The American oligarchy takes shape as tech billionaires share the inaugural platform with Donald Trump as he is sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
Washington, D.C.— Ahead of the Inauguration of Donald Trump, Erica Smiley, Executive Director of Jobs With Justice issued the following statement:
“As Americans honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg will sit center stage during President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. These billionaires–the three wealthiest men in the United States–are openly flaunting the power they bought with their wealth while escalating their plans for a complete corporate takeover of our country. Working people will not cower before these American oligarchs and we will not hand over our democracy to billionaires and the politicians they bankroll.
Jobs With Justice, labor unions, workers, and our allies are not new to this fight. We’ve seen the destructive power of unchecked corporate greed and the corruptible politicians they put in office. Workers know how to build power under authoritarian regimes—they’ve done it already. Workers have always been the backbone of democracy.
Even as an oligarchy emerges, workers’ resolve remains strong. We know what it takes to win, and rest assured–we will win. That’s why billionaires like Bezos, Musk, and others have long fought off organizing efforts–they are terrified of multiracial solidarity, a true democracy, and the power of the working class. Now, they’re joining hands with Donald Trump–a president who has long put the wealthiest ahead of the rest of us.
We know the only way forward is to build collective power—across race, place, and industry—in our workplaces and our communities. This is where real change, a real Reconstruction, and a real democracy begins—where workers, united in their struggle, are the ones shaping the future of this nation, not the billionaires at the top.”
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Jobs With Justice is leading the fight for workers’ rights and an economy that benefits everyone as the only nonprofit that is driving strategic campaigns and shaping the public discourse on every front to build power for working people. Jobs With Justice is committed to working nationally and locally, on the ground and online by combining innovative communications strategies and solid research and policy advocacy with grassroots action and mobilization.
