OPINION: New Mexico Dems stand with unions and against corporate greed

The Democratic Party fights for working families. We know that every worker deserves dignity on the job, a voice in their workplace, and the right to organize without fear of retaliation.

This fight is personal to me. I spent more than four decades fighting for workers’ rights, first as a leader with the teachers’ union and now as the chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. I’ve seen firsthand how unions lift up communities. When educators have a strong union, our schools improve. When laborers organize, wages rise across entire industries. People’s lives are better when they have a union in their corner.

While Democrats fight to strengthen workers’ rights, major retailers like Walmart, Lowe’s, Target and Home Depot actively undermine workers and New Mexico values. Walmart has perfected the art of union-busting, deploying sophisticated tactics that suppress worker organizing. Target and Lowe’s maintain an extensive anti-union program, including firing pro-union employees and holding mandatory anti-union meetings. Home Depot’s founders support anti-worker politicians, including Donald Trump.

But big box retailers are not just undermining their workers, they’re failing consumers too by taking every opportunity to maximize profits at the expense of working people.

Take the COVID pandemic, for example. When families in New Mexico faced a public health crisis and mass unemployment, some big box retailers took advantage of supply chain disruptions to raise prices on basic necessities beyond what was necessary, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission. Even as supply chain disruptions settled, prices never came back down. As a result, the average family in New Mexico now spends $286 every week on groceries.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich also called out Walmart for jacking up prices on products under its “Great Value” brand. As a result of the increases, the corporate retail giant saw a 93% increase in its net income near the end of 2023 and rewarded its wealthy shareholders with $5.9 billion in buybacks and dividends. As Reich said, this is a prime example of corporate greed and price manipulation driving the inflation that hits New Mexicans’ wallets hard.

Unfortunately, price manipulation during the pandemic was only a warmup act for the retail industry.

Today, with Trump’s chaotic tariff policy as their latest excuse, retailers are gearing up to squeeze New Mexicans at the cash register once again. Even as tariffs have largely been paused or walked back, Target and Walmart workers have shared pictures and stories of their employers raising prices.

Whether it’s undermining workers or squeezing consumers, it’s clear that large corporate retailers don’t have New Mexicans’ best interests in mind. That’s why New Mexico’s elected leaders must continue to keep a close eye on big box retailers.

In May, New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján joined more than a dozen congressional Democrats on a letter demanding that the Trump administration do more to ensure retailers do not unfairly manipulate prices as tariffs take hold. The letter was a great first step, but none of us should hold our breath waiting for the Trump White House to hold big companies accountable. Democrats and states like New Mexico need to keep picking up the slack to continue demanding pricing transparency.

With corporations like Walmart, Target and Home Depot putting profits over people, we must double down on our commitment to working families. The Democratic Party, today and throughout history, stands with unions, calls out corporate greed, and won’t let big box retailers get away with union-busting or price manipulation. New Mexico values mean more than corporate profits.