When the pages of the calendar signal we are moving toward the close of another year, we gather with family and friends to celebrate all that has happened and train our sights toward all that will come. 2024 has been a spiritual, emotional, and even physical rollercoaster for so many of us. From elections to summer heatwaves, to labor activism this has been an intense and busy year. The winter holiday season, however, is an opportunity for all of us to press pause on the constant motion and ferocious intensity demanded in our day-to-day lives.
The holidays are a time to be cheerful, loving, appreciative, and giving. The Thanksgiving holiday was a perfect kickoff to a season of gratitude and reflection. A number of religious and spiritual holidays occur at the end of the calendar year and collectively they encourage us to be resolute in our commitments to one another. They invite us to center kindness, community, and appreciation as we reflect on the previous year. Thankfully these are tenets of the labor movement which we practice daily. We have consistently demonstrated our solidarity with other labor unions, community initiatives, and most importantly within our own state federation. Our collaborations have produced victories at the bargaining table and in communities across Baltimore and throughout the state of Maryland.
The broad diversity of celebrations during the winter holiday season remind me of our state federation. We have members from a wide range of sectors working in corrections, higher education, public health, K-12 education, and many more industries and capacities. Some of us work for municipal governments, while others work for the state. Though we work in different capacities in different industries, we are still one state federation, united and advocating for fair wages, high quality benefits, and democracy in the workplace for public employees across the state. This is akin to the various cultural and religious holidays that are celebrated during the winter holiday. Though different, each holiday reminds us to center our communities and connect with something greater than ourselves for the common good. These holidays often invite us to use food, laughter, and gift giving as a way to celebrate community and find a deeper joy and peace within our hearts.
2025 will present its own set of challenges that we look forward to tackling with the spirit of solidarity; and we cannot truly be prepared to address the challenges of the world around us, if we have not properly taken care of ourselves. That includes taking the moments to rest, breathe, and be in community with our dearest family and friends. However it is that you center yourself and whatever holiday you may be celebrating this winter season, may it be peaceful and may it reinvigorate you for the work ahead.
Happy Holidays from all of us at AFT Maryland.
Kenya Campbell, President, AFT Maryland
