Ludmila Blanco knows organizing. From the age five, she’s been politically active, marching through the streets of downtown L.A. to demand the end to the war in El Salvador. Today, she’s a shift supervisor and 25 year veteran of CVS. She traveled to Nevada to get out the vote for the 2018 Midterms, and here’s why she says you should always keep fighting.

Is this your first time working on a political campaign?

No, I’ve participated in rallies in L.A. I’ve done phonebanking, organizing, and I went to Nevada for the Hillary campaign two years ago. It was just for three days, so I wasn’t involved as much as this time around. Being able to talk to the candidates was just awesome. We got to know who we were actually getting the vote out for. We were very motivated by that. Having people come from different unions as well – we had the firefighters, the steelworkers, the culinary workers –  made it very positive.

How would this experience rank?

To know that we made history, that just changes everything. The power that the people have is unbelievable. To go out there and make a change that hadn’t happened in two decades was just amazing.

What would you say to some members who aren’t interested in organizing?

The benefits that we have, people fought for. If we continue fighting to keep them, it will be better for our children, and their children. If we don’t, things will go bad for us. We need to improve, make a better quality of life for everyone – our children as well. What we do now is going to affect them in the future. We want a better future for them.

Do you think being a part of a union has made you a better organizer?

Definitely. As a Salvadoran child, at the age of five, I was marching in downtown L.A. for the war to stop in El Salvador. I was taught that we need to stand up, and peacefully fight, and not give up. Being part of the union is bringing [my identity] – this is me, this is the fighter that 

I’ve been since I was a child. I think everyone should join the union. We have to fight for our rights.

Even though we’re union, there’s still a constant fight. You’re fighting these corporations, so being a part of the union has made me a better leader politically. All these people here, they’re like family. It’s all worth doing.

We’re building a team of dedicated members like Ludmila to keep up the momentum of the Midterms. Sign up below for updates on how you can get involved.