It is a matter of fact that most of what we hear about on trade unions in the United States' media stream generally deals with negative stuff that perpetuates the perception that anything and everything union is bad. Whether that negativity comes from people who are anti-union because they don't know what it is all about, or it comes from within our own ranks - rarely do we hear anything positive about labor unions in this country.
My goal here is to combat that negativity and share a little of what I'd been up to in the last five days. I believe that if anyone who reads this happened to be with me throughout the trip, they'd change their minds about how unions really work, and work together.
The journey began on May 1 in NYC (I took an Amtrak from DC). I was with Margurete Frasier, an employee of the New York City Housing Authority and member of Teamsters Local Union 237. Frasier was one of 3,000-plus Teamsters who were joined with workers from other unions and housing advocates at a rally outside City Hall Park; a protest to raise awareness of the Bush Administration budget cuts, which continues to under-fund the NYCHA and continues to make it almost impossible for Frasier to do her job.
Though Frasier handles the pest control, changing out of light bulbs and maintenance at one of the 440 projects in NY, she doesn't have the supplies to do her work. "We are short on man power, and we have no supplies to do janitorial or extermination work," she told me.
Teamsters Local 237, which represents 8,000 NYCHA employees working in the City's housing projects, organized the spirited event to raise awareness of the fact that after eight years of budget slashing valued at $611 million, the fate of New York's public housing is in grave jeopardy.
Rosa Vazquez, another NYCHA employee and Local 237 member working in the Millbrook Houses in the Bronx says, "I have to use my own money to buy Clorox and whatever else is needed." She says that she is not reimbursed, and doesn't care if she is; her primary concern, just like her coworker Marguerite, is that her work gets done every day that she goes to work. "I need the building clean and so I do what I need to do," she said.
When you looked around at the rally that spring day, you could see a sea of NYCHA workers, all of whom were not very far from a group of AFSCME workers who were not very far from SEIU workers. There were members of DC 37 represented, and senior citizen residents of the projects who came to the microphone to tell the workers that they are appreciated.
There is a lot to say about the budget cuts in NY and how it hits me right at home (I was raised in City Housing in Flushing). There is a lot to say about the attitude that these workers have ... that attitude of: We do what we need to do and do the best that we can under the circumstances. There is an equal amount to say about the fact this was not just a Teamster issue ... this was an issue that was yelled about by all of the unions mentioned, advocacy groups and residents - in other words, a community came together to speak up and get heard; and in that, they're victorious.
I returned to DC and on May 3, I met with the DC Democratic State Committee. I was honored to be part of a panel that presented blogging to folks interested. "The 411 on Blogging" held a serious labor slant and, therefore, it included Joe W (a Steamfitter from NYC who has a fantastic labor blog), Tula Connell (the Managing Editor of AFL-CIO Now), Kirsta -- (who blogs labor stuff on her own site, as well as on Daily Kos - not to mention a gaggle of other sites), and myself (I publish Union Review and work in the Communications Department at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters).
The four of us were not only representing our respective unions and labor federations. Instead, we were there to spread the word about spreading the word. We set people up with email accounts, got them Blogger usernames and passwords, and answered any questions they might have. The group in the workshop had all different skill sets and experiences with the Internet, the keyboard and blogs. I believe that by the time we left the workshop, everyone had at least enough information to move a step further online than they could have when they walked in ...
This is what it is about at the core of the union movement. People coming together from different organizations, trades, skills and giving away the services that are needed and wanted by anyone interested enough to ask ...
Though I was unable to rest much between Saturday and Sunday, I got on a plane to Chicago yesterday (the fourth) so I could be present for an event that truly seals my whole notion that when the unions work together, anything is possible.
Let me explain.
Today in Dwight, Illinois there was a media day hosted by the Chicago Teamsters and Illinois Veterans Foundation; an event to celebrate the supporters of the Lori Fraher Project.
Lori Fraher is a gold star mother who lost her only son, Lance Corporal Ray Holzhauer, in Iraq on March 15, 2007. While attending the soldier's funeral, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn was asked to assist Lori with some construction problems at her home. One year later, the Teamsters and Will Grundy Building Trades are building Lori and her daughter a brand new home. The house should be completed by September of this year.
This is a project that ties in a lot of organizations and a lot of unions. It ties in a lot of dedicated workers and apprentices working on their first job, one which they will never forget as they go forward in their trade.
Teamster Local Union President Mike Yauger, a veteran himself, works as the liaison between the International Union and an organization called Helmets to Hardhats, affectionately known as "H2H." With the fierce determination to help this family, Yauger and H2H brought together trades people from unions representing Carpenters, Plumbers, Electricians, Pipe Fitters, Drivers, Millwrights ... and many others. There was not one individual at the worksite today that was not part of one union or another - regardless of the local, jurisdiction, the Joint Council, Central Labor Council or Federation ... everyone came together to focus on one ultimate goal: building a new home for a woman who lost her heroic son to the war.
As the housing project residents came out to show their appreciation of the workers at the rally in NY, the neighbors and surrounding community in Dwight, including its mayor, came out to thank the workers and the unions involved. One family went as far as making everyone hotdogs and homemade cookies to feed the workers. The Marines were there to raise flags in honor of their fallen comrade, and then told the audience of media people that this event in Dwight is the largest of its kind ... It is all due to the hard work and dedication of the union trades coming together for one singular cause. It was a good day to be part of that larger whole, and that much I can assure you.
Yes, there is a lot that we can wax about the war. Yes, we can discuss why this tiny little Illinois town of 4,335 people (with FOR SALE signs all over the homes) has so many service members (84 young men and women serving in our military come from this small American town). We can even talk about how these unions are not known to have the best relations with one another ... instead, we need to focus on the fact that with whatever bad blood there is or how it will be resolved, everyone put their "stuff" behind them so that they can roll up their sleeves and get to work.
When anyone wonders what it is like to be union in this country, point them to the folks working out here in Dwight. Tell them about maintenance workers at the NYCHA who buy their own supplies. Tell them about bloggers giving up their weekend to talk to strangers about creating their own media. Tell those that wonder what we are all about that until we have more advocates in the media and government, it is likely they will never know about any of these events from sitting in front of CNN or news engines of its kind.