Subject: [big campaign] New Huff Post from Creamer-We Are All Part of the Labor Movement Now
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Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:25:07 -0500 (EST)
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We Are All Part of the LaborMovement Now
 
     Speaking to acheering crowd of eight to ten thousand outside of Chicago’s State of IllinoisBuilding Saturday, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees(AFSCME) Deputy Director Roberta Lynch said, “whether you are a member of alabor union or not, we are allmembers of the labor movement now.”
 
     She was deadon.  In a matter of less than a month,since Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker declared war on the right of publicservice employees to organize and negotiate the terms of their employment, thepublic’s perception of organized labor has fundamentally changed.
 
     For many whopreviously believed that unions were just another “special interest” they nowrepresent a labor movement that isfighting for the rights of middle class Americans. 
 
     The struggle hasbecome a movement because the battle is no longer simply about dollars andcents – it is about principle.  It isabout rights.  As the AFSCME banners sayin Madison: “It’s about freedom.”
 
      The battle ofWisconsin – and all of the other states where right wing governors have trainedtheir sites on public employee unions – is no longer just a struggle over wagesand benefits.  It’s no longer about the“state budget”.  It has become a struggleabout the dignity of middle class Americans – about the principle of whethereveryday people have the right to sitat a bargaining table and have a say about their wages, their workingconditions, and their jobs.  It hasbecome a symbol for the desperate desire of everyday Americans to stand upstraight and fight back against the forces that are destroying the middleclass. 

      Walkerintentionally transformed this battle into a struggle over principle byrefusing to accept Wisconsin union member’s willingness to take cuts insalaries and benefits in order to balance the state budget.  Instead he has insisted on strippingeveryday, middle class Americans of their right to have a say.
 
      Luckily for thefuture of the middle class – the labor unions – and the millions of others whoare now part of the new, broader “labor movement” have risen to the challenge. 
 
     As USActionPresident William McNary said, in an inspired speech to the crowd in Chicago, thisis a battle about human dignity the same way that the garbage worker’s fightfor union recognition in Memphis, Tennessee in April of 1968 was a struggle forhuman dignity.  That was the battle thatdrew Dr. Martin Luther King to Memphis to make his famous “I’ve been to themountain top” speech – just before he was gunned down by James Earl Ray.  
 
      Martin LutherKing inspired the world by his sacrifice in Memphis 43 years ago.  He was there to champion precisely the cause that has become the center of the struggle inWisconsin. 
 
     The movement –the new labor movement – has spread like wildfire across America.  
 
     SaturdayMoveOn.org and its allies like USAction – together with public employee unions,teachers unions – and labor organizations of all shorts – organized rallies to supportthe workers in Wisconsin in everystate capitol and most major cities.  Hundreds of thousands participated. 
 
     Usually rallieslike this take months of planning and require hundreds of busses to assure turnout.  These rallies were organized onseveral days’ notice. People told their neighbors who told theirneighbors.  The on-line tools that havehelped turbo-charge the movement for democracy in the Arab world allowednotices of rallies to go out in seconds. 
 
     The turn out wasabout the wide spread anger at what Governor Walker has proposed – but mainly itwas because people were inspired by the resolve of the workers in Wisconsin –and the Democratic State Senators who have stood their ground.
 
      Movements arenot primarily about material self-interest. They are mainly about spiritual self-interest.  They are about inspiration – about being partof something meaningful – about making history – about empowerment – aboutfreedom.
 
     The Obamacampaign inspired millions.  It engagedtheir hunger for meaning and purpose – for empowerment and hope.  It wasn’t mainly about what they thoughtabout Barack Obama – or what he could do for them.  It was about how he made them feel aboutthemselves – about what they themselves could achieve.
 
     In the two yearssince President Obama’s Inauguration, America had lost that feeling in thedifficult struggle to dig out of the Great Recession and the “sausage making”of political battle in Congress. 
 
     In the lastmonth, many Americans have found it once again. 
 
      The people inChicago Saturday were from every ethnic group. They were veterans of the Progressive Movement and they were kids forwhom this was the first experience of the feeling that comes when you’re partof something historic. 
 
     The radical rightwing Republicans decided to strike now to destroy organized labor.  They wanted to destroy it because it is theonly institution in the country that prevents Wall Street and the largest internationalcorporations from having their way with America.   Organized labor is the only organizationthat can simultaneously stand up for the middle class at the bargaining tableand the ballot box. 
 
     But by makingtheir play to destroy unions they risked something that from their point ofview is much worse – a reborn labor movement – one that involves labor unionmembers – and millions of others throughout America.  
 
      The rightgambled that it could make policemen, firefighters, teachers and nurses intothe “ greedy welfare queens” of our time – scapegoats for America’s economicwoes.  Fortunately, most Americans seepolicemen, firefighters, teachers and nurses as their neighbors – asbreadwinners for middle class families that are just like them.  Turns out it’s tough to make cops,firefighters, teachers and nurses into villains.
 
     Instead ofcreating political momentum to destroy unions, the right has sparked its worstnightmare – the rebirth of the labor movement.
 
      On his way tothe Chicago rally, and AFSCME staffer was stopped by a young woman in a parkinggarage.  She asked him about the AFSCMEinsignia on his jacket.  “Are you part ofthe organization that’s defending the workers in Wisconsin?” she asked.
 
     “I’m an organizerfor the union, “ he responded. 
 
     “Very cool! I’dlike to do that too,” said the young woman. That wasn’t exactly the idea was it Governor Walker. 
 
Robert Creamer is a long-timepolitical organizer and strategist, and author of the book:  Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win,available on Amazon.com.

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