Day one of the 2026 ATU Latino Caucus is underway in New Orleans, and International President John Costa opened it with a message our hermanas y hermanos needed to hear.
"We won’t stand by while our members live in fear," Costa said, addressing the immigration raids near transit hubs and the members who are afraid to go to work over where they were born, the color of their skin or what language they speak at home.
Costa also named the economic pressure sitting right alongside rent, groceries, health care costs and the threats of automation climbing faster than paychecks. "For our members, immigration fear and economic pressure are not two separate fights," he said. "They show up in the same household, sometimes on the same day."
Costa pointed to the Caucus's roots for strength, invoking the organizers who built power and the leaders carrying that same spirit forward today, including Executive Vice President Yvette Trujillo, the first woman and first Latina elected to that seat. "That same spirit is what built the Latino Caucus," Costa said, "and it's what will carry us through this too. Our answer to fear is organizing. Our answer to fear is each other."
On day one, attendees also heard from the Honorable Mayor of New Orleans, Helena Moreno, the first Latina Mayor in the city’s history, and learned from ATU International staff about arbitrations and grievances. We even got a chance to go to the original home of the “Poor Boy” sandwich at Parkway Bakery and Tavern, named after our striking members they fed in 1929.
To every Latino and Latina worker, you're not alone. The ATU sees you and stands with you.
¡Sí se puede!
