Why Antonio Villaraigosa Will Be The Best Governor for Latinos In California
2018 represents a critical year for Latino families across the country. This is the year in which we fight back at the local, state, and national level to elect leaders who are reflective of the growing diversity in our country and embody the values that we hold close to our hearts including hard work, family unification, and a better future for our children. The rule of the current presidential administration has resulted in thousands of Latino families being separated because of ongoing raids and deportations that target people not based on their character, but rather because of the color of their skin and the language they speak. These actions have also resulted in many Latino workers going back into the shadows because they are afraid that speaking up against injustices in their workplaces will result in an ICE raid. I have witnessed these types of actions first hand, and that is why we must fight back against this agenda of hate with every tool at our disposal.
One of these tools is exercising our civic duty to vote. These elections will determine many things including the future debate about immigration reform and the passage of laws that can help to improve the lives of workers by bringing them out of the shadows and allowing them to organize and have a voice on the job.
With that being said, one of the most important races that we face here in the State of California is the Governor’s race. It is essential, particularly during the current times that we are living in; to elect a candidate with proven leadership that will continue to guide our state on a path that prioritizes protecting immigrants, creating good jobs, and strengthening our middle class. Antonio Villaraigosa is a candidate that will fight for Latinos across California because of his proven track record.
For his entire adult life, Antonio Villaraigosa has been a man of the people; championing the rights of immigrants and working people which inspired him to run and get elected to public office. Antonio Villaraigosa has stood shoulder to shoulder with Latino workers when they needed him the most. As the Mayor of Los Angeles, he championed the rights of port truck drivers to fight for a cleaner environment and good jobs by passing the Clean Trucks Program, which helped to clean our air and combat the illegal misclassification of port truck drivers, the majority of whom are Latinos and whose families live neighborhood overwhelmingly impacted by air pollution. He also began the process of transforming Los Angeles’ commercial waste and recycling system to provide recycling to all Angelenos and ensure that thousands of mostly Latino sanitation workers across Los Angeles had safe jobs and could provide a better living for their families. Antonio Villaraigosa also updated critical infrastructure by leading the passage of several key project labor agreements that helped to create good construction jobs and put money back into Latino communities.
It is crucial to support a candidate who stands up for the rights of working people regardless of their background to exercise their rights and improve their standard of living.
We have the opportunity to elect a governor that has and will continue to stand with the Latino community who is the backbone of vital industries that keep our state’s economy strong. I encourage other Latino leaders in the State of California to do all that you can to help get out the vote for Antonio Villaraigosa to secure a bright future for ourselves and future generations of Latinos.
Teamsters Local 396 represents UPS and Sanitation workers in Southern California. The Local Union also serves Members in other miscellaneous industries such as logistics, recycling and feed delivery services.
