1968. Her name was Shirley Chisholm. She was the first African American woman elected to Congress. So that by itself was an achievement. And then she had the audacity to run for President in an era when misogyny was the name of the game. She was running for the highest house in the country, and by extension one of the highest houses in the world. That’s how much gall and power and belief in herself she had.

“And this is what she said: ‘You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing.’ So right now, that’s what we’re going to do, starting now. Let’s do it tonight. Let’s start the process and put her in the White House.”

SEIU 1021 San Francisco Regional Vice President Kristin Hardy then introduced SEIU-endorsed local San Francisco District 11 supervisor candidates E.J. Jones and Chyanne Chen, as well as SF District 9 supervisor candidate Jackie Fielder, who spoke to the importance of this year’s election at the local as well as the federal level.

Members then got to work writing postcards and phone calls to voters in swing states urging them to get out and vote for Kamala Harris, as well as signing up for upcoming canvasses and phone banks to make sure local candidates who support working people get elected and reelected.

There will be plenty more opportunities to get involved this election season to keep the progress we have made and move forward. Stay tuned–we hope to see you at one soon!