The mid-term elections on Nov. 6 are a referendum on President Trump. We say: “Vote no!”

• No to Trump’s policies that favor the wealthy and throw crumbs to the working class and poor.
• No to his lack of empathy, whether it’s for hurricane victims, sexually abused women or powerless immigrant children.
• No to the political lackeys who encourage his worst instincts and his bigoted attitudes.

If extremists maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, Trump will ram through an anti-worker agenda that will cause pain and suffering for years to come. We cannot allow that.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised to protect Medicare and Social Security. But Republicans are already saying that the skyrocketing debt caused by the lowering of taxes — most notably in favor of the rich — will force the government to reduce spending on both.

Consider the consequences. Starving Social Security would deepen the nation’s growing retirement crisis — a result of the shift from traditional retirement plans to individual 401(k) accounts. Gutting Medicare would make health care more expensive and less available for retirees.

Trump bootlickers

With few exceptions, the GOP have fallen into line with Trump, backing policies that harm workers. We need to reject them at the ballot box on Nov. 6.

One of the main reasons for our opposition to Trump is we regard his immigration policies as insidious and driven by racism and bigotry.

The president’s xenophobia especially offends us because our membership is so diverse and we represent immigrants from around the world.

Trump has proved he is no friend of working people.

The administration is against raising the minimum wage.

His tax plan was a gift to the 1 percent and corporations. The tax cuts for the middle class will eventually be phased out while they remain for the rich and powerful. The plan exacerbates inequality and does nothing to address decades of stagnating wages.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump pledged to support workers. That became a broken promise.

Trump’s appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court ensured a 5-4 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, which aims to cripple public employee unions.

Trump’s two appointments to the five-member National Labor Relations Board has led to the reversal of earlier pro-worker rulings.

The Center for American Progress is tracking Trump’s actions to weaken job protections. The list keeps growing.

These actions have included relaxing OSHA’s injury and illness reporting standards; rolling back child labor laws; attacking federal workers and their unions; limiting the ability of unions to bargain over workplace conditions and denying overtime to millions of workers.

We urge you to help put a stop to this war on labor.

New York’s pro-worker candidates

In New York, we have endorsed progressive local, statewide and congressional candidates whose political outlooks are the polar opposite of Trump’s. We urge you to look at the union’s electoral guide in the October issue of Public Employee Press, the union’s newspaper. And we urge you to get out and vote, because the numbers will matter.

The City Council candidates endorsed by DC 37 have track records that reflect a deep commitment to their communities and to working families. The same is true of the statewide candidates endorsed by DC 37.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has emerged as a leading voice against Trump’s agenda. We applaud his support for the $15 minimum wage, public hospitals, tuition-free college and unions.

A long-time ally, Public Advocate Letitia James, who is running for state attorney general, has fought for women’s equality and other progressive issues. If elected, she will surely use the power of her office to push back on Trump policies that have a direct impact on New York.

Call the Political Action Dept. (212-815-1550) to join DC 37’s campaign to support worker-friendly candidates.

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 October 2018 issue of Public Employee Press.