Workers, Rise Up: The Power of Unionization
Eric Reynolds
1/10/2025
Fellow workers, brothers and sisters, we are at a turning point in the fight for dignity, justice, and equity in the workplace. Across this country, corporate executive fat cats feast off our labor while we are left to work harder, live poorer, and hope for scraps. But hope alone is not enough—we must organize, unionize, and reclaim what is rightfully ours. This is not just an article; it is a call to action, a demand for change, and a reminder of the power we hold when we stand together.
I speak to you not as an outsider, but as one of you—a worker who knows the sting of exploitation and the fire of solidarity. For 20 years, I worked as a non-union employee at UPS. I saw them strip away what we once thought was untouchable: pensions, our great health insurance, and other hard-won benefits. They replaced our union-level health insurance with something far inferior, leaving us to pay more and get less. They took and took, leaving us to carry the burden. But when we came together—when we unionized the 500 admins and specialists at UPS Worldport—we took it all back. We reclaimed our pensions. We reclaimed our great health insurance. We reclaimed our dignity.
That victory was not handed to us. It was won by the same power that has driven workers for generations: solidarity. And that same power can be yours.
The fight at UPS is not isolated. Across the country, Amazon workers are rising up against one of the largest and most powerful corporations in the world. They are facing intimidation, propaganda, and every dirty trick in the anti-union playbook. But they persist. They organize. They fight.
They fight for a living wage. They fight for safe working conditions. They fight for respect. And they show us that the bosses fear nothing more than a united workforce.
Their struggle is our struggle. The conditions may differ, but the goal is the same: to claim what is rightfully ours. A union isn’t just a contract or a bargaining table. It’s a declaration that workers will no longer accept crumbs while the bosses feast.
Eugene Debs once said, “The working class must be emancipated by the working class.” Those words are as true today as they were over a century ago. Our salvation will not come from benevolent employers or broken political systems—it will come from us.
We are the descendants of the warriors of Blair Mountain, who faced down machine guns to demand their humanity. We are the descendants of the mill children, whose tiny hands built the wealth of the textile barons while their childhoods were stolen. We are the descendants of miners who coughed up their lives in coal dust to power a nation that forgot them.
We are the descendants of those who fought for the eight-hour day. We are the descendants of those who demanded weekends. We are the descendants of those who stood on picket lines, who faced billy clubs and who sacrificed everything to win a future for us.
They fought for justice. They fought for dignity. They fought for us. Now it is our turn to fight for them. It is our turn to fight for each other. It is our turn to fight for the workers of tomorrow.
At UPS, we didn’t organize for recognition or status—we organized for survival. For me, it was about giving my son, Elijah, a better life. I want Elijah to know that his labor is valuable. I want Elijah to know that he is not alone. I want Elijah to know that the world belongs not to the bosses who exploit it, but to the workers who build it.
To my union brothers and sisters: get involved. Show up. Speak out. Organize your workplace. A union’s power lies in its members, and without your participation, that power withers. If we are silent, we are complicit. If we are passive, we are powerless. If we are united, we are unstoppable.
To non-union workers: organize. Speak to your coworkers. Find common ground. Build a movement. You are not alone—there are allies, unions, and resources waiting to help you.
Do not fear their threats. Do not fear their lies. Do not fear their power. Fear only what happens if you remain silent, if you remain divided, if you remain under their control.
The victories at UPS and the growing movement at Amazon prove one thing: the tides are turning. Workers everywhere are awakening to the truth that we are the creators of wealth, and it is we who must claim our share.
We are the creators of value. We are the builders of nations. We are the power that drives the world. And together, we will take what is ours.
Our ancestors fought and bled for the eight-hour day, for weekends, for safety regulations. Now it is our turn to carry the torch.
They fought for freedom. They fought for justice. They fought for us. Now we fight for them. Now we fight for each other. Now we fight to win.
The time is now, fellow workers. Rise up, organize, and claim the future that belongs to us. Together, we will win.
In solidarity,
Eric Reynolds
Proud UPS Teamster