When hardworking public employees and union members ask how the politics of this country got to where they are now, much of the answer can be found in the midterm elections of 2010.

That’s when the progressive agenda of President Barack Obama was critically wounded by insufficient turnout and the extreme right-wing took over Congress and statehouses across the country.

This time around, we have the opportunity to thwart Trump’s agenda of nurturing the ultra-wealthy and decimating public services, Medicare and Social Security.

It begins with the Democratic Primary on Thursday, September 13. Please note the date. Customarily, we go to the polls on the second Tuesday of September, but out of respect for the memory of those who perished on 9/11, it has been changed.

The union urges you to support the Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Public Advocate Letitia James for New York State Attorney General.

Our governor has been a primary force in backing labor and progressive causes. We shouldn’t forget his help in helping secure funds for our contract at CUNY and the city’s public hospitals. He is our choice to continue as governor and stand up against Trump’s radical right wing cadre in Washington, D.C.

Letitia James has decades of legal experience, beginning as a public defender, and later as an assistant state attorney general. Her stellar career of public service, support for our union, concern for immigrant rights and championing of pay equity has made her a long-time friend.

For a complete list of our endorsements in races across the city, click here.

You also have the opportunity to get involved in the union’s efforts to get out the vote by joining with us as a Volunteer Member Organizer of the DC 37 Political Action Dept.

Our “green machine” is member-driven. It is our means to build our power to protect the hard-fought workplace rights and benefits. To volunteer, please call Political Action at 212-815-1550.

By joining us this fall, you can make a difference and make change possible — together as one.

The DC 37 Blog is an online publication of District Council 37, AFSCME, which represents 125,000 municipal employees in New York City. This article originally appeared in the September 2018 issue of Public Employee Press.