Listen: America’s ‘Sleeping Giant’ to Determine ‘Fate of the Republic’
By Bob Hennelly
As Long Island voters in New York’s 3rd Congressional District cast their ballots in the special election to fill out the unexpired term of former Representative George Santos, Republican control of Congress hangs by just a few votes.
This year, the very fate of our republic rests in the hardworking hands of the nation’s 85 million low-wage potential voters, roughly a third of the American electorate that society and the corporate news media regularly ignores because historically most of them do not vote. Nevertheless, they make up what Rev. Dr. William Barber of the Poor people’s Campaign describes as America’s “sleeping giant” that if mobilized could help bring about a major shift in our politics and a Third Reconstruction.
This was the potential coalition the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King tried to foster before he was assassinated in 1968 after speaking in support of striking Memphis sanitation workers.
In 2016, in key rust belt states where unions were part of the historic Democratic base including Michigan, Donald Trump won thanks to depressed African-American voter turnout, as well as the lack of engagement from this multi-racial cohort of economically-struggling voters that polls show overwhelmingly support reproductive rights, labor rights, a living wage, and universal healthcare.
In 2016, Trump carried Michigan by just 10,000 votes — 980,000 low wage voters did not turn out in that state. In North Carolina, Trump’s margin of victory was 170,000 votes, while 920,000 poor and low-wealth voters sat it out. Two years ago, in the House of Representatives, now held by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA.) — an unapologetic insurrectionist — the GOP won control by just 3,500 votes in five tight House races.
On this edition of the Stuck Nation Labor Radio Hour, we continue our focus during Black History Month on the civil rights and labor movement connections. We speak with New Jersey State Senator Britney Timberlake from Essex County who led the charge, along with former Governor Dick Codey, on New Jersey’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which covers the 50,000 workers who are caregivers to children, aging adults, or persons with disabilities, and also perform essential household duties such as cleaning, cooking, and laundry.
Historically, this workforce made up primarily of women of color, were left out of the landmark labor protections and guarantees that were the foundation of FDR’s New Deal. It was the consequence of a bargain the White House cut with Southern Dixiecrats that actually exempted domestic and agricultural workers from basic wage and hour regulations extended to the rest of America’s workforce. This systemic discrimination, with deep roots in slavery and the Jim Crow South, endures to this very day suppressing the wages of millions of workers who remain unprotected.
In the second half of the show, we are joined by universal healthcare campaigner Wendell Potter, a former top health insurance executive turned whistleblower who’s been helping to lead the national movement to create a healthcare system that puts people over profits. Also included in the discussion is John Mudd, executive director of the Midtown South Community Council, which is hosting a series on vital issues called “For the Greater Good” starting this Tuesday night. Potter and Marianne Pizzitola, president of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees will also be speaking at the kickoff event.
Listen to this week’s show right here: