Found at: http://www.yclusa.org/article/articleprint/1663/-1/301/
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Student Labor Action Project - Thoughts on Solidarity
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Top level
Dynamic Magazine
Back Issues
2005 - March
A movement is on the horizon. Since the late nineties, the work of organizations like the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), and Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) has created a resurgence in the alliance between students and labor.
A movement is on the horizon. Since the late nineties, the work of organizations like the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), and Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) has created a resurgence in the alliance between students and labor. More and more, students across the nation are realizing that the struggles for worker’s rights, immigrant’s rights, access to education, and universal healthcare are one. However, in order for the 21st century student-labor movement to take flight, U.S. labor unions must make clear that the dark parts of their history, including corruption and racism, are giving way to a hopeful future.
“What is a labor union?� “Don’t unions hate Latinos?� “I heard that union dues pay for the union leader’s houses�
“Why is the entire executive council of my union white?�
Unfortunately, in my work as a student-labor organizer I have found these and other controversial questions surprisingly common. The labor movement in this country has an important and complex history, spanning some of the most important struggles for racial justice and workers rights. But in the period before the mid-1990’s, the AFL-CIO wore a stained reputation as anti-immigrant, racist, and corrupt, amongst other non-flattering adjectives. However, more recently the labor movement has made a complete 90-degree turn, boasting a pro-minority and pro-immigrant political platform. Moreover, minority representation amongst union executives has increased dramatically over the past ten years and this newer, more inclusive union leadership has ‘cleaned shop,’ ridding the labor movement of the corruption that disabled it for generations. Yet, despite such progressive reforms, union density in the US is at an all time low. Activists hope that one of the positive by-products of strong student-labor solidarity will be a growth in union membership and power.
Last year during the Fifth Annual National Student Labor Week of Action (an event held yearly from March 31-April 4 commemorating the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and Cesar Chavez Day) over 10,000 students and workers organized over 300 events in support of the struggle for social and economic justice. Student-labor groups protested corporations such as Taco Bell and Coca-Cola; showed video screenings of At the River I Stand, a film commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; held teach-ins; and stood with workers in solidarity through local organizing campaigns. And throughout the year this solidarity continues. In Chicago students are demanding university-wide codes of conduct toward workers that will guarantee the fair and equal treatment of all workers by university administrators and in university-wide policies. In New York students are fighting to raise the minimum wage. Graduate students around the country are fighting for their own right to organize.
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photo courtesy of the writer
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There are many positive examples of how student groups and labor unions can work together. In 2003, when CUNY students were facing tuition hikes and financial aid cuts, labor unions including the CUNY-Professional Staff Congress came out in droves to support students. In many cities, Jobs with Justice has engaged and participated in student-led and student-run campaigns.
Still, in order for a vibrant student-labor movement to last, this list needs to grow. Labor unions in general can do much, much more to reciprocate student groups’ willingness to form mutually beneficial relationships.
Particularly I recommend that labor unions:
• Involve students in the planning and decision-making processes of local campaigns where the students will be called upon for support.
• Engage students and youth on the issues that they are working on at their universities and in their communities.
• Offer more resources to student groups engaged in the battle for economic justice.
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photo courtesy of the writer
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Pursuing any of these options will not only encourage trust of labor unions amongst student organizations, which is necessary for a strong student-labor movement. This kind of support will also contribute to the development of strong and sustainable student organizations.
More and more labor organizations are realizing that what Marx called the “cycle of injustice that brings harm to the worker� also harms students, people of color, women, queer people, and many others. The labor movement must now make this realization visible.
Carl Lipscombe is the National Coordinator of the Student Labor Action Project
The time for action is upon us!
NATIONAL STUDENT LABOR WEEK OF ACTION
March 31 – April 4, 2005
Nationwide, the ‘corporatization’ of higher education is becoming a reality. Each year wealthy corporations reap generous profits from U.S. colleges and universities. Unfortunately, while these corporations make millions the working class suffers.
The rising cost of college tuition, federal and state financial aid cuts, and harsh anti-immigration policies have made it almost impossible for many students for many students to attend college. And while the salaries of university administrators are on the rise, attacks on workers’ rights, increasing pay cuts, lack of healthcare, unsafe and unsanitary working conditions and glass ceilings have made the campus work place all but ‘ivy league.’ Sisters and brothers, it’s time for us to take back our campuses!
For these reasons and many more, students and workers will unite this spring to celebrate the Sixth Annual National Student Labor Week of Action. From March 31- April 4, 2005 we will commemorate the lives of Cesar Chavez and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as we highlight the plight of campus workers nationwide. We invite you to join us as we demand:
• Living wages for all campus employees;
• University codes of conduct that support worker’s rights;
• An end to union-busting tactics used by college administrators;
• The right to organize and bargain collectively for ALL campus workers;
AND MUCH MORE!
If you would like to participate in this year’s National Student Labor Week of Action:
You can e-mail
slap@usstudents.org for more information.
www.jwj.org/SLAP/slap.htm
www.usas.net
