Thread by @AEAPresident

Dear #LaborMovement: it’s time for us to wake up. Just about every single mass shooting, of course, happens in *somebody’s* workplace - whether perpetrated by a former colleague, a deranged terrorist or anyone else. (1)

Imagine the world we could live in if we’d joined hands and followed where @rweingarten tried to lead us after #SandyHook: a world where responsible gun owners could still take their teenagers hunting and protect their homes, but very, very few had access to weapons of war. (2)

A world where children didn’t have to practice hiding under their desks. A world where a coworker might be fired, but nobody worried that they would return to the office with an AR-15. A world where people went grocery shopping and were confident they would come home alive. (3)

Mental illness wouldn’t completely vanish, although there is much, much more that can be done to treat it, with commitment and resources. People might still be radicalized. Crimes would still be committed in that world. (4)

It’s what happens next - the
part where someone murders 10, 15, 50, 100 or more people in moments - that would change. Yes, people kill people. And when they want to kill a lot of them at once, they are remarkably consistent in their choice of weapons. (5)

The labor movement, of course, isn’t a monolith, politically or otherwise. But I have yet to meet a person - of any political party, or no party at all - who is okay with the fear that their loved ones may be gunned down at school. Or a supermarket, the movies, the office. (6)

So that’s where we start. Real conversation and collaboration. Compromise. Negotiation. The stuff we do every day. We find a solution that America’s workers can agree upon, and we raise our collective voices. Or scream it at the top of our lungs. Whatever it takes. (7)

We know - we have actual research and data - that the current surge of energy around unionizing isn’t just about wages and benefits. It’s about rejecting toxic workplaces, demanding dignity, demanding a voice. (8)

Our basic right - to do our jobs without ever wondering whether today’s the day we’ll be sprayed with bullets - is also enshrined in our country’s governing documents. And it is not subordinate to any other amendment. (9)

We’re very, very late. We should have fixed this many years ago. But we cannot let that stop us. Together, we can achieve a safer America. LET’S. GO. #EnoughIsEnough #EndGunViolence #1u (10)