"Blowback" and the Union Activist

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!!