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A core principle that guides our union is the fight for dignity, affordability, and opportunity for everyone—particularly the people we represent and the communities we serve. But those aspirations elude too many Americans today. Inequality in the United States has returned to Gilded Age levels. More than 4 in 10 Americans under 30 say they’re “barely getting by” financially. About 1 in 6 Americans doesn’t have enough to eat. And cruel health inequities persist, from racial disparities in cancer-, diabetes-, and pregnancy-related mortality to rural challenges in accessing care.
All this is happening as the rich get richer: CEO pay has soared 1,085 percent since 1978, compared with a 24 percent rise in typical workers’ pay. This isn’t just morally wrong—it’s putting our democracy at risk. In the 21st century, income and wealth inequality are strong predictors of democratic erosion (see the article here for details).
One of the most troubling symptoms of our democratic erosion is the recent increase in political violence. Let’s be clear: Violence is never the answer. Never. Not on January 6, and not the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It is antithetical to democracy and contrary to the values we stand for as a union of professionals that fights for a better life for all.
Healthcare professionals know this all too well. That’s at the heart of our Code Red campaign, which shows how short staffing has led to increases in violence in hospitals across the country. In our communities and in our national rhetoric, it’s time to come together, to de-escalate, and to condemn all forms of violence.
But it’s not time to stay silent. What I am advocating for is an end to the hate and the smears and a recommitment to the right to civil discourse, to peaceful disagreement, to critical thinking, to debate, to open inquiry, to some of the founding principles of our nation.
We are fighting for a better life for all, and our elected leaders must do the same. President Donald Trump promised voters that inflation would “vanish completely”—but today we’re all paying higher prices because of Trump’s tariffs and the resulting “Trumpflation.”
And then there is Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill, which he signed into law on July 4. It is a brazen redistribution of wealth from poor and working-class Americans to the rich. While adding $3.4 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years, it offsets tax cuts for billionaires by devastating healthcare: Cutting Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act by more than $1 trillion over 10 years, kicking more than 13 million people off their health insurance, forcing many hospitals—especially in underserved rural areas—to reduce services or close, and raising healthcare costs for everyone. Prohibiting the US Department of Health and Human Services from implementing, administering, or enforcing the nursing home minimum staffing rule. Prompting more than $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare (because of how it inflates the deficit).
Beyond healthcare, the law also rips food assistance away from over 22 million families, stunts job growth, hurts the climate, and defunds public schools. Trump’s big bill isn’t beautiful. It is a betrayal that will make Americans sicker, hungrier, and poorer. And Republicans know it—that’s why they spread these cuts over many years, with most starting after the midterm elections.
Even though the worst impacts are years away, healthcare professionals—and their patients—are already suffering the consequences. As the three AFT leaders in the Q&A here explain, some healthcare executives are using the future Medicaid cuts as an excuse to fire staff now.
Then there’s this administration’s war on science: Rescinding thousands of National Institutes of Health–funded grants for research that supports advances in clinical care. Undermining or dismantling numerous independent science-focused federal advisory committees. Fueling distrust in vaccines—and hampering access to COVID-19 vaccination (and so much more) for many.
We can’t be silent while this administration engages in its unprecedented attack on healthcare professionals’ ability to provide quality, evidence-based care and on the public’s ability to find trustworthy information to keep themselves and their families healthy.
To move elected leaders, we have to show up and stand up. We have to be on the streets—nonviolently and peacefully—showing that we care for everyone’s humanity, dignity, and opportunity. No one can do everything, but we all can do something (as I explain in the excerpt from my new book here).
Here’s one way to make your voice heard: Be out on the streets on October 18.
On June 14, dubbed “No Kings” day, millions of Americans mobilized peacefully to say no to Trump’s authoritarian power grab. We’re doing it again on October 18 in another “No Kings” nationwide day of action. Be part of it—for our democracy, for your patients, and for your profession. To find an event near you, go to go.aft.org/nokings.
[Photo © AFT]