My father left college in 1972 to return to Gary, IN. He left behind his education and independence to take care of my grandmother, who was sick at the time. Like many people during that time, he got a job at one of the steel mills in the area, becoming the breadwinner in the household. Six years later, dad married mom, who already had three children. That same year I was born, and two years later my little brother. With no hope of returning to college with a family, dad continued to work at the mill, managing on just his paycheck to buy a home and provide us with the things we needed. Life was not perfect. In fact we ate a lot of beans and cornbread, and mom sewed a lot of our clothes. Despite supporting a household of seven, my dad and later my mom, made sure we did decent. I have the life I have today: security, an education, and a sense of pride, because my father\'s job allowed my dad to be there for me. I have the life I have today because my dad is in a union.
In today\'s world, the working class does not have that opportunity. Instead of jobs in manufacturing, people like my parents find themselves supporting a family on a wage from jobs in retail stores, janitorial work, and hotels. In my days as an organizer with the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees Union (HERE), it was not uncommon to hear of workers who worked two to three jobs. Many lived in the most impoverished neighborhoods, with their children living in constant danger because their parents were too busy working to take care of them. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, as productivity increased in this country, wages decreased. Congress and our current president believe that if poor people just work harder, they can have the American dream. Sadly, millions of working people in this country are struggling just to get by. And millions more aren\'t even that lucky.
So how do we change this? Sure we can read, educate others, and lecture about the ills of society. But addressing these problems is only 10 percent of the battle. To really move people to fight for better lives for themselves and their families, we have to hit folks where it matters: their paychecks. And to do that we have to organize people in their workplaces. People need unions. Unions need organizers.
Starting in 1954, union membership as a percentage of the work force began to decline. Under constant attack from corporations, membership shrank from it\'s historic high of 35 % of the workforce down to 13%. In 1989, a group of union organizers came together to figure out how to turn things around and once again prioritize organizing in the labor movement. Led by Richard Benzinger, they started the Organizing Institute (OI), an organizer training program for union members and prospective organizers. For years the OI operated independently but in 1996 the newly elected John Sweeny, brought the OI within the structure of the AFL-CIO, giving it a stable base of funding and organizational support.
In 1997, the Organizing Institute expanded its focus to include not only rank and file members, but also young people who really and truly want to affect change. Since its creation, thousands of people have gone through this program. Through campus and community recruitment alone, 279 people have graduated from the OI, and are now working as organizers with unions like SEIU, AFSCME, HERE, and UNITE. This year alone, over 500 people from campus and community groups have attended the OI, and over 80 are in the field making change.
Although many great changes have taken place within the labor movement in recent years, it is not and probably will not be uniformly progressive or radical any time soon. It remains decentralized and fragmented with some unions leading the charge for social justice and all workers rights and some supporting the right wing war agenda of Bush. Racism, sexism and homophobia still influence the dynamics of labor organizing, both in the workforce and on staff. In fact, every negative social problem created by capitalism can find an expression in the labor movement.
The great inescapable fact about the labor movement is that despite its weaknesses and flaws it is the most vital and viable movement for lasting social change that the working class has. It is here that women and people of color must fight to make our voices heard and take leadership roles. It is, after all, our movement, triumphs and failures. And it is our challenge to get involved and make it live up to it\'s historic potential. Nobody\'s gonna do it for us.
Some times it may seem as if the odds are stacked against young radical people to be in this movement, but that is why labor needs you now more then ever. The greatest struggles in this world would not have been nearly as great, if it weren\'t for young people. The Civil Rights Movement, the Women\'s Movement, and the fight for Gay, Lesbian and Transgendered rights would not have been possible if more young people with progressive and revolutionary political ideas did not take up a form of leadership. The labor movement itself, experienced it\'s greatest growth and influence in the 30s and 40s when communists, socialists and progressives of different stripes came together to organize workers and link workers rights with the growing social movement of the unemployed and racially oppressed. Young people played key roles in these fights.
Slowly but surely, more progressive locals are popping up, organizing and educating workers, hiring and keeping people of color and female organizers. These successful and progressive locals are also holding on to young organizers. This movement is not perfect, but its one of the few movements where you can noticeably see the difference you make in a person\'s life.
The labor movement needs a revolution and the people willing to role up their sleeves to organize it. This movement needs young people energetic and passionate enough to do the difficult work that organizing demands and humble enough to know they have a lot to learn. In the constitution of the IWW, it states that \"There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people.\" I invite you, if you truly believe in the fight for the working class, to take up your armor and become a union organizer. More people like my dad need to be able to provide for their families.
For more information about the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute, check out the web site atwww.organize.aflcio.org.
Ms. McDade currently finished the recruiting season with OI. She resides in her hometown of Gary, Indiana.
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Dynamic Magazine
