By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President

It’s no secret that the election results from November of 2024 are not what we hoped for. So many of us worked so hard for candidates and ballot measures up and down the state. And while we had some victories, including electing many pro-public education and pro-labor state legislators and flipping three Congressional seats, we fell short of electing Vice President Kamala Harris as the next United States President.

On Monday, January 20, the same day that we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr., Donald Trump took office. In a completely unsurprising and yet devastating move, he began his second term with a slate of presidential pardons and executive orders that are an affront to humanity.

He pardoned over 1,500 people who planned, orchestrated, or participated in the insurrection on January 6, 2021, including those found guilty of violent attacks on police and others guilty of seditious conspiracy against the United States. 

He signed dozens of executive orders, some of which are blatantly unconstitutional. These executive orders offer examples of the worst approaches to issues both foreign and domestic, and disdain for middle- and working-class Americans is a feature, not a bug. Here is just a sample to call out the actions that we saw in these early executive orders:

• He attacked immigrants and refugees, including ending birthright citizenship, in flagrant disregard of the 14th Amendment, and reversed a policy that directed immigration agents to avoid sensitive locations, including schools, hospitals and places of worship. (Important information to protect you, your students and your community can be found here).
• He denied the reality of climate change by pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, immediately after hurricane force winds sparked deadly fires that continue to devastate the Los Angeles area. (Here is the CFT Climate Justice toolkit).
• He made decisions that will negatively impact the health of all Americans, including ending drug pricing initiatives for critical medicines like insulin and pulling out of the World Health Organization. 
• He laid the groundwork for enormous tariffs on long term trade partners that will have far-reaching economic implications, including increasing inflation. 
• And he repealed Biden-era equity and diversity efforts for Americans of color and for LGBTQ+ people, including all acknowledgement of and support for LGBTQ+ – and specifically transgender – individuals in schools and other spaces. (Check out the CFT LGBTQ+ resources page).

Let me be clear: these executive orders are horrific, and I denounce them in the strongest possible terms. Many of them will not pass legal muster and will be tossed out by the courts. Others will be hard to implement without acts of Congress. As we watch and wait to see how these orders make their way through the legislative and judicial systems, there are a few things I want us all to keep in mind.

First, it is clear that Trump has chosen to double down in his second term in speaking for the plutocrats and for corporate interests. Nothing he has done so far indicates that he has plans to take action on behalf of average Americans and working people. Photos of inauguration events show him surrounded by one group of oligarchs after another, and it is clear that he intends to slash social safety-net programs in order to give massive tax giveaways to his rich cronies. It is not hyperbole to say that as a nation we are sliding towards fascism. As AFT President Randi Weingarten stated, “it all points to the rich and powerful gaining favor with the new administration, rather than working families struggling to make ends meet and striving for a better life.”

Second, despite the despair that many of his early actions are invoking, let us remember that Trump does not speak for everyone. Regardless of his constant declaration that he has a “mandate” to do what he pleases and that he speaks for the majority, less than 50% of voters actually voted for him, and the margin between him and Kamala Harris was only 1.5%. And that doesn’t include the 36% of Americans who didn’t vote at all. Not all Americans, in fact not even a majority of voters, agree with him, and the harm that he will do with his current and future actions will hurt not only those who didn’t vote for him, but many of those who did. We can expect him to overplay his hand and to overreach again and again. It’s the way he operates. And we should expect backlash across the political spectrum. 

And third – and this is the most important thing – we will get through this together. CFT members will not turn our backs on our most vulnerable members and the communities where we live and work. We must hold each other close and fight back together.  We must remember that fear is a tool of leaders who have weak morals and self-serving values. It is with hope and unity that we rise together and build a better future.

Despite so many challenges, we have already proven in the first month of 2025 that we know how to do that. We helped pass the Social Security Fairness Act, a repeal of the WEP/GPO provisions that we have been working towards for decades. It’s something I wasn’t sure I’d ever see happen, and I’m so proud that we accomplished this bi-partisan effort by standing up for workers who deserve to be treated fairly and to retire with dignity.  

And we have banded together as a union to support our members who have been devastated by the wildfires in Los Angeles. We are helping fellow CFT members who have faced devastation, including those who are dealing with lost or damaged homes. We are deploying resources, including financial support through our Disaster Relief Fund and mental health assistance for survivors facing trauma. Further, the AFT has pledged $100,000 in assistance to impacted members, and we have seen a demonstration of overwhelming support from AFT local unions and members in California and around the country, many of whom have provided financial assistance in this time of need. The recovery process from these fires will be long, and we are still rolling out support to affected individuals and families, but the message to these folks has been loud and clear: we stand together as a union.

The next four years will demand much of us. We will experience moments of fear and anger; and as impossible as it may feel right now, we will feel hope and joy, too. We can and must gain strength from one another and remember that solidarity is, in itself, an act of resistance. It is more important than ever that our local unions are strong and that we recommit ourselves to partnerships with our friends in labor and in the community. We will stand with our AFT siblings throughout this country as we hold the line at the federal level, by elevating our voices in California. 

Together, as 120,000 strong, we will fight back, resist authoritarianism, and build a better future with all of the skills, knowledge, and tactics at our hands. We will not obey rules in advance. This is the power of a union—standing united, building strength, and using our union power for all.