Solidarity in Action, Now and Forever
SF Building Trades Council Secretary–Treasurer Rudy Gonzalez and other unionists protest budget cuts at an SF Board of Supervisors Meeting on Tuesday, June 17.
On Tuesday, June 17, I sat down in the chambers of SF City Hall in an act of civil disobedience alongside labor leaders and frontline workers from across San Francisco, and I was arrested for it.
We shut down the Board of Supervisors meeting — not out of recklessness, but out of deep resolve. We sat in defiance of proposed budget cuts that threaten essential public services and the workers who provide them.
This action, though largely symbolic, was deliberate, disciplined, and grounded in a long tradition of labor resistance.
Civil disobedience is more than protest. It is a signal to the public that something is broken. Like the suffragists who chained themselves to gates, the civil rights leaders who marched across bridges, and the farm- workers who risked their lives for dignity in the fields, we used peaceful resistance to get our message across.
That message is this: We won’t stand by while our communities are shortchanged. This wasn’t just a one-union fight. As we’ve said time and again, we honor picket lines, and we honor the call for solidar-
ity. When other city unions asked for our backing, we showed up, just like we expect our fellow trades to stand with us when it’s our turn.
This month also took me to Seattle for the annual meeting of the National Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), where I had the honor of partici- pating as a newly appointed member of the national board.
LERA is a rare space that brings together labor practitioners, academics, and neu- trals to share research and best practices on the evolving world of work. In panels, symposiums, and hallway conversations, we dealt with tough questions surrounding global supply chains, construction workforce development, and labor compliance, as well as labor’s place in the clean energy transition. A presentation on Davis–Bacon and construction workforce trends stood out for connecting the dots between economic policy and everyday union organizing.
I encourage local unions to engage with these spaces — not only to advocate for our members but also to shape how research and policy reflect our realities. Learn more at leraweb.org.
“Our movement is strongest when it stretches from the grassroots to the halls of power, always rooted in the union members we serve.”
Closer to home, I had the immense joy of celebrating the graduation of the third cohort of Sistas With Tools (SWT), the pre-apprenticeship collaboration designed for women of color seeking careers in the trades. This cohort saw 13 graduates complete hands-on training and classroom instruction rooted in the multi-craft core curriculum designed by North America’s Building and Construction Trades Councils.
SWT is more than workforce develop- ment. It’s about opening doors to family- sustaining careers, building power in under-represented communities, and ensuring the future of our unions reflects the full diversity of our city. To the instructors, the union mentors, and, especially, the graduates: I thank you for your grit, your trust, and your determination. I look forward to reporting on these graduates’ journeys into registered apprenticeship programs and beyond.
Whether it’s in the board chambers, seated at a national policy table, or stand- ing at a graduation podium, the through- line this month has been clear: Solidarity is not a theory — it’s a practice. We must continue to show up, speak out, and lift others as we climb.
Our movement is strongest when it stretches from the grassroots to the halls of power, always rooted in the union members we serve.