Back in the 1990's I worked in organized labor. I was fortunate that I never missed any paychecks, and I had great health benefits. Best of all, I had an awesome job that I loved, that combined my skills with my politics and beliefs. Getting paid to do things you believe makes the world a better place AND that is fun is one of the best things one can ever experience.
During much of my time working in labor, I was involved with a strike between six unions and the Detroit Newspaper agency, the company created out of a joint operating agreement between Detroit's two daily newspapers, the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.
Like I said, I never missed a paycheck while working on the strike, so I don't consider myself a striker. I did, however, make many good friends, some who remain close friends to this day. Like being on a sports team or in a theater production or on an election campaign, there is a sense of solidarity and camaraderie that comes from getting to know people in a labor struggle that builds bonds for life. There are people I haven't seen in years who if I met today I would consider a sister or brother in arms.
But there were many horrible things that happened on that strike. Marriages ended. Longtime friends became enemies when one honored the picket line and the other chose to be a scab. People lost homes, they lost jobs they loved. Strikers and their supporters were attacked by police and rent-a-goons. (I came out fine, although I did end one night with some bruises on my back courtesy of the Detroit Police gang squad.) At least one guy suffered permanent brain damage because he was beaten so bad by the paramilitaries hired by the company ostensibly to protect the company but really to provoke violence.
Going on strike in America can be an act that invites violence. This is what I experienced on Labor Day weekend 1995:
I was at the back gate of the Detroit Newspapers' printing plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan. There were about 1,000 people still at the front gate at 2:00 AM, but probably only about 300 of us at the back gate. Very quickly, the paramilitaries opened up the gate, and those of us planning to sit in the driveway almost got run over as trucks game flying out of the gate at about 40 mph. Only a big log laid in the middle of the driveway prevented a bunch of us getting run over.
Once the truck got stuck on the log, mayhem ensued:
People got beaten, strikers fought back, and the Sterling Heights police blocked traffic to assist the paramilitaries in trying to beat up strikers. The goons eventually retreated behind the gates, but set some vehicles on fire so they could blame the strikers for the violence.
There's a lot of talk on the site tonight about strikes. I thought while people talk about going on strike--and who's paying you? And how much money will you be giving up this week? And do you understand the difference between a strike and a boycott?--that it might help people to understand that in some places in America, to go on strike or to walk a picket line doesn't mean you're engaged in a cyber-pity party. In America, it's still possible that to go on strike and walk a picket line means you're risking getting your brains beaten in.
Do you want to stop this kind of violence against workers in America? One step you can take is contact your senators and member of Congress and remind them that in the next Congress, we need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and that it needs to be signed in to law by our next president. Passing EFCA will be a huge step in empowering workers to have a voice in the workplace, to be able to provide for their families, and to honor hard work and labor and prevent the kind of violence against workers shown in the photos above.