Union Perspectives

If you live in the following areas please consider attending one of the following Rally to Raise the Wage events with Senator Bernie Sanders and Reverend William Barber II. The rallies will be held Thursday, June 1, in Durham, NC at 7 p.m. in the Hayti Heritage Center; Friday, June 2, in Nashville, TN at 7 p.m. at the Fisk University gymnasium; and Saturday, June 3, in Charleston, SC at 4 p.m. at the Longshore’s Association Local 1422 union hall. The rallies are to bring attention to the substandard wages people are paid in these areas, and to educate people on why the federal minimum wage of $7.25 should be $17 an hour, incrementing upwards during a five year period. For those unfamiliar with Rev. Barber, he is, among other impressive things, a social activist, who has lead Moral Mondays, a civil rights protests on the steps of the North Carolina State Capitol Building since April 2013. Senator Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has long advocated for working families. Si

What happened to our celebration of May Day? The celebration of workers’ pride. I know when I worked, we all wore our hard hats with union stickers indicating our locals. We never took them off when we went to get a drink or take a break or had lunch. It was a symbol of pride. I remember in school during the 1950s, we celebrated May Day, but from I’ve seen, it’s not celebrated or explained in school. Some teachers might have the young students make spring hats, but that has nothing to do with why May Day was established. May Day or Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day is a celebration of the historic struggles gains made by workers. In the U.S., May Day became a day to celebrate workers/laborers in 1889 to commemorate the Chicago Haymarket Riot of 1886. Today, celebrating May Day is done all over the world except, apparently, here in the U.S. If seems as if workers are looked down upon with disdain, like losers for not working harder to become rich like others have achieved.