A little bit of this, a little bit of that (take 2)

As Thanksgiving came and went, Black Friday crowded streets that are generally desolate and Writers around the United States continue to win a PR war in their labor dispute, I spend time thinking of School Bus Workers trying to organize with the Teamsters, Delta Air Line Flight Attendants who desperately need to organize into the AFA and countless other disputes around the country.

The other day I posted to Union Review a piece about staying active during the holidays, but it appears that no one wanted to comment on that … My thought is that even among family and friends we can communicate what is taking place in and around the union movement in this country. I posted some links that lead boycott lists of hotels so folks can truly consider where they stay if not in their family’s spare room.

While I prepare to take on a new full-time job with an International union in Washington, DC I contemplate what I am going to do with WriteThrough.com — if anything at all. It would be ideal if there was a business-minded union worker who wanted to buy the site and its mission. It would be ideal if some business straggled in and I was able to consider myself having a part-time job … all these ideal scenarios and nothing is happening –and somehow I am sure there is a reason for that, just not certain what that reason is just yet.

With all the transitions taking place I had to take a part-time job driving. I am working at the old Holiday Inn (old in that I worked there years ago doing the same job). I am driving a passenger van/bus with airline pilots and crews to and from the airport … that’s it! The wages are horrible and the tips are pocket money for gas, cigarettes and my two bottles of beer per week. I like the work and found that talking unionization all day with the crews very rewarding. I have even taken it upon myself to contact the AFA to help them organize the Delta Flight Attendants. I hand out newsletters, sign up cards, and pins to anyone who wants them  … I am just about out of my little stock but won’t re-order them as I am leaving the job in less than 10 days to prepare for Washington.

It is interesting how I fall right back into “mode” when driving, lifting and … well, even organizing in a sense. It is like I never left this work … but the reality is that it has been years and years since I worked a vehicle of any size for anyone other than myself. This work does remind me of my small moving gig and I have to admit that I miss that more than anything else. Perhaps one day I will return to that … for now there are more important things calling me.

This is a real stream of conscious babble … I will close here.

Activism – debating the mainstream media

Unless there is some kind of odd trend going on, it appears that many workers that I meet are not even sure how they can be active in the union movement. What upsets me about this is that if the workers don’t know how they can be active then does this mean they are not being communicated with from the locals, stewards or organizers?

I am not sure who is reading this blog babbling that I am doing — but I can say this: If anyone wants to be active now they can watch how the mainstream media presents working people and labor disputes, and then speak up on Union Review and other like-minded blogs with our side of the story.

I am concerned more than worried that many people are about to see things in the media regarding the Waste Management strike in Los Angeles. The workers, today, decided to end the strike and go back to work — but this is not a victory at all. From what I understand, the workers got the shit scared out of them when they saw 40 spineless scab morons get hired. These people began to believe that the last offer the company made, which was rejected originally, was the best that they would get and feared they’d all lose their jobs to scabs.

Whether I agree with these workers and their decision is irrelevant, what is relevant, however, is how this will be played out in the press. I am concerned that the press will write of press releases the company will circulate saying that this is the best thing the workers did, that they provided a just and sound contract, etc. If you should see that kind of rhetoric know this: it is bullshit!

These workers will get some added wages but it is nothing in comparison to other municipalities of the same size. They did not get what they wanted and this final offer from the company should have, in my opinion, kept the workers striking and the local fighting for another round of negotiations – but that is just me. I am not supporting my family from Waste Management and if I were, who knows, maybe I would have broke too.

For now, if any worker interested in being more active in the union movement comes to the point of not knowing what they can do … I’d suggest starting with reading how the media will handle this story.