My Grandparents - Labor Heroes

[Taverner]

My grandpa immigrated to this country from Poland during WWI. To get into this country, he had to lie about his Jewish heritage. He loved the USA, and was so proud the day he got citizenship he couldn't stop crying. He went to work in Flint, building for Fisher Body. He knew no English when he came here, but where he learned the most were language classes at the Union Hall. He loved America with every fiber of his being, and that's why he was such a dedicated Union Man. He told my mom and uncle he would have rather starved to death than cross a picket line. He made a point never to buy from Ford, because he (Henry Ford) turned the water cannons on the strikers.

My grandma was born in Chicago, a Polish Jew raised Catholic (this kind of thing happens in Chicago more than you think.) She knew very well who Emma Goldman was, and was a professional seamstress. Working conditions in Chicago at the time were horrible - management would dock your pay for bathroom breaks, stretching, talking, etc. During her tenure, she and others organized a union, citing Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire as a reason. If it could happen there, it could happen in Chicago. They struck many times, and she even kept a clipping of the newspaper that showed her in jail during the strike (she threw eggs at security.)

My grandparents haven't been alive for some time. Grandpa died in 77, grandma in 88. They had a lot of information that is lost to us all now, that would have been valuable. How to organize, how to strike, how to survive a depression, etc. All we have are the stories they passed down to our parents, that were then passed down to us.

Never let anyone tell you America has no labor movement. That's absolute bullshit. We have a long, distinguished history of labor movements and unionization. IF not for unions, my grandfather never would have learned English, my grandmother would have died in sweatshop conditions.

They were both proud Americans - and that's why they joined and started unions. Because they loved their country so much, they had to do something to make sure all Americans had a fair deal.

In short, being in a Union is the most patriotic thing you can do.

[Sherman A1]

1. K&R Well Said

+1000

[TomClash]

2. K & R nt

[teddy51]

3. Awesome post and it sounds like your Grandparents were fisty people that

would stand up to the establishment.

[TBF]

4. Outstanding post.

My dad was union as well. He worked at a foundry where they poured things in molds (the sum total of what I remember from the tour when the new plant was built). I do remember painting strike signs when I was 6 or 7. I'm not sure which union he belonged to - will have to ask him and see if he can remember.

[jwirr]

5. K & R I is so unfair when the rethugs keep saying we do not love

America when we take actions that work for the good of all. My parents and grandparents also showed their love of America. They did not join unions because they were farmers (they should have but there were none) but they supported their communities. Thank you for sharing this.

[starroute]

6. The information has to be out there somewhere

Newspapers, union bulletins. I bet even working your way through The Daily Worker could provide some useful clues.

But none of it is online.

This is something that keeps bugging me. For all that we have the impression that the internet is giving us access to every word ever written, this simply isn't true. The history of the left in particular is badly underrepresented. Anything from the 1930s is still technically under copyright, thanks to the Mickey Mouse Protection Act -- which means that much of it probably falls into the category of orphan works, where there's nobody to give permission to reproduce it. And as for materials from before 1920 -- does that stuff even still exist or has it all crumbled away?

It's a dream of mine that some left-leaning multi-millionaire will set up a foundation to recover and scan all these materials -- and that a massive act of crowdsourcing will proofread the scans, put them in usable shape, and highlight the really good stuff.

I don't know if it could really happen -- but it would change the history of the 20th century if it was done, as well as empowering the left to reclaim its own heritage.

[Taverner]

7. At least we have the works of Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman and Henry Agard Wallace

As well as the works of Caesar Chavez

[War Horse]

8. Excellent post /nt

[roguevalley]

9. your grandparents are awesome. so was my grandpa. he helped

organize a railroad union and paid through the nose for it.

[Taverner]

10. Thanks. Hats off to your grandpa.