AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond on Democracy, DEI and Labor’s Growing Coalition

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond returned to the America’s Work Force Union Podcast with a clear message: the labor movement cannot afford to sit out a moment he describes as a direct test of American democracy.

In a wide-ranging conversation with host Ed “Flash” Ferenc, Redmond argued that workers, unions, faith leaders and civil rights allies are forming a renewed coalition to push back against policies he says concentrate power and wealth while weakening voting rights, immigrant protections and diversity, equity and inclusion.

• Labor is positioning itself as a lead institution in today’s resistance, not simply a participant, Redmond said.
• Attacks on DEI, immigrants and voting access echo earlier civil rights-era battles, fueling broader public mobilization.
• Redmond sees a “class war” dynamic in which billionaire interests benefit while working families face higher costs and instability.

Fred Redmond, the AFL-CIO’s Secretary-Treasurer, returned to the America’s Work Force Union Podcast for the first time in 2026. He argued the current period has been “difficult for all workers throughout this country and really for the American people,” describing a political climate he believes is pulling the country away from democratic norms.

AFL-CIO and Workers Push Back

Redmond told Ferenc that many Americans are confronting developments they “thought we would never see.” In his view, the labor movement’s responsibility is to resist.

“We can’t give up,” Redmond said, describing the stakes in terms of families who depend on unions to “push back” and “lead the resistance.”

He pointed to the daily pace of political developments as part of the challenge, citing a recent report that the President wanted to “federalize elections.” Redmond framed it as one more reason labor cannot treat this as a temporary storm.

The AFL-CIO, he said, is working with allies across civil rights, social justice and faith communities. That coalition approach, Redmond suggested, is not optional. It is how labor builds power beyond the bargaining table and into the civic arena.

Black History Month and the Echoes of the 1960s

Redmond then discussed the 1960s and whether there were any similarities between then and now. He referenced the era of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act and noted that later court decisions weakened these key protections.

Redmond said there are “definitely some similarities” between the fights of the 1960s and today, especially when he sees attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion and what he described as attacks on immigrant communities.

He argued that a growing number of people are “starting to wake up and push back” against a vision of America that benefits only “certain groups of people” and “certain classes of people.” In contrast, Redmond said, the broader public is insisting that “we’re all Americans” and should share in the American dream.

In Redmond’s view, the comparison to the 1960s is not nostalgia. It is a warning and a roadmap: coalition politics, moral clarity and public pressure can change the direction of the country.

AFL-CIO on a Broader Fight for Inclusion

Redmond linked multiple policy debates under the theme of inclusion and equal standing.

He cited the elimination of DEI programs in the federal government as a signal of a broader attack on people of color and on the idea that institutions should be accountable for fair access and opportunity.

He also criticized policies he said target immigrant families, including incidents where families are being separated. Redmond framed these issues as part of a larger struggle for “justice, equity and inclusion,” a language that placed labor squarely alongside civil rights movements.

For Redmond, the labor movement’s interest is not abstract. It is rooted in the lived experience of working people across race, nationality and industry, including union members who rely on public services, fair elections and workplace protections.

Redmond: Silence Is Shock, Not Consent

Ferenc noted that while many people are vocal, many others remain silent. He asked whether those quiet Americans might be reaching a point where they speak out.

Redmond said he believes some silence reflects “shock” as people try to process what they are seeing. He argued that many have not yet realized they are being affected, too, “by virtue of their income” and “by virtue of their status.”

He described the moment as broader than a fight over immigration or one community’s rights. When elections and voting access are contested, the consequences reach everyone, he said.

Redmond also pointed to working people “struggling with trying to make ends meet and living week to week” amid high prices, which he attributed to Trump policy changes.

That combination, he suggested, is pushing more Americans to see the conflict as structural.

Growing Solidarity, With More Work Ahead

As the conversation closed, Ferenc asked whether solidarity is back where it should be.

Redmond said progress is real but incomplete. He argued that the labor movement is “more unified than we have been in a long, long time,” and that non-union workers are increasingly viewing unions as a “vehicle for resistance and for fighting back.”

He also described what he sees as a coalescing among faith communities, with “different religions coming together” to reject policies that harm immigrants, deepen inequality and concentrate wealth.

Get the Full Story. Don’t miss the rest of the conversation with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond. Subscribe to the America’s Work Force Union Podcast for your daily update on labor news and interviews. Listen Now