It’s Labor Day again. Every culture in the Northern Hemisphere has a fall harvest festival of some kind. Time to kick back and feast on the fruits of our labor. If we’ve been lucky, the larder is fairly full and it’s time to be satisfied with ourselves. Either way, it’s also a time to make the mental adjustment, to hunker down for the long freeze that’s about to come.
On the opposite side of the calendar is May Day, also a day for traditional working class celebration. Spring festivals in the North celebrate a time of planting, hope, regeneration, rebirth and renewal. A pagan pregnant time. A time to anticipate a new beginning.
Again this year, Labor Day will be celebrated by the unions of the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win Coalition out at the Labor Temple on Park Street. It’s all pretty ritualized by now: Italian sausage, beer, Paul Cebar, face painting, the roll call and Ruth leading Solidarity Forever. Literature tables, staffed by familiar but older faces, overflowing with often false hope and promises. This being an election year, politicians will be out as thick as fleas on a hound.
If you were at the May Day march this past spring you’ll recall that it was conducted largely in Spanish. High school kids had made artful silkscreened signs. As we marched up West Washington, construction workers came out to wave in solidarity and a semi went past and the driver blew his horn to the rhythm of “Si, se puede.” The people in the street were young and the music was rhythmic and sexy.
The demands of the May Day marchers included health care for all and an end to the war. But the people at May Day also demanded that Sheriff Mahoney (that same Sheriff Mahoney who was heavily backed in his last election by local unions) stop harassing undocumented workers. Members of the Workers International League, Industrial Workers of the World, International Socialist Organization and assorted unaffiliated socialists marched. There was no official AFL-CIO presence at May Day.
The local labor movement (sic) has few things to celebrate this Labor Day. We almost completed the mural in the hallway of the Labor Temple. Our real estate holdings on Park Street increased in value. And we hired a full-time organizer--not to help organize unions, but to help elect Democrats. Then, on the other side of the ledger, there was Woodman’s, Superior Linen and CleanPower.
Some at Labor Day grumble that our country is being taken over by illegal immigrants from Latin America. Those who know me don’t express their bigotry to my face. But, being an old white guy, people who don’t know me assume that I share their perspective and spout off freely. “It could be worse,” I tell them. “A hundred years ago we were facing hoards of Irishmen!”
So, it’s harvest time again. If you’re one of the 10 percent of the U.S. workforce that is lucky enough to have a unionized job, chances are the larder is at least partially full, so maybe you won’t have to eat the seed before spring. If you’re among the other 90 percent, there’s May Day.
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3 comments:
Rock on!
I have to say that Ron did not exaggerated a bit, I was in the UTI table and we got at least 5 or 6 people asking what are we complaining about; if we are "illegally" here we should expect Dave Mahoney to do "his job".
This would not be that harsh if this would happen in a republican convection in St . Poul, but no way, it happened in Labor Day Madison WI in front of at least 20 members of UTI,mostly family members that hoped the labor movement as a whole can strike together against the same enemy.
However, not all were bad news, we did have some people (3 or 4) who stop by to encourage us to keep up the fight! and to be honest, those who were bold enought to tell us what many other were thinking, well, they got their first "class unity 101" lesson.
we just told them that it is the laws that makes us "illegal" for the benefit of the employeer who now can divide workers, and that we can fight toguether to fix this laws, as we do not want to be "illegals" either.
Most of them change their faces from red to pale and to finally escape out with a simbolic handshake and a painfull smile and left.
I believe that many were genuine like this was the first time they heard an argument like this.
And that is what it really make me sad and mad, no because the average worker who gets most of his facts from Lou Dobbs, but for the leadership of the local unions that are not able to step up and do their job!!! Union leadership have to educate their membership and lead them to the way to fight for class unity, this is not debatable it is in principle what an UNION is about!
Every time i see the stats of people dead crossing the border, the massive deportations or recent human rights abuse on behalf of ICE like in MIssisipi or Iowa, everytime i see a city loosing any single one of the good jobs, killing the future of thousands of worker class kids (with or without papers) i ask myself the same question: when our class is going to have a real leadership, when SCFL and all local union are going to start acting like leaders and putting their ideas up front.
What is the point to have progressives in the leadership of the Unions if that does not transmit to the rank and file?
To fight for what is right even if one has to be in minority for a while is way much humanitarian and productive that hold leadership positions on the basis that the "others" would do it even worse.
when we are talking about death of innocent worker class families, there is not a safe position: it is like a river, you choose a side, wheather you let this keep happening or you use until the last of your breath to change it.
Great article Ron!
You said:
"And that is what it really make me sad and mad, no because the average worker who gets most of his facts from Lou Dobbs, but for the leadership of the local unions that are not able to step up and do their job!!! Union leadership have to educate their membership and lead them to the way to fight for class unity, this is not debatable it is in principle what an UNION is about!"
I agree that unions are lacking in understanding class unity or even union-unity. But I don't think it should be thought of as a top-down thing where the all knowing union leadership shall tell the rank and file what to think. You're thinking of this like a religion where the "leaders" are like priests and get special knowledge from above.
First of all there's no reason to think some leaders are particularly wise nor more wise than lower-ranking union members. Let's face it a lot of union leaders are yes men or at least started out that way, and I do mean men, and often someone's friend relative, or have some kind of leverage. They did not get there based on their good ideals.
And do you really think some guy who's been president or executive director or whatever for 20, 30, even 40 years just gets more and more ideologically pure over time? Or more set in their ways and sure of themselves? In all likelihood their mindset is pretty well set on whatever was in vogue when they were in their 20's. If immigration wasn't a top tier subject then, they may never be interested. I've seen so many labor leaders who allegedly had some kind of glory days in the distant past where-in they must have done something impressive according to legend, then get into a paid lifetime presidency gig and just skate along until retirement in 'don't rock the boat' mode. Typically these people came from very sexist and racist mindset times and almost always ignore women and minorities thereafter. It's like they literally can't see or hear anyone unlike themselves and certainly can't take them seriously. I think most of these perma-leaders just get more and more cagey and behind the scenes over time. Also they get very astute about not revealing their position. I think maybe what you're looking at is leaders that feel they need to appear supportive to your cause, that it's the politically correct thing, but they actually don't much feel like doing anything about it. Perhaps they don't think the membership really wants the union to support it, and if they go overboard they could get voted out of office. But most of all what I've observed in local union leaders is a really really big concern with what their superiors want. They are very very focused on AFLCIO or Change to Win as the case may be, and their national/international affliates above them, at the State, Regional, or higher level.
So what you may be looking at is just that a level far higher than the local leaders is giving out vibes to shelve the immigrant discussion.
I think this means that you need to get the message out directly to the rank and file and don't get stymied by cagey leaders. This would mean you would for the most part have to reach people through normal communication channels, and not union specific channels.
I have just read your comment/replay and reread my own comment and I agree, that it is quite unproductive to complain to the leadership and likely no to helop any noble cause anyway.
It is about to talk with the workers directly, i agree!
Not to include immigration as one of the main strateies in labor movement is hearting workers class america as a whole.
IF the current national / international / local leaderrship does not want to engage a class struggle on this topic and fully arm the worker class with ideas and program, it shall be the rest of us who do it.
Thank for the comment :)
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