tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9121785453664775895.post8239501249900542696..comments2023-06-02T03:08:06.884-07:00Comments on Civil Undressed: No Arrest for the WearyMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01114211088562598592noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9121785453664775895.post-29616334665859173732012-06-16T10:46:45.996-07:002012-06-16T10:46:45.996-07:00I didn't finish
The result was that we had a ...I didn't finish<br /><br />The result was that we had a government that had to serve interests other than the interests of the wealthy. And members of minority groups benefited. Perhaps not fairly, but many African Americans were able to provide a decent living for their families from working in union jobs. Improved safety regulations that were enforced benefited all workers. (Okay, maybe not sex workers. But that just means the sex workers, as has happened on occasion, have to demand a place in the labor movement, and the labor movement has to make a place. There are workplace laws on the books that would provide some protections for those in the garment removal industry, if those laws were enforced). <br /><br /> With a weakened labor movement, one political party can serve exclusively the interests of the wealthy, while the other party only has to throw occasional crumbs. <br /><br /> I cannot join this march, as I am not in New York and I'm aging and tired and discouraged. Protests are important. But at the end of the day, there have to be institutions with the power to at least somewhat balance the owners of capital. <br /><br />I hope to read your report about the demonstration.MrMikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9121785453664775895.post-49115963900435365402012-06-16T10:37:22.037-07:002012-06-16T10:37:22.037-07:00A very thoughtful and insightful analysis. I supp...A very thoughtful and insightful analysis. I suppose you have a fairly unique perspective to bring to this, with your background as a woman of color, a worker in the sex industry, and an advanced student. This is one of the best discussions I have seen about the need for workers in the sex industry to make common cause with other oppressed communities. I also appreciate that you draw in an example of how white workers are victimized and, at the same time, given an incentive to become enemies of urban poor people of color.<br /><br /> but....<br /><br />(With all that praise, you must have anticipated that there would be a but)<br /><br />What is missing from your analysis is a mention of how the weakening or, should I say, destruction of the power of the labor movement has contributed to some of the abuses you describe: in particular the privatization of prisons and the movement of good jobs paying decent wages to other countries where workers of whatever color can more easily be exploited in more extreme ways.<br /><br /> The Labor Movement?? You mean those fat old white guys who lined their pockets with workers dues? I realize that many activists, people of color, and "liberals" still have that stereotype. Like most stereotypes, this one has its kernel of truth. When the labor movement was powerful, may of its leaders used that power to line their own pockets and to keep down those people who they did not regard as their constituents. <br /><br /> But that is not the entire picture. Some labor leaders also marched with Dr. King (who, I hope, is one of your heroes). Some labor leaders supported Cesar Chavez in building a movement for Chicano farm workers. The fat white guy in the expensive suit is not the face of the labor movement today. Today, there are many (perhaps not enough) women and people of color in positions of leadership.<br /><br /> More fundamentally, however, a strong labor movement meant that there was an established institution with political power other than the owners of capital. Like any powerful institution, it could be narrow minded, selfish and greedy. Its leaders sometimes joined in the oppression and exclusion of minorities. However, those leaders were forced, by the nature of their position and the source of their power, to support the interests of their members: the interest in jobs that provided a living wage, decent benefits and safe working conditions. this may not have been the only or even the main focus of some labor leaders, but this was an interest that they had to serve by virtue of the nature of their jobs.MrMikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9121785453664775895.post-36017381943727981302012-06-14T14:50:52.975-07:002012-06-14T14:50:52.975-07:00Brilliant, empowering and inspiring words. You'...Brilliant, empowering and inspiring words. You're my heroine...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com