The Frontlines of Democracy
Organizing Social Service & Healthcare Workers Against Authoritarianism
If we’re going to defeat authoritarianism, we need every frontline constituency mobilized—and that means social service providers, healthcare workers, and the professional organizations and unions that represent them must get into the fight.
These workers aren’t just caregivers and bureaucrats. They are the backbone of our democracy’s social infrastructure. They see, firsthand, the impact of policy on real people. They witness the devastation caused by austerity, privatization, mass incarceration, and the billionaire takeover of public services. They are some of the most trusted voices in our communities, and when they organize, they can become a force that authoritarians cannot ignore.
But too often, social service and healthcare workers are expected to stay “neutral” when the stakes could not be higher. And in that silence, billionaires and their political operatives are dismantling our public institutions piece by piece, selling off what should be common goods for private profit, while gutting the rights and safety nets of the most vulnerable.
If we want to turn the tide, we need to bring these workers into the struggle—not just as supporters, but as leaders.
1. Why Social & Healthcare Workers Are Essential to the Fight Against Authoritarianism
They Are Trusted Voices.
Let’s be real—people don’t trust politicians. They don’t trust corporations. They barely trust the media. But they do trust their doctors, their nurses, their social workers, and their mental health providers.
That means when these workers speak out against authoritarianism, against disinformation, against the attacks on democracy and public services, people listen. They hold a kind of moral authority that few other constituencies can claim.
We need to mobilize that trust, turning social and healthcare workers into one of the strongest pro-democracy forces in the country.
They See the Harm Firsthand.
Social workers, nurses, and case managers aren’t theorizing about what austerity looks like. They live it every day. They see patients denied care. They witness the harm of criminalization. They know what happens when public services get cut, privatized, and turned into profit-making machines.
They are witnesses to the destruction that authoritarianism and corporate greed cause, and that makes them some of the most powerful truth-tellers we have.
They Can Disrupt Systems from Within.
Here’s the thing—these workers aren’t powerless. When they organize, they can disrupt systems from within.
Nurses can strike against the gutting of public healthcare.
Social workers can resist policies that criminalize the poor, trans kids, and immigrants.
Doctors can refuse to be complicit in state repression.
Their labor, their licenses, their collective power—all of it can be weaponized against the authoritarian machine.
They Are an Organizing Base That Cannot Be Ignored.
Millions of people work in healthcare and social services. They vote, they organize, they have unions and professional associations with national reach. If they decide to take a stand, it shifts the balance of power in the fight for democracy.
2. How Authoritarians Are Targeting Social Services and Public Health
The far-right has known for a long time that controlling public services is key to controlling society. That’s why they’re:
Deregulating healthcare so billionaires can profit off our suffering.
Defunding social programs so only the wealthy can afford stability and the rest of us are in no position to negotiate about our wages and working conditions.
Attacking mental health services while pushing police and prisons as the only solution to social problems.
Privatizing everything from Medicaid to housing programs so they can loot public resources.
And they’re doing it while actively targeting social workers and healthcare providers for speaking out.
If we don’t organize these workers and their institutions to fight back, we’re ceding the battlefield to the forces trying to destroy democracy from the inside.
3. What Needs to Be Done?
Professional Associations Must Step Up.
Professional organizations like the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), American Psychological Association (APA), and American Medical Association (AMA) have power—but only if they use it.
We need these organizations to:
Publicly condemn authoritarian policies—whether it’s attacks on reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ protections, or public health funding.
Fight against privatization of social services, healthcare, and public health programs.
Protect their members from political retaliation.
Fund democracy defense campaigns, from voter registration to legal defense for targeted workers.
Healthcare & Social Service Unions Must Mobilize.
Unlike professional associations, unions have real leverage. They can strike, boycott, and organize mass labor actions.
Unions like SEIU, AFSCME, National Nurses United (NNU), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) need to:
Integrate pro-democracy demands into their contracts and campaigns.
Organize workplace resistance to authoritarian policies.
Strike and take direct action against healthcare austerity.
Fund worker-led democracy initiatives.
Workers Must Be Trained to Fight Back.
If we want social and healthcare workers to fight back, we need to give them the tools to do it. That means:
Building internal organizing networks inside hospitals, clinics, and social service agencies.
Creating rapid response teams to resist harmful policies in real time.
Training workers in disinformation resistance—helping them push back against right-wing propaganda in their workplaces and communities.
4. How the Rest of Us Can Support This Fight
This is not just their fight—it’s all of ours. So what do we do?
If you’re in one of these professions, start organizing your coworkers. Get involved in your union. Push your professional association to act.
If you’re outside these industries, apply pressure. Demand that social work and healthcare orgs take a stand. Create the opportunity for those who want to take action to do so by calling on them to take action.
Support healthcare and social service worker strikes. Show up on the picket lines. Donate to strike funds.
Expose corporate and billionaire influence over public services—make it clear what’s at stake.
This sector cannot afford to stay neutral.
5. Final Thoughts: This Is a Political Fight, Not Just a Policy Debate
This is not just about healthcare policy. It’s about power.
The far-right understands this. They’re targeting public services because controlling them means controlling people’s lives.
If we lose this battle, it won’t just mean worse healthcare or social services. It will mean a future where billionaires and fascists control the basic functions of society.
But here’s the good news: This is a fight we can win.
Social service and healthcare workers are not just responders to crisis—they are key to preventing crisis. If we can organize them, support them, and bring their institutions into the fight, we can turn the tide against authoritarianism.
We fight for them, they fight for all of us. Let’s get to work.