State senate candidate: ‘We have to do something about the affordability crisis’.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: September 3, 2025
Host: Protests, the 100-year anniversary of a stagehand union, and a union guy running for state senate — Ramon Lopez brings you a report about the many celebrations that happened here during Labor Day.
Ramon Lopez: Workers over Billionaires mass protests swept the nation on Labor Day. Union rank-and-file and community activists gathered to remind Americans of the power of the working class at a time when the fat cats are heavy into national politics.
Union members celebrating Labor Day at Fogartyville.
Good size crowds turned out for some 1,000 rallies and marches held nationwide in both major U.S. cities and cities and towns across the Sunshine state, including Tallahassee, Daytona Beach, Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice.
The bayfront rally in Sarasota drew about 150 people and spirited speeches, despite intermittent rain showers.
The goal was to keep pressure on President Trump and the billionaires who support and benefit from his administration. The demonstrations were led by labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO and national and local advocacy groups.
The events also included family-friendly festivals and parades. The Manasota Labor Alliance—a local group supported by the AFL-CIO—held a luncheon at Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center. Among those represented were local union musicians, college teachers, ballet dancers, bus drivers and communications workers. The Teamsters made an appearance as well.
That day, they all preached what they practice. We hear from Stephanie Yocum, president of the AFL-CIO’s West Central Florida Labor Council; Simon Plante, a union dancer with the Sarasota Ballet; and from Roy Gonzalez, a UPS Teamster who helped organize UNFI warehouse workers in Sarasota.
Stephanie Yocum
Stephanie Yocum: We have to take times like this to celebrate and be with our brothers and sisters in labor so that we can energize, recharge and continue to fight every single day for what working people need in the state and in this country.
Right now, the billionaires are winning because they actually own both parties. We have to take both parties back.
It’s not just a celebration of where we’ve come from, but it’s remembering the blood, sweat and tears and sometimes the lives that were sacrificed to get us the rights that we have today.
Ballet dancers, unite: Simon Plante (right)
Simon Plante: We just negotiated for our new collective bargaining agreement this past spring, where we saw very large wage increases, big increases to the amount of physical therapy we receive, improved raise, improved paternity and maternity leave and a lot of other really great improvements. You want to be fulfilled by this career, but you’re being pressed down by these people above you. We were able to get the membership up and make some massive wins that the company really needed. We’re just trying to keep that momentum going for the next three years so that the next can be even better.
Roy Gonzalez: Last year, we got approved for the biggest contract through UPS because of our solidarity. It was the members who stood up against the company. We can win. You’ve just got to get out there, and you’ve got to do it.
RL: Brian Nathan, a Democrat in the running for now-Lt. Governor Jay Collins’ old seat in suburban Tampa, was on the stump at Fogartyville.
Nathan currently serves as vice president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 915, a powerful force in Democratic state politics. He’s after Senate District 14, a Tampa area swing seat.
He outlined his people-power political platform.
Bryan Nathan
Brian Nathan: Ensuring workers have fair wages and safe work sites. I’m an electrician by trade, so I understand the value of being safe.
Heat-related illness legislation. Making sure that, when the temperatures are up there—when it’s really hot and really humid—outside workers have the opportunity for rest, shade, cold water breaks, things like that to protect them. As someone who’s worked outside in the August heat, I can tell you it’s dangerous.
We need to do something about the affordability crisis, so enabling people to buy their first homes that are affordable for your average worker, that are on a blue-collar salary, then being able to afford homeowner’s insurance that goes along with that. Those need to be tackled in the next session.
Republicans have been in power for 30 years. They’ve controlled the majority of the state house and the governorship. Nothing has happened.
I’m part of IBEW 915, the electricians’ union, and we’re doing a lot of organizing down here right now because this area is growing at such an exponential rate. You guys down here in Sarasota have an even more of a problem than what we have up in Tampa. The people who work in this community—build this community—can’t afford to live in this community.
RL: A special election has not yet been called to fill Collins’ seat, but is soon expected, as the legislative session begins in January. Nathan had already filed to run for the senate seat in 2026, when it was scheduled to be up for election.
As Floridians have been caught in a state of wage stagnation for years, adjusting the minimum wage is just one piece of a larger puzzle that includes affordable housing, healthcare and education, the basics that help workers thrive and keep the wheels of commerce turning.
This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.
