Rep. Delia Ramirez: Democrats Should Work For Working People

Delia Ramirez, the first Latina from the Midwest to serve in Congress, on building a party by and for working people.

When President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address earlier this month, it was a window into the administration’s significant accomplishments and a call to action for a deeply divided Congress.

Those divisions were on full display during the address. While Biden boasted about our economic recovery and job growth — especially for blue-collar workers — Republicans heckled him and remained silent when he talked about providing good-paying jobs to every worker, allowing workers the right to organize, protecting the right to choose, passing other legislation that will benefit working families, and Republicans’ efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare.

Delia ramirez stands with hands in her pockets on a bridge overlooking water

Here’s the reality: We have one party that aligns itself with oil companies and multinational corporations, that wants to deny workers the right to unionize, take away the right to choose, get rid of Social Security and Medicare, deny the reality of climate change and promote conspiracy theories about stolen elections.

On the other side, we have Democrats. While we are united in our opposition to the most extreme forms of fascism, our party ranges from Working Families Party champions like myself to corporate Democrats who often prioritize their wealthy benefactors over the basic needs of working people.