The Final Call

Conference Addresses Responsibility Of Labor Unions

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WASHINGTON— Over 1,000 AFL-CIO members from all around the country met January 15-18 for the largest Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Event of its kind in the country for the second year in a row.

The conference, ‘Change the Rules, Be the Power’, examined major issues facing its members including gender justice, criminal justice reforms, movement building and racial justice and discussed solutions they can take back to their cities to implement.

“A survey was done and people were asked if given the opportunity would they join a labor union. Eight out of 10 African Americans said yes, six out of 10 Latinos said yes and two out of 10 Whites said yes,” Tefere Gebre, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President said at conference’s Town Hall ‘Meeting, Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: Ending Criminalization in Our Community’.

“People who want to join a union are the most locked up. Then they have to check a box which prevents them from joining a union. This is one of the reasons why the Labor Movement is against mass incarceration. We are fighting for our very survival. We have a responsibility to save the poor, workers and immigrants.”

The AFL-CIO is the umbrella federation for U.S. unions, with 56 unions representing 12.5 million working men and women. They work to ensure that all people who work receive the rewards of their work—decent paychecks and benefits, safe jobs, respect and fair treatment.

A. Phillip Randolph, who organized the first predominantly Black Labor Union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925, connected Labor Unions and the Civil Rights Movement.

Labor unions often provided legal and financial help to Dr. King when he was jailed for protesting racism and injustice. The famous 1963 March on Washington, organized by Mr. Randolph, included union members. Dr. King was assassinated while in Memphis helping striking sanitation workers.

Mr. Dorsey Nunn who attended the conference, was attracted to the AFL-CIO after he read about A. Phillip Randolph’s work while incarcerated. “I have a right to feed my family. I have a right to house my family. How many diff erent ways are they going to change the question to discriminate against us. First it was, ‘Are you a Negro?’, now it’s, ‘Are you a felon?’ ”, he said at the town hall meeting.

“Was my labor important when I made less than eight cents an hour? That’s state sanctioned slavery. Where do I fit in your world when you’re talking about labor conditions and I’m talking about access to a job? Those of us who’ve been shut out of the labor market, crime is not our first choice. It’s our last resort.” He explained that many of the formerly incarcerated have been organizing but they are not unionized. There are 70 million Americans with a criminal record and seven million under the control of the criminal justice system.

Terry Melvin, President of the Black Trade Unionists told the crowd at the town hall meeting, “I’m a pissed off Black man. I’ve been pissed off for a long time. I get mad when I see someone getting wrongfully arrested or treated bad. I get pissed off when I don’t see the labor movement that I’ve given 30 years to not having the leadership to change things.”

“The movement is not about getting a paycheck. It’s about helping people who cannot help themselves. We have to be about making change in our society. I’m sick and tired of the oppression in our community. We’re all immigrants. We all came on one boat or another.”

What can union members do to combat these issues?” he asked panelists.

“Look carefully at the leadership in front of you. Do they look like you? Do they advocate for your issues? If not consider running for a union office,” responded Maria Elena Durazzo, Vice President of Unite Here.

“We have to live and create a movement to help others. We have to learn to respond not just to self-interests but because it’s who we are. We have to reflect our values to increase our power. … We have to do far more workplace organizing. I don’t care what you look like, where you came from or what you do, we are going to fight this together.

The problem is our communities are far removed from the labor movement.” The conference weekend included community service projects, workshops and an awards ceremony that honored D. C. Delegate to U.S. Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Guest speakers included AFL-CIO Executive Officers, a diverse group of community activists including Movement for Black Lives Activist Bree Newsome (scaled the flagpole in South Carolina to remove the Confederate flag) and Dorsey Nunn, All of Us or None of Us- Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.