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Fighting for the right to organize
Fighting for justice in the workplace is at the core of much of the work of Jobs with Justice local coalitions. Our efforts in this arena have yielded many exciting true labor-community collaborations and significant victories along the way. The experience of Jobs with Justice has been that locally based campaigns that connect labor, community, student, and religious allies at the front-end of worker organizing efforts are not only more effective but lay the groundwork for developing a powerful, ongoing movement.
"On June 16, I was arrested along with nine other men and women for sitting in front of the elevator at the Exchange Building. We were peacefully protesting the Exchange Building's use of National Maintenance Contractors," Seattle WA Local 76-493 member and activist Libby Poole-Pressely said in a statement she made after being arrested with nine other community activists who were part of a protest against National Building Maintenance. The ten activists who were arrested were among 300 people who participated in a "Justice for Janitors" rally commemorating International Justice for Janitors Day. Here is the rest of Libby's inspiring story:
"Why I Chose to Be Arrested" by Libby Poole Presseley, AFM Local 76-493
After being taken to the Seattle Police Department West Precinct and held there for about an hour, we were taken to the King County Jail and booked there. We were charged with trespassing and reckless endangerment and finally got bailed out at about 3:00 am.
Why would anyone choose to be arrested? Why would I, a musician, choose to be arrested at a Justice for Janitors demonstration? As a person who participated in several marches and demonstrations growing up, I had seen the effectiveness of peaceful group demonstrations. But a quarter of a century later I was reminded of this in a dramatic and powerful way.
As the musicians' union approached our strike against the Fifth Avenue Theatre, we felt that we had done good groundwork, trying to organize the musicians in town to support our cause. But it was hard not to feel a little hopeless as we faced an employer who was not budging, who had slick lawyers and seemed to have "big business" on his side.
But when I showed up for our first huge rally, I was floored. Here were hundreds of people helping us in a stunning show of labor and community solidarity. After a week of protests, management hired back the AFM members and the show was allowed to go on. To us striking musicians, it felt like magic, to have the power of that many people behind us. And I have no illusions about what kind of contract we would have had, if we had not had that support on an ongoing basis.
To me, Jobs with Justice exemplifies solidarity. If a single union demonstrates the power of group action, then a coalition like Jobs with Justice multiplies that power. I feel a personal responsibility to return that power to the collective by helping out when I can.
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