General Gordon Baker This is a speech given on the eve of Labor Day, September 5, 2005 at the Central United Church in Detroit, Michigan. Those who refuse to study history forfeit their opportunity to learn from that experience. We want to learn from our historical lessons. Today we are celebrating the sanctity of human labor. The first Monday of September of Labor Day was born in New York City in 1882. It was the call of Peter McQuire, an Irish American cabinetmaker, and a leader of the Brotherhood of Copper Makers and Journeyists. In most of the world, May 1 is celebrated as a labor holiday out of the struggles for the eight-hour day in 1886. Both dates were born on US soil. One was conceived in the struggle and sacrifice and bloodshed and the other born in rest, parade and recreation. It's important to hold on to the differences of these two days. The historical lesson is that the early labor organizations in this country could not lead the battle to shorten the workday as long as chattel slavery existed in the south. Only after the Civil War could the rest of the working people stand up and fight to shorten their day. They had to wipe out that institution that demanded that you work from "can't see in morning to can't see at night." As long as there is a section of labor on the bottom that is destitute and in near slavery, the section of labor on the top cannot advance. We should understand that as a principle of history Detroit's first Labor Day celebration took place on August 16 1884. It attracted 50,000 members of the Knights of labor. The crowd of laborers marched proudly and defiantly down Woodward Avenue, more than likely past the doors where we sit. The celebration was declared for two reasons. The first was to exhibit the strength and spirit de corps of trade unions and labor organizations. It was followed by festive amusements for families. Today, some trade unions are choosing not to march or show their spirit or strength. They only want to divert to the festive activities. There are other unions, though, that are setting precedents set a hundred twenty years ago, marching first and then doing festive activities. Labor day is also a day to summarize our past and point the path to our future. We live in a changing world. Between 1995-2002, 33 million jobs were lost across the globe. The country that lost the most jobs was China, so I don't want you to think that we have an easy way out and can just stop the influx of jobs to China to save ourselves. We see a world in turmoil. First and foremost is the war in Iraq. Second, workers are getting into the streets. In France they are against the attempt to privatize the telephone industries. Workers in Germany are fighting a ten percent cut in welfare. Here at home, the picture is not much different. Just one week before the anniversary of Labor Day, the papers reported that poverty rose 12.5 last year; the top 1/5 of the US population earned 49.8% of nations wealth. People without health insurance rose by 1.4 million last year to a record 45 million. Michigan, alone, lost 175 000 manufacturing jobs in the last 2 years All of these factors are the effects of something. We can't get by fighting the effects. I read a little book by a South African writer called "Blame Me on History." It was one of the most important books I ever read. The author spent thirty years fighting the effects of a thing, until he found out he had to fight its cause Let's look at the cause. The changes we see are global in nature and global in scope. They are changes in technology, increases in productivity and a pressure to drive down labor cost. The resulting competition to drive down labor costs to maintain profits compels every possible method to increase productivity by introducing new technology, forcing fewer workers to do more work, using an array of lean production, intimidation, and fear or pursuing cheaper labor in other countries. Globalization and economic integration has transformed society all over world. This has led to the growth of mega-cities surrounded by the widespread proliferation of slums. Millions populate these slums. They are no longer a part of a formal economy of their country and they increasingly have no allegiance to any economic or political form. Of the six billion people that populate the globe, over one-half or three billion live on an income of $2 day. The gap between wealth and poverty is so great. It has become immoral. There is a similar dramatic shift in the US. There has been the shrinking of the working class over the past four decades with global changes tied to new technology and the worldwide search for labor. It is the end of an era. Just two weeks ago, the doors of the Cheverlet plant four in Cleveland closed. The last few workers marched out of that plant without any fanfare. Plant 4 in Flint was the home of the historic sit down strike in 1936. Nothing more symbolizes the end of era than that. Those of us here in Detroit know all the plant closings: Dodge Main, Hoover Avenue Foundry, Lynch Road Assembly, Jefferson North Cadillac, Fleetwood, Detroit Universal, Michigan Casting Center; the beat goes on and on. We even lost the icons we used to worship: Vernon's Ginger ale, soaked in wood for four years, gone from Woodward ave., as is Wonderbread that made healthy bodies twelve ways. It is now a casino where people gamble to try to save themselves from the depths of the depression we live in. We have to recognize these things are gone. Let's figure out how to move forward. First, we have to understand the difference between the union movement and labor movement. We always address ourselves from the standpoint of labor movement. The union movement is the organized portion of the labor movement. The labor movement is all who work by the sweat of their brow, whether selling mental or physical labor, working in countryside or city, part time or not at all, working but thinking they are not workers; whether you once worked, want to work but can't get there, All of this represents the scope of the labor movement. Unions have historically fought for an increase in wage and for an improvement of working conditions; but only for one set of workers in one industry. So, we're stuck today with the tactics of past. Unions are not effective and can no longer get increases. We go to the negotiating table and come back with a loss of health care and a cut in pensions. Labor needs a class party -- a party of the people that represents all who labor. We need a party that stands up and is not afraid of energizing it's base; that goes after the people that are so oppressed and frees them up. Only by uniting with the goals of those on the bottom can we uplift all of society. I learned one of the most important lessons about solidarity in 1991 in Hamlet, North Carolina at Imperial Foods, a factory that produced chicken nuggets. A fire broke out and twenty-five workers died. When word spread, we all got angry. We raised money in our local and sent money, but that was not enough. We organized five busloads and rode to Hamlet. We went inside the factory. It was a gruesome sight. We could see the human flesh marks clawing at the doors to get out. The owner had chained the door because he wanted to make sure nobody was stealing his nuggets. Out of 25 workers that died, 13 were white and 12 were black. We held a rally. Not a single white family showed up. Though the money was for everybody, the question of solidarity had not been fought for. The factory united them. Production united them. The fire united them. The slow death united them. But the streets divided them. When we raise our voices and sing Solidarity Forever, we have to fight to give that meaning. I hope I give you some enlightenment on this issue. The economic conditions today favor the unity that we need to get to a new world. We can't move forward without it. We have to fight for it. _http://www.speakersforanewamerica.com/generalbakerspeech.html_ (http://www.speakersforanewamerica.com/generalbakerspeech.html)
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