The Way I See It: Perspectives on the Labor Movement From the People in It
“That’s what our rep is doing. She’s trying hard to show union members she’s concerned with their welfare. You know how it is with management and labor. Management tries to squeeze out what they can squeeze out. Our rep is there to prevent it. That’s what I try to explain to members. We have a new representative. With more time and positive results she can get back employees to be active. Right now they are very glad she is there. . . . Management asks them to work beyond their capacity to do it and they couldn’t get support and they lost faith. But if there’s something to grab hold of when they’re in the corner, it’s better. Before, management won all the cases. They didn’t feel secure in the job. That’s how they felt” Union steward.
I watch the ones who need to drink and they are like me, coming to this place with dreams and ideas and then having nowhere to put them because this place wants neither. Our job is a daily fight to change the world, to fight injustice, to win for the underdog. I didn’t pick this fight. I was thrown into the ring and told to swing. Being an organizer or a union representative, a union steward or even a social activist is the socially-acceptable, non-dysfunctional way to fight back against every economic, psychological, or physical ghost we’ve ever known. So when we stumble over the hypocrisy of “leaders” and slam up against the bureaucracy of “the movement” it makes our ears ring and our stomachs go sour and we don’t know where else to go.
“Even with being competent, to represent people with problems you have to have compassion. Without compassion, you can’t represent them. Everything is black and white and no gray area. . . . Sometimes I’m very disappointed. As a Local we should have done a lot more for people we already have as members. I’m discouraged we’re not further along representing these people than we are. . . . And you know what? We need to organize–stewards and reps can’t do it by themselves, but if we can’t have victories to share with them, how can they share that with non-union people? If I’m union and you’re non-union, you see union employees fired–. . . that gives a bad image to the union. That we’re representing them and the union is a target. If we can’t get our members back, people look at us and say it doesn’t pay to belong to the union. . . . The hospital doesn’t have separate sick time and other time. Eighty percent [of terminations] are unjust. You shouldn’t be terminated for sick time. An employee with breast cancer was terminated for unavailability.” Union steward.
I am one of the lucky ones. I work for a local union leadership that lets me be; so long as the complaints from members don’t get to their desks I don’t get called into their offices. But I know from the lazy bastards who came before me just how little attention the membership has come to expect, just how low the standards are, and it’s like climbing a ladder of sand to try to maintain higher standards.
“I get fucking angry about that. . . There’s no place for people like that. . . . We’re going to loose [a “shop”]. We’ll spend a lot of time next week. A sweetheart contract. [A previous rep] signed the contract. Increase in 92. Nothing in 93, 94, 95. It expires. Nothing was done til the president said ‘go do something.’ How could you represent membership like that? How could you represent people with families? No increase in four years. As difficult as this job is, there’s time for everyone. People like that [previous rep] should be ashamed of themselves.” Union rep.
Then there are the times when that one member, maybe he’s a janitor or a window washer, turns on me because he sees–despite the new face–the same person who has filled that job for 40 years. He has worked hard and well for 20 years, never a problem, never a need for the union, except for that paycheck and those benefits he’s come to expect. It was part of the deal, he figured, pay his dues, get his union pay. But now he’s in it deep–he’s been laid off. It doesn’t matter that I’ve spent a week struggling for him, cussing at management that won’t follow the contract, organizing and coordinating worksite leaders to help, soliciting advice from attorneys, calling in chips from anyone to win him back his job quickly. I’ve pulled out every stop, and I have failed. We’ll have to file a grievance. We’ll have to go through every step. We’ll have to take it to arbitration. It’ll take six months, maybe a year before we get the answer.