Jun 11, 2024
Chris Townsend is a veteran union organizer who has lived in
Virginia for 20 years. He previously served as the UE's Political
action director and the ATU's Organizing Director.
Over the past five years, he has seen an upsurge in organizing in
Northern Virginia.
"I was the organizing director for the Amalgamated Transit Union
and in a period of several years, in Virginia, we organized 16 new
units. We hadn't done 16 of anything in this state for a long
time," says Townsend.
Townsend thinks that yesterday's victory of 27,000 teachers voting
to unionize in Fairfax County, Virginia, could inspire teachers
elsewhere.
"If they can prevail on their internal union structures, to take a
serious look at health care organizing here in Fairfax County in
Northern Virginia, they will find a tremendous opportunity," says
Townsend.
Listen to the veteran union organizer describe how things are
changing in Virginia and what this means for the presidential
election.