As someone with questionable judgment, or possibly a glutton
for punishment, I have gone out on “political casual” assignment for this
mid-term election cycle. For the uninitiated, this means I’ll spend the next 90
or so days: talking to Union workers about the candidates/issues, leafleting at
plants, phone banking, knocking doors, and generally stumping for labor
friendly candidates. Seems mundane, right? But, me being someone who is
passionate about both the Labor movement and politics, it’s the proverbial “no-
brainer”, I love this shit. Question my sanity all you want, but I really DIG
stuff like this.
But,
and this is a very big but, as most of my “seasoned” compatriots can tell you,
one of the first things you do, besides reaching out to staff, is contacting
local Union presidents, and this is where you first encounter the dreaded “B”
word—Blowback.
All of
us have heard it—“my guys don’t get into politics”, “they don’t want to hear
about insert name here”, “this political stuff is just going to divide
us more, shouldn’t we be concerned more about solidarity”, or the oft implied,
but never verbalized, “hey I’m not gonna
come right out and say it…but please fuck off, and leave us alone!”
This,
of course, begs the question: “When, the actual fuck, do you plan to ‘get into
politics’”?!?!? Seriously, brothers and sisters, we’re being attacked on all
fronts here—“Right To Work”, robbing pensions, Unemployment shell games,
out-of-control health care…
When,
exactly, is it time?? When we’re all out on our asses, scraping by, living on
whatever crumbs these corporate asswipes brush off the table onto the floor for
us???
I
shared a meme on Facebook a while back, it stated, simply, that the mayor in “Jaws
2” was the same mayor in “Jaws”, and that local elections matter. I’m a horror movie geek (don’t get me started
on the debate about “Jaws” being an actual horror film…), so maybe it needs
some clarity. And, don’t get me wrong, I know this is fiction—but PEOPLE WERE
EATEN because of this guy’s lack of vision and leadership skills. And, because
part 2 takes place several years later, we know that THEY RE-ELCTED HIM!!! Even
though, quite literally, PEOPLE WERE EATEN!
So,
dear blog readers, I don’t give a shit (in fact I don’t give two) if you voted
for Trump, or Hilary, or fucking Spiderman---THIS ISN’T ABOUT THEM!! It’s about
us, in Ohio, or wherever, that we need to vote our INTERESTS!! Red or Blue, D
or R, I don’t care…get out, VOTE, vote for the guys that STAND WITH LABOR!! And
remind every single brother or sister you encounter, this THIS ELECTION
COUNTS!! It’s our livelihoods, it our paychecks, it’s our rights, it’s our very
existence as Union workers!!
And remember----PEOPLE WERE EATEN!!
