Real Patriots Stand With Workers
Members of Boston-based Teamsters Local 25 demonstrate against Republic Services. As of earlier this month, the strike has gone nationwide. | Photo credit: Teamsters Local 25 via Facebook @Teamsters.Boston
To all of my brothers, sisters, and siblings in the struggle, I ask you to consider the following.
Every July 4th, we gather under the red, white, and blue to celebrate the founding of this country. We wave flags. We light fireworks. We sing about freedom and independence. We reflect on what it means to be American.
But today, in the wake of Independence Day 2025, I want to ask a deeper question: What does economic freedom look like in the United States right now?
I would argue that economic freedom means more than buzzwords and political speeches. It means the freedom to join a union without the fear of retaliation.
It means being able to buy a home without going broke. It means having access to a quality education that opens doors instead of trapping our kids in debt. It means healthcare that doesn’t bankrupt us and a retirement plan that lets us grow old with dignity.
These aren’t luxuries. These are the basic expectations we should have as workers. Why? Because these are the building blocks of a just society.
And let’s be clear: These lifelines — and that’s just what they are — aren’t simply handed down thanks to the charitable largesse of CEOs. They are not given freely by the powerful. They’re won by organizing, by standing together, and, when needed, by dissent.
Dissent, by the way, is not the opposite of patriotism. It is patriotism.
Being pro-union is not a threat to this country. It’s what built this country.
Let’s never forget that the most defining chapters in the history of working people in our nation were written by laborers who had the fortitude to stand up and speak out.
The Boston Tea Party was an act of economic protest. The Flint Sit-Down Strike changed the American workplace forever. The Memphis sanitation workers carried signs that read, “I Am a Man.”
The women of the United Farm Workers marched, fasted, and organized their way into the history books.
Change never comes from silence. It comes from the courage to say, “We deserve better.”
I saw that same courage first-hand this past month.
I stood with the third graduating cohort of Sistas With Tools — a powerful group of women, many of them women of color, who are breaking into the skilled trades and claiming their place in our union halls. They’re applying for registered apprenticeships, entering careers that are high-road, union-strong, and built to last.
These women are not just changing their lives. They’re changing our movement.
“Real patriotism is fighting for an America where everyone has a fair shot.”
Later in July, I joined the proud members of IUEC Local 8 at the dedication of their new training facility. Let me tell you — this place is the gold standard. It’s a center where apprentices and journeymen will get hands-on instruction, cutting-edge lab experience, and solid education backed by the National Elevator Industry curriculum.
Local 8’s Roy E. Franscesconi Jr. Training Center is more than a school. It’s a launchpad for the next generation of tradespeople. It’s an investment in safety, in quality, and in the middle class.
But while some are stepping into new opportunities, others are deep in the fight of their lives. Right now, teamster sanitation workers nationwide are on strike against Republic Services.
Let’s be real: Strikes are tough. Nobody wants to withhold their labor unless they’re backed into a corner and forced to do so. Going on strike, walking off the job, and giving up your paycheck is not an easy choice.
It’s a last resort. It’s a sacrifice. And it’s never taken lightly.
So, before anyone scoffs or complains about trash not being picked up, I encourage them to stop and think about what brought these workers to this point.
Republic Services made $1.3 billion in profits last year. Despite this inconvenient fact, the company is offering wages as low as $19 an hour to the very workers who keep our cities clean and our neighborhoods safe.
That’s not just unfair. It’s a disgrace.
The strike started with Teamsters Local 25 in Boston and has now spread across the country. In California, Teamsters Local 350, an affiliate of this council, has joined in solidarity. That’s what the labor movement looks like: workers across state lines standing shoulder to shoulder, saying in unity, “Enough is enough.”
Republic Services isn’t just screwing the workers. They’re screwing the ratepayers, too. Everyday people who rely on garbage pickup, recycling, and clean streets are feeling the impact.
This strike could end tomorrow if the company would simply come to the table with a fair contract.
The ball’s in their court.
So, this July 4th, while the fireworks were going off and the politicians were giving speeches, I thought to myself: Let’s not confuse patriotism with passivity. Real patriotism is fighting for an America where everyone has a fair shot.
Real patriotism means backing the workers who pick up your trash and clean your streets. Real patriotism means investing in apprenticeships and training centers. Real patriotism means showing up on the picket line — and not just when it’s easy, but, more importantly, when it really counts.
Let’s stand in solidarity with the teamsters, and the ratepayers, and with every working person who’s ever been told to stay in their place.
Real patriots don’t sit down. Real patriots stand up. And when we stand up, we stand up together, union-strong.