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OUR TRADE UNIONS MUST STEP UP – SPEECH FOR TRADESWOMEN INC[[link removed]]
Molly Martin
December 11, 2025
The Stansbury Forum
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_ We women have proven ourselves to be strong union members — and
strong union leaders. We’ve built solidarity. We’ve made our
unions more inclusive and more reflective of the real working class.
Now it’s time for our unions to stand with us. _
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SISTERS, WE’VE COME A LONG WAY.
When we first started Tradeswomen Inc., we had one goal:to improve
the lives of women — especially women heading households —by
opening doors to good, high-paying union jobs.
It took us decades to be accepted by our unions. Decades of proving
ourselves on the job, standing our ground, demanding a seat at the
table.
And now — by and large — we’re there. We are leaders. Business
agents. Organizers. Stewards. We have changed the face of the labor
movement.
BUT SISTERS, WE ARE LIVING IN A DANGEROUS TIME.
Our own federal government is attacking the labor movement. And we
cannot look away.
We all know that Donald Trump is gunning for unions. Project
2025 is his blueprint — a plan to dismantle workers’ rights and
roll back decades of progress.
Let me tell you some of what’s in that plan.
*It would roll back affirmative action, regulations we worked so hard
to secure,*Allow states to ban unions in the private sector,*Make it
easier for corporations to fire workers who organize,*And even let
employers toss out unions that already have contracts in place.
*It would eliminate overtime protections,*Ignore the minimum
wage,*End merit-based hiring in government so Trump can pack the
system with loyalists,*And — unbelievably — it would weaken child
labor protections.
Sisters and brothers, this is not reform. It’s revenge on working
people.
And yet, too many union members still vote against their own
interests. Why?
Because propaganda works. Because we are being lied to — by the
media, by politicians, by billionaires who want to divide us.
That means our unions must do more than just bargain wages. We
must educate. Engage. Empower. Because the fight ahead isn’t just
about contracts. It’s about truth.
We women have proven ourselves to be strong union members — and
strong union leaders.
We’ve built solidarity. We’ve organized. We’ve made our unions
more inclusive and more reflective of the real working class.
And now it’s time for our unions to stand with us.
Many of our building trades unions have stood up to Trump, and to
anyone who would divide working people.
But one union — the Carpenters — has turned its back on us.
The Carpenters leadership has disbanded _SISTERS IN THE
BROTHERHOOD_, the women’s caucus that so many of us fought to build.
They have withdrawn support from the Tradeswomen Build Nations
Conference, the largest gathering of union tradeswomen in the world.
They’ve withdrawn support for women’s, Black, Latino, and LGBTQ
caucuses claiming they’re “complying” with Trump’s executive
orders.
That’s not compliance. That’s capitulation.
But the rank and file aren’t standing for it.
Across the country, Carpenters locals are rising up, passing
resolutions to restore _SISTERS IN THE BROTHERHOOD_, and to support
Tradeswomen Build Nations.
Because, they know:You don’t build solidarity by silencing your own.
And our movement — this movement — is built on inclusion, not
fear.
While the Carpenters’ leadership retreats, others are stepping up.
The Painters sent their largest-ever delegation — nearly
400 women —to Tradeswomen Build Nations this year.
The Sheet Metal Workers are fighting the deportation of apprentice
Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Electricians union is launching new
caucuses, organizing immigrant defense committees, and they are saying
loud and clear:
_EVERY WORKER_ MEANS _EVERY WORKER._
Over a century ago, the IWW — the Wobblies — said it best:
_“AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL.”_
That’s the spirit of the labor movement we believe in —and the one
we will keep alive.
Our unions are some of the only institutions left with real power to
stand up to the fascist agenda of Trump and his allies.
We have to use that power — boldly, collectively, fearlessly.
Because this fight is about more than paychecks. It’s
about democracy. It’s about equality. It’s about whether working
people — _all_ working people — will have a voice in this
country.
Sisters and brothers, we’ve built this movement with our hands,our
sweat, and our solidarity.
Now — it’s time to defend it. Together.
Solidarity forever!
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*TRADESWOMEN, INC. [[link removed]] is a
grassroots recruitment, retention and leadership development
organization for women in blue-collar skilled crafts whose goal isto
increase the number of women in construction and related trades.
PHOTOS: Top to Bottom: One the Rosie the Riveter generation with a
photo of herself on the job in Richmond, CA. – A potash miner in
N.M. – Working the car assembly line in Fremont, CA. All photos:
Robert Gumpert
_"Wonder Woman Electric to the Rescue", by Molly Martin. Memoir,
Essays, and Short Stories by a trailblazing tradeswoman. All proceeds
from the sale of this book benefit Shaping San Francisco
([link removed]) a quarter-century old project dedicated to
the public sharing of lost, forgotten, overlooked, and suppressed
histories of San Francisco and the Bay Area._
_The Stansbury Forum is a website for discussion by writers, activists
and scholars on the topics that Jeff Stansbury focused his life on:
labor, politics, immigration, the environment, and world affairs._
* Building Trades
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* women workers
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* Painters Union
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* sheet metal workers
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* carpenters
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* Trump Administration
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* labor solidarity
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