This is really just a heads-up to something I'll post after 6 p.m...I promised to wait.
And, anyway, it's Sunday, you should be out playing...or sweltering as the case may be for most of the East Coast. Me, I'm headed to the gym nice and early to get that over with. But, if you've got something to say, please do...
As long as Johnathan has taken leave for a couple of hours, here's what should happen at the convention. Sadly, never in this lifetime:
http://slaveway.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/965600035/m/9771096251
Posted by: Bill Pearson | June 26, 2005 at 09:17 AM
Seeing as the link didn't work, here's the article:
The AFL-CIO Convention…A Rebirth…
In the darkened cavern of the massive auditorium, the house lights are out. There is an eerie silence unlike any other AFL-CIO convention in years gone by. The delegates wait in stunned anticipation of the pending fight for labor’s future. Clearly, no one could have predicted this kind of dramatic opening.
Camera crews wait, focus and refocusing their expensive equipment; they had expected a far more conducive setting for the big show to be unveiled. There are nearly 100 media people in the audience, as the battle for control has drawn more attention than labor has gotten in the past 100 years.
Then in the stillness from the back of the room comes a mournful tune, a somber song of sadness, quietly reminding folks of a funeral procession once attended. It should, as the initial view of anyone stirring is the first black, robed figure carrying a single candle. She is followed by 100 hundred more, all quietly singing the sweet sounding Amazing Grace.
Not a soul in the audience knew this was coming. As the Gospel group works its way to the stage, the procession is joined by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney; followed closely by Richard Trumka and Linda Chavez-Thompson. All are dressed in conservative black attire, all befitting that of a funeral service of the highest order.
Well it should be. The 71-year-old leader has seen the future, listened to the debate, and decided any real hope isn’t entrapped in wasted half measures or a house divided by petty jealousies. His charge is to create a vision that will move labor back to the position of prominence it once long ago held.
As he climbs the stairs to the elevated stage, surrounded by the choir and his closest officers, he stands next to a simple wooden coffin. Nothing ornate, just a plain wooden box resting alongside the microphone; its mysterious placement a wonder to virtually everyone, and with the house lights rising, everyone in the room is too shocked to speak.
With the songs end, President Sweeney steps to the mic, it was the moment everyone is waiting for. Again to everyone’s surprise, Sweeney welcomes both press and delegate alike, and then immediately turns the floor over to a fiery black Baptist minister prone to speeches laced with the possibilities of a better hereafter.
Appropriate. His opening is a startling ceremony where it is abundantly clear, there is a proclamation of death. Long lamenting the deterioration of conditions for workers, the assault of those who have lived their lives with little more than the collection of wealth is attacked with a vengeance. Greed, the CEO’s and anyone else who have placed profits ahead of people are the targets. No matter, to the right or left of center, his oratory is clear; our society today is devoid of any real sense of social or economic justice.
By now, the crowd is getting into his emotional pitch; his fervor has animated even the most stoic union leader. The question is on everyone’s mind, is this just another cheap trick to get people pumped over more spin doctoring by the powers-that-be? Is there no depth they will stoop to? Is re-election so important they will use some sort of George Bush type morality and hype to achieve their control?
The good reverend concludes his remarks amidst thunderous applause; there is no question, the crowd is into whatever is going to happen. Sweeney steps forward, the usually sullen and quiet leader has a look of anticipation and excitement, unusual for someone who knows he is facing a crowd who is only half with him.
In the background, the angry sound of the old Rocky movie Eye Of The Tiger is beginning to swell. The choir silenced by the lack of vocals rises and begins a wildly enthusiastic clapping, urging the crowd to join in. It’s infectious. The place is bedlam. What the hell is going on? The camera’s are rolling and the footage is to die for. The video will be replayed on news stations for months to come.
When the song dies, President Sweeney strides to the casket and with one swift kick, topples it. In a carefully choreographed scene, his lavaliere has freed him from any need for the wired mic and he pronounces with a flourish never witnessed in his lifetime “Business unionism is dead, long live workers rights!”
The crowd is aghast. They haven’t seen anything yet. The savvy old man of labor knows he has the crowd in the palm of his hand, now can he capitalize on the moment? Having spent the majority of his life representing workers, he has had an awakening; he knows it’s not about him…or any other leader for that matter. He knows the importance of returning organized labor to its roots…the workers.
The biggest surprise is yet to come. As the crowd quiets, he looks jubilantly at each and everyone and announces in a voice never before heard, “this movement has never been about one leader, it is bigger than that, and no one man should tear it apart.” Expecting an all out assault on Andy Stern and the NUPer’s, the audience becomes deadly silent. Now the real battle will begin.
“ I am hereby announcing my retirement, and want my legacy to be the man who helped shape labor’s future by putting us on the right track; the return to an era where the AFL-CIO’s only priority was/is caring about what is happening to working women and men.” You could have heard a feather hit the floor. No one, not a single soul in the auditorium was anticipating this move.
While the boys who thought they would be players in the power game sat stunned, the majority of delegates were wild with glee over the totally unexpected events. Not to let the crowd down, Sweeney announced the AFL-CIO would get out of politics and let each local and international chart their own course and level of participation in the political process. The new role for the AFL-CIO and the central bodies would be worker empowerment. They would begin immediately to build worker empowerment centers. They would be safe havens where all workers would be welcomed, with attorney’s available, ongoing education, and provide worker support.
In years to come they would also house food shelves, day care, online continuing education and a virtual think tank for building a progressive and resurgent labor movement. It was a story of salvation and a message of hope. It was so vastly different from anything in labors’ recent past, those in attendance felt the energy flow through the room. Even the media folks were on their feet. For the first time in their lifetime, they saw the possibilities of what the collective force of millions of workers could be.
President Sweeney knew this was his moment in the sun. Not to let the opportunity go by the wayside, he brought his nominee for replacement to the stage. Rich Trumka strode to the podium, looking like the leader he was when he led the mineworkers in the Pittson fight. He too understood, it was his time to shine, to move to a better place. With a renewed spirit and fervor, both he and the proposed Secretary Treasurer Linda Chavez-Thompson left the stage and joined the crowd to speak, their images dancing on the giant monitors for the nation and the audience to see.
Their words weren’t hollow empty rhetoric spoken from afar. They looked in the eyes of delegates and leaders alike and strongly stated, “the days of the biz unionists feeding off members must end.” He announced every AFL-CIO officer and staff would have salaries adjusted so as better conform to wages similar to what workers were making. Their short-term goal was to help all affiliates arrive at an equitable salary structure based on comparable worth related to members’ salaries.
The biz unionists in the crowd were livid. Those who saw their dream of living the good life at the expense of the member were dashed. The boys who saw their hopes of becoming the new power brokers on the block were smashed and broken by the most dramatic and innovative proposals ever witnessed. It mattered not; there would be nothing they could do about it.
The brilliance of inviting the massive number of media was now apparent. While they came in hopes of the battle of a lifetime, they left with a sense of solidarity and a belief that organized labor had moved from an institution to a true movement. They had recorded it and it would play and resonate with workers across the land.
As the lights went down, the choir rose and in jubilation they started to sing, Solidarity Forever…and for the first time in a long time, it held the possibility of actually being the way it was originally meant to be: Economic and Social justice for all.
Posted by: Bill Pearson | June 26, 2005 at 09:20 AM
one month to go to decide the fate of the american labor movement.
Posted by: Doug | June 26, 2005 at 10:45 AM
If only it were this easy...
Posted by: Janet | June 27, 2005 at 10:21 AM
some people are saying that the NEA move has more to do with their conflict with the AFT
Posted by: bud | June 28, 2005 at 01:29 AM
Having taken your advice Johnathan, i read the Edifice, and it was a wonderfully written piece and right on the mark. In light of the current ministrations, it was ahead of its time and i would encourage anyone who hasn't read it to click on the link; i think you will be amazed.
The article was written 10 years ago. Things have gotten far worse for organized labor, yet your comments now seem more reportive than they were in the Edifice. It does give rise to several questions:
1). How was this article received by the power structure (AFL-CIO, Internationals, central bodies) when it was released?
2). Given the plunge since you wrote it, do you still feel as strong as you did, and are you still suggesting we need take these kinds of drastic steps?
3). Do you see the fight that is going on as too little, too late? Are they going far enough?
Thanks, Bill.
2).
Posted by: Bill Pearson | June 28, 2005 at 08:47 AM