Dear friends (and Santa)

This year for Christmas, I want:

1. Low wage workers — including fast food workers, carwash workers, taxicab drivers and Walmart employees — to fight like hell to earn a living wage ... and win.

2. Corporate fairness to replace corporate greed.

3. More moderates in the legislature, on both sides of the aisle who are interested in the ability of workers to earn a middle-class income, instead of pushing extremist agendas.

4. More activists in the streets, on the doors and on the phones so that we elect a U.S. senator and representative in 2014 that supports worker’s rights, not a corporate agenda.

5. More voter rights and access to the polls, and for voter suppression referendums No. 126 and 127 to go down in flames.

6. More worker’s rights to organize and form a union without management intimidation and reprisal.

7. Equal rights for everyone.

8. Fully-funded public education and new schools where we need them. (Let’s just cut through the crap and agree it is the key to our future.)

9. Passage of comprehensive immigration reform and for immigrant workers to have the same rights and protections as other workers.

10. Respect for public workers that do the work that matters for all of us.

11. International trade agreements negotiated in the light of day with no secrecy, that respect workers rights more than they bow down to corporate greed.

12. Reasonable campaign finance laws that work to reduce the sale of the election system to the highest bidder.

13. More emphasis on worker safety than on corporate profit.

14. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) to be expanded and fully funded.

15. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid fully funded (for the record, Santa, it is a lot easier to do than the politicians and Fox Entertainment tell you).

16. Real pensions for all workers so they are not forced to work at Walmart until they die.

17. ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) to be exposed for the extremist corporate hack that it is.

I know it is a long list, but if we work together we can get it done.

Thank you to everyone who gave of their time, talents and money to help workers in 2013. Thank you to largest labor lobby in years during the 2013 session. Thank you to executive board members, labor leaders and especially the staff that gave so much during this year. And most of all thank you to our members, friends and allies.

I wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Al Ekblad is the executive secretary of the Montana State AFL-CIO.