Panelist Ray Zaccaro recounts a conversation he had with a Trump supporter, who was also a union member, about what is at stake in the 2024 Presidential Election. // Photo Courtesy of Annie MacKeigan
On Oct. 30, Hofstra University’s Labor Studies Program and the Center for Civic Engagement hosted “The White House and Working America,” a panel discussion focused on what the 2024 Presidential Election will mean for jobs and democracy.
The event was rescheduled after being postponed due to the Sept. 18 campaign rally held at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum by President-Elect Donald Trump, which brought tens of thousands of supporters less than half a mile from Hofstra’s campus. The presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump was historic in both its candidates and issues; prior to the election, voters across the country cited the economy as one of their biggest issues.
The discussion consisted of panelists; Ray Zaccaro, advisor to the president of the AFL-CIO, Onika Shepherd-Bernabe, political director at 1199SEIU and Michael Zweig, a professor of economics at Stony Brook University, presenting their respective economic perspectives on the upcoming election. Their viewpoints included issues regarding immigration, union membership and the working class as the leading economic topics in the election. Many of the issues discussed were directly related to the working class, which, according to Zaccaro, is the “most elusive category of voters.”
Unionization is largely supported by working Americans, particularly black men and young people who are relatively new or entering the workforce. Although union support is high, membership is low and on the decline. Shepherd-Bernabe works with 1199SEIU, a healthcare workers union. She explained the mutual benefits of union membership on wages, explaining that when a union member gets a raise, competition and pressure in the labor market will lead other employers, both union and non-union, to raise their wages for their workers as well. This phenomenon has been observed throughout Long Island, which has one of the highest union membership rates in the country.
The Biden Administration has been largely supportive of unionization; the President even stood on picket lines with the United Auto Workers (UAW) in Sept. 2023. This progressive action could sway working class voters to the democratic candidate, but historically, they tend to lean to the right. Shepherd-Bernabe urged students, “you’ve got the power in your hands. You make the decision.”
Each panelist stressed the importance of voice in democracy.
“There is no universe where that third party candidate is going to be effective,” Zaccaro said. He continued, saying that if students don’t feel like they’ve done enough for democracy, “The other thing you can do… is next time, run for office yourself.”
Zaccaro also expressed his concern about communication channels during election season.
“When major institutions of media who are supposed to offer a little bit of clarity, a little bit of a cool mind, and supposedly an objective point of view about the circumstances of the individuals running for office, when they sit out an election, it proves one thing for sure: you can really buy anything on Amazon,” Zaccaro said.
“I never really followed politics much until I got to college,” said senior labor studies major Rylie Olsen. “I feel like it’s very personal and very ‘winner takes all’ right now, so we’ll see what happens.”
Olsen encouraged students to use the resources provided by Hofstra to inform themselves about the election, specifically referring to the New York Times subscription included in each student’s tuition package.
Zweig, who recently authored the book, “Class, Race, and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism,” spoke on what he believes to be the fascist practices of President-Elect Trump.
“Donald Trump is an instrument not of some craziness, he is an instrument of the ruling class of this country, and they don’t quite know what to do with him,” Zweig said.
Zweig explained that the Trump Administration has used the power of capital and the state to tell workers to “sit down and shut up,” which includes practices that are currently illegal in America following the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
“What fascism is about, and what Donald Trump represents, is the destruction of the labor movement – the destruction of the lives of working people,” Zweig said.
Early morning on Wednesday, Nov. 6, the presidential race was called. Former President and now President-Elect Donald Trump led the race with 312 electoral college votes.
Although the president-elect has scrutinized the current economy, it remains relatively healthy with inflation down significantly from the 2022 global spike. His proposed economic plans will test the stability of the current economy and working class. These include tax cuts for the rich which will lead to an increase in income inequality, and proposed tariffs that will raise prices throughout the country. These policies, while they hurt the middle and working class more than anyone else, are upended by overwhelming support for Donald Trump’s policies from the white working class.
“There was an overall perception of a weak U.S. economy, and I think for a lot of voters, that drove their decision, and a general feeling of being abandoned by Democrats in power,” said Matthew Friedman, a senior pre-medical studies major. Friedman says he does not agree with the sentiments he observed voters act on. “If you look at our inflation levels, we are the lowest in the entire G7. Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act.”
Friedman is concerned about the next four years both from an economic standpoint and regarding healthcare. “It’s extremely important for Democrats to realize that there needs to be a change in how they are communicating with voters, because there are a lot of people who don’t necessarily see or believe or understand all of the benefits that they might derive from democratic policies.”
