Honor the Sacrifice
From the AFL-CIO
The working men and women of the AFL‑CIO join the Union Veterans Council to wish all a safe Memorial Day weekend. This is a time to respect and remember those who gave their lives for the bedrock freedoms we cherish.
Let’s resolve to honor their sacrifice by redoubling our efforts to secure and make real those freedoms for every worker in America, so working people can win new economic rules built on broadly shared prosperity.
Union members have a historic bond with veterans. Many of our modern trade unions were founded by war veterans who returned home and then banded together for the collective power to win fair pay and good benefits. Over the generations, each wave of veterans has renewed that bond, and the same is true today.
The chances are good that each one of us know, work with or otherwise have a connection to at least one person who has lost a friend or family member to war.
So as we enjoy a cookout or spend time with family and friends, let’s pause in respect. Nothing can prepare a person for the terrible realities, the personal loss and the enduring pain of war.
Memorial Day is sacred, and its truest meaning can never adequately be put into words. Yet we can honor our veterans by fighting for full funding for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and supporting efforts to train and employ our veterans for good union jobs.
Twenty veterans die from suicide every day, which experts say is in part due to an economy where working people can’t get ahead.
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