Local Labor Leader Highlights Worker Priorities in Texas AFL-CIO Video
AUSTIN, TX — The voice of the Rio Grande Valley is part of a growing statewide call for change—and a renewed push to elect leaders who will stand with working people.
During a recent weekend of the Ruth Ellinger Leadership Academy in Austin, Andres Bocanegra, an educator, member of La Joya AFT, and Secretary-Treasurer of the Rio Grande Valley Central Labor Council, was featured in a video released by the Texas AFL-CIO highlighting the priorities of workers across Texas.
🎥 Watch the video below:
The Ruth Ellinger Leadership Academy brings together union members from across the state to strengthen organizing skills, develop leadership, and build collective power. As part of that work, participants shared their perspectives on the challenges facing working people—and what a better Texas could look like.
In the video, Bocanegra speaks directly to those challenges, emphasizing the need for fully funded public education, better wages, accessible health care, and stronger protections on the job.
“If you want a well-educated workforce, you have to fully fund public education. People deserve better wages, better health care, and better protections at work.”
The message also centers on a critical truth for working people in the Rio Grande Valley and across Texas: the right to organize.
“You and your co-workers have the right to organize. You have the right to come together and ask for better conditions. You don’t have to settle for the bare minimum—you can have more.”
In the Valley, where many workers face economic inequality and limited workplace protections, that message is especially urgent.
The video comes at a pivotal moment for Texas workers. Through its Committee on Political Education (COPE), the labor movement has formally endorsed candidates who align with the needs of working families—including Gina Hinojosa in the race for governor.
Hinojosa’s campaign has centered on issues that directly impact working people: strengthening public education, raising wages, expanding access to health care, and protecting workers’ rights on the job. These priorities reflect the same concerns raised by workers across Texas and echoed in Bocanegra’s message.
Bocanegra also underscores the importance of civic engagement:
“You’ve got to get out and vote. Talk to your friends, your family, your neighbors, your co-workers. Tell them your story—why it matters to you—and encourage them to support candidates who stand with working people.”
For the Rio Grande Valley Central Labor Council, this moment represents more than a single video. It reflects a broader effort to:
- Build awareness of workers’ rights
- Support organizing across industries
- Engage working people in the democratic process
- Elect leaders who will stand with working families
The Rio Grande Valley has always been powered by working people. From classrooms to job sites, that power continues to grow as workers organize, speak out, and take action.