Thank you, and welcome to Chicago. We meet here at a challenging time for labor and a challenging time for America. All across the country, from nurses in Chicago to correctional officers in Atlanta to sanitation workers in L.A., Americans have been looking to the future with more anxiety than hope. As transformations in technology and communication have ushered in a global economy with new rules and new risks, theyve watched their government do its best to try and shift those risks onto the backs of the American worker. And they wonder how they will ever keep up. In coffee shops and town meetings, in VFW halls and right here in this room, the questions are all the same. Will I be able to leave my children a better world than I was given? Will I be able to save enough to send them to college or plan for a secure retirement? Will my job even be there tomorrow? Who will stand up for me in this new world? In this time of change and uncertainty, these questions are expected - but I want you to know today they are by no means unique. Throughout our history, they have been asked and then answered by Americans who have stood in your shoes and shared your concerns. In the middle of the last century, on the restless streets of Memphis, it was a group of AFSCME sanitation workers who took up this charge. For years they had served their city without complaint, picking up other peoples trash for little pay and even less respect. Passers-by would call them walking buzzards, and in the segregated South, most were forced to use separate drinking fountains and bathrooms. But as the civil rights movement gained steam and they watched the marches and saw the boycotts and heard about the passage of voting rights, the workers in Memphis decided that theyd had enough, and in 1968, over 1,000 went on strike. Their demands were simple. Recognition of their union. The right to bargain. A few cents more an hour. But the opposition was fierce. Their vigils were met with handcuffs. Their protests turned back with mace. One march was interrupted by police gunfire and tear gas, and when the smoke cleared, 280 had been arrested, 60 were wounded, and one 16-year old boy lay dead. And still, the city would not give in.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 02:10:16 +0000