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April 2009 E-news:
Class and Labor
In this issue:
1. Class Action in Action!
2. Class and Labor
3. Book of the Month
4. Related Articles
5. Resources
6. Action of the Month
7. Take Our Survey
8. "Ah-Ha" moments about Class
9. Who is Ending Classism?
1. Class Action in Action!
In February, Rhonda Soto partnered with Class Action Associate Tanya O. Williams to bring Color of Class to Boston. “The training was a light bulb for me,” reflected Class Action board member Rose Sackey-Milligan. “There is a misconception that people of color somehow have something inherently wrong with them and they don’t have the capacity to succeed. Yet as we saw, class is determined by a number of factors, including how policies constructed in the 1930s give advantage to some people and not others.” Two dozen people of color from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Western Massachusetts came together for this meaningful workshop. We thank United for a Fair Economy and Resource Generation for co-sponsoring this event.
In April, the project teams from Class Action’s Women Building Bridges for Economic Development project will come together with representatives from social service agencies to share, learn from each other’s work, and discern a plan for continuing to grow as a learning network. Women Building Bridges for Economic Development works with local churches to supply a network of social resources missing from the lives of low-income women. Members of participating congregations have been broadening their understanding of how class and classism operate in society. Some have participated in focus groups with volunteers at the Amherst Survival Center to explore what help is most needed. Others are assessing their communities’ current programs and potential for being more sensitive and responsive to the needs of their own members and others in these difficult economic times. We are currently seeking more churches and social service agencies in Western Massachusetts. If you would like to explore how the Building Bridges Network might benefit some of your clients, or be a complementary compassionate outreach for your church, please e-mail churches@classism.org.
Looking for the silver lining in the economic crunch?
Michael Hiltzik in the LA Times suggests the financial crisis and scandal are helping to dispel the notion that some of us are more worthy than others.
Click here for the article...
Class Action board member, Maynard Seider, a professor at Massachusetts College of Libral Arts (MCLA) in North Adams, MA, guest edited this month’s e-news on Class and Labor. Thank you, Maynard, for sharing your reflections and valuable resources.
2. Class and Labor
“The Labor Department is back in business to support working and middle-class people,” reports Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, “and furthermore, we’re going to enforce our labor laws.” Solis’s comments reflect new possibilities for labor under the Obama administration. Labor unions in the U.S., which overwhelmingly supported the election of President Obama, have been actively engaged in lobbying Congress for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act [see articles and action of the month], an act which would make it easier for workers to form unions and to achieve better wages and working conditions in a timely fashion. A second piece of legislation that unionists have also been organizing for is a single-payer health care bill [see articles and action of the month], or "medicare for all".
Labor unions have been the one institution that has consistently supported the economic and social aspirations of working-class people.
Read more about the history of class and labor…
3.Book of the Month
Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path Toward Social Justice
By Bill Fletcher, Jr., and Fernando Gapasin. Univ. of California Press, Berkeley. 2008.
The authors are both activists of color, involved in the Black Freedom and Chicano social movements. Long-time unionists, educators and writers, they present an up-to-date history of the union movement in the U.S. and offer their prescriptions for the vital change that is needed. In telling the story, they combine their personal knowledge of the struggles they themselves have been involved in, with a broad historical and social analysis of the travails of labor. Click here to read more...
4. Related Articles
Why Unions Still Matter
by Michael D. Yates
Yates clearly explains and documents the ways in which union members do better than their non-union counterparts. But he also points out how greater unionization also benefits non-union folks through the political work that organized labor carries out. There’s a lot of ferment all across the country, and often we don’t hear about those countless local struggles which “are trying to build the multiethnic, multiracial unions and labor movement of men and women that will really mean it when saying, `An injury to one is an injury to all.’” Read more…
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A Closer Look at the Employee Free Choice Act
by David Macaray
Macaray spells out the virtues of the legislation that organized labor has pinned its hopes on for this Congressional session. The EFCA would make it much easier for U.S. workers to unionize and to achieve first contracts. Will President Obama and the Democrats fight to pass this measure?
Read more…
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The Secret War Against American Workers: The Unemployment Story No One Notices
by Robert S. Eshelman
Eshelman, an independent journalist, takes us into a Philadelphia job center to meet some of the unemployed who fill such offices. We learn not only of the problems of those who have lost their jobs, but also of the increasing pressures that employed workers face in the current economic downturn. Read more…
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A Mother Asks President Obama To Be Honest About Healthcare
by Donna Smith
A community organizer for the California Nurses Association, Smith makes the case for single payer healthcare, a bill introduced by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. and co-sponsored by 93 other reps. This bill, also referred to as “Medicare-for-All,” has been the subject of huge organizing and lobbying drives by local and state-wide unions. Smith argues that any health care system that keeps private insurance companies in the mix, such as the new “universal” system in Massachusetts, won’t give us the care we need. Read more…
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Labor Union Bill Raises Broader Capitalism Issues
Economic Downturn Intensifies Rhetoric of Workers, Businesses
By Alec MacGillis
The Employee Free Choice Act seemed destined to be a relatively narrow clash between unions and employers. But amid the economic downturn, it is turning into a debate over fundamental questions of American capitalism. Read more…
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Contracts Can’t Be Broken – Unless They Involve Union Workers
by Tula Connell
The title says it all, and Connell, on an AFL-CIO blog, traces the history of Congress’ attack on unionized auto workers’ contracts vs. the government’s view of “sacrosanct” AIG agreements. Connell includes excerpts from two columnists as well as pro-union public opinion polling data. Read more…
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Global Labor’s Forgotten Plan to Fight the Great Depression
by Tim Costello, Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith
The authors describe the 1930s struggle of labor unions world-wide to have their countries adopt massive public works projects to solve the problem of unemployment. They then examine the lessons from that time period for today’s “Great Recession,” which calls for an international response, one led by the world’s labor movement allied with the “Global Justice Movement.” Read more…
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5. Resources on Class and Labor
Web Sites
Labor Notes
“The voice of labor activists who are ‘putting the movement back in the labor movement.’” Since 1979, publishes monthly magazine, books, workshops and bi-annual conferences. Very good source for rank and file, pro-democracy, reform issues.
www.labornotes.org
Dollars & Sense: Real World Economics
Bi-monthly magazine with clearly presented data, graphs on national and world economy with good coverage of work and the labor movement.
www.dollarsandsense.org
Counterpunch
Daily website, often in-depth articles on labor.
www.counterpunch.org
Common Dreams
Daily website, generally short articles from numerous sources, with coverage of labor issues and links to related sources.
www.commondreams.org
Working Class Studies Association
A membership organization with e-journal, newsletter and conferences, that provides good sources and connections regarding class and labor issues.
www.wcstudies.org
Jobs with Justice
JwJ is a national group, with local affiliates, that coordinates actions with labor, social justice and faith-based groups.
http://www.jwj.org
Women and Unions/Labor Web Sites
Throughout our nation’s history, women have played a significant role in transforming workers’ lives. Learn more about their contributions on the following sites:
Female Frontiers: Continuity and Change in her Work (statistics on women employment through out the decades)
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/activities/womanswork/chart.html
American Women's History: A Research Guide
http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women/wh-unions.html
Women in Union History
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/women/history.cfm
Working Class and Labor Museums
Considering a vacation? Why not plan an excursion where you can learn more the rich and complex history of American workers?
http://cwcs.ysu.edu/resources/museums
Books
The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker
by Steven Greenhouse, 2008/9, Anchor Books paperback with a new preface.
New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse covers the shifts in the U.S. and world economy since the 1970’s and its consequences for U.S. workers and unions. As he puts it, “Workers’ concerns have retreated from the nation’s consciousness. But if we don’t address those concerns, we do so at the workers’ peril---and our own.”
The Next Upsurge: Labor and the New Social Movements
by Dan Clawson, 2003. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press
Sociologist-activist Dan Clawson argues that workers and the labor movement will not advance by incremental improvements, but only by an “upsurge,” of the type witnessed during the ‘30s and ‘40s. For this to happen, labor has to work with other progressive movements. He describes some good examples of labor moving in that direction.
6. Action of the Month
The Employee Free Choice Act can help reclaim the American Dream by restoring workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. Find out more…
7. “Ah-Ha” moments about Class
Was there a moment that you first “got” class? Was it as a child, a teenager, or even somewhere in your adulthood”? Consider sharing your “ah-ha” moment in Class Action’s forthcoming anthology. “Caviar, Coupons and College: Stories across the Class Spectrum.” We are looking for stories to help further collective dialogue about class. Submissions of 1,000 to 2,500 words will be accepted through June 1, 2009.
Find out more…
8. Take our Survey
How is your view of unions shaped by your class position?
Submit a response here. Read other survey responses here.
9. Who is Ending Classism?
We all are. Through our individual and collective actions, we are chipping away at a system that gives a small minority immense privileges at the expense of the majority. People from across the class spectrum committed to breaking down class barriers recognize Class Action as a critical resource to bring about greater equity. If you are in a position to make a monthly gift of any size to make sure all people are valued, please consider joining Class Action’s Core Circle. If you can contribute your time and talent to further Class Action’s efforts, please contact Dana Gillette at 413-585-9709, ext. 207.
Please note: Class action e-news are sent by Dana Gillette, Associate Director of Development and Communications.
Please add dgillette@classism.org to your contacts list to prevent your e-news from getting lost in your spam filter.
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