The old International Workers of the World would be proud of the way wage slaves today are standing up for their rights in countries, such as Bangladesh, most of Europe, Israel, Palestine, and now South American countries, such as Ecuador, Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, who are now fighting for the rights of day laborers, back pay, who work on the ports. They are being supported by the Longshoremen’s union.
This is world solidarity among the wage slaves. The way it is supposed to be, and we should not forget the Ukrainians’ fight for the right to protest. Yes, the tide is turning slowly in favor of the wage slaves, but we must remember what Karl Marx and Frederick Engles said in 1848: That now and then the workers are victorious, but only for a time. The real fruit of their battles lies not in the immediate result, but in the ever expanding union of the workers.
The fight must keep moving forward to even up the disparity of a few with so much and so many with so little. I think it would be prudent for the few with so much to read, “The Dream of Debs” by Jack London. This is the real dream of the “have nots” and the “haves.” The oligarchies should be worried for they could someday be a “have not.”
Also, if the 1 percent would like to get a feeling of the “have nots” to put them in touch with reality they should also read the 1908, “The Iron Heel” by Jack London. It is a dystopian novel and a vision of the of the future, which describes the world in which the division between the classes has deepened creating a powerful oligarchy that retains control through terror through use of the police and income disparity, which is meant to control the masses of “have nots.”
We, in the U.S., now have a president who is speaking out for the wage slaves by raising the wages for government contract workers, which is motivating some state and city governments to raise wages, but it is still the wage slaves’ job to see the $15 to $16 an hour through to the end. Do not rely on someone else. It is your responsibility to do this for yourself, your family and grandchildren.
If you don’t know what you can do, ask, read history, search the Internet to see what others are doing, find a union to talk and then find out where the county labor councils are and when they meet. Just get involved and don’t quit this fight for $15 to $16 an hour. When we win this, and we will win this if we maintain our solidarity, you will be a seasoned veteran of the union fight, which will have you ready for the next wage slave fight. It never ends for it is the oligarchies against the “have nots,” such as at this writing the Medford, Oregon, school district is advertising in northern California for scabs. It is seeking kindergarten through 12th grade substitute teachers to be strike breakers.
The fight never ends.
Yes, they are coming for us. Workers need to have one another’s backs because no one else will. Neither the broader labor movement nor the Democratic party are prepared to meet the urgency of this moment. So it’s going to fall upon the rest of us to mount a real resistance against Trump’s authoritarian takeover. We’re going to have to get our hands dirty. I don’t care if you have a good, well-paying union job and you are in the middle class now—if you see a worker being dragged out of his workplace regardless of how skilled the job and potentially taken to another country, you should be ready to be there for that worker. When I.C.E. shows up, gather around and shame them into leaving. It has worked in other places. America is sleep walking into authoritarianism, and if there’s anyone out there who is a member of a labor union that is safe—at this point— and doesn’t think this applies to them. Understand that they just haven’t gotten to you yet. They’re coming for all of us. There are ...
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