All of us union members and social, political, and environmental activists sometimes get tired. We grow weary in our central fight to save democracy in America, to grow our power to create a more just society, to improve the lives of those around us and all Americans, and to build our organizations and win elections in November.
I understand fatigue. We all experience fatigue sometimes.
But I don’t accept defeatism or hand-wringing. I just learned that the women who led the struggle for women’s right to vote, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, were leaders in the abolition movement, then moved on to lead the struggle for women’s’ right to vote.
Reckon they ever got tired?
But they never gave up. They struggled their entire adult lives for more justice and freedom in America.
Our union, 1199 NUHHCE, just won two union elections in the last two days in Philly with another union election scheduled today–and two more elections yet to be scheduled. We are winning in Philly.
And we are winning in New Mexico. We will win a contract in Santa Fe. Every politician, activist, and organization of good will in town has fought on our side for a just contract and workplace.
But the foundation of our coming victory in Santa Fe has been organizing–building our membership from folks who could be intimidated to a strength that can’t be bullied. When workers started asking other workers to join on the job, and folks began to sign up at shift change, and when organizers started knocking on doors talking to folks in their kitchen or on the porch; our union grew to a force that cannot be beaten by this Texas bunch of bullies.
The strength for our unions and our movement is in our numbers and the necessity to mobilize. There is no short cut. There is no way around the fact that organizing is the foundation of victory.
We must step up and bring folks of good will together. We have to bring our co-workers together and organize for a much stronger movement that can make real our dreams, and make real an economy that works for all of us. We can have a cleaner environment and economy without jeopardizing a single job.
Image source: carolmcleodblog.wordpress.com