Did They Die in Vain? by Alan Grayson on Saturday, March 12, 2011

[blizz]

Did They Die in Vain? by Alan Grayson on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 12:25am

On May 4, 1886, in Haymarket Square in Chicago, the public rallied peacefully in support of 40,000 workers in Chicago who had gone on strike, to win the right to organize. The police attacked, and eight died.

On July 6, 1892, in Homestead, Pennsylvania, 3800 workers went on strike, to win the right to organize. Three hundred hired and armed goons attacked them. Five people died.

On April 20, 1914, in Ludlow, Colorado, 1200 coal miners went on strike, to win the right to organize. The Colorado National Guard attacked their shantytown, and burned it to the ground. Nineteen people died. Two women and 11 children were asphyxiated, and they burned to death.

Here and around the world, many people have fought and died, so that you and I would have the right to organize.

And so that 250,000 public workers in Wisconsin would have that right, too.

This is not exactly a new idea. Six months after the Ludlow Massacre, President Wilson signed the Clayton Act, prohibiting the prosecution of union members under Antitrust Law. That was almost a century ago.

Two decades later, during the Franklin Roosevelt's first term as President, he signed the National Labor Relations Act into law. It protects the right to organize. That was over 75 years ago.

The right to organize also is a fundamental principle of international law. Over 150 countries have ratified the "Right to Organize" Convention, an international treaty. It was adopted in 1949, over 60 years ago.

So why are we even talking about this, 11 years into the 21st Century?

Because the teabaggers want to "take back America." They want to take it back, all right – take it all the way back to the 19th century. When there was no right to organize. When people worked for a dollar a day. When grown men competed against children for jobs. When women were barred from most jobs entirely. When you worked until you died.

Not to mention slavery.

I want to see an America that is healthy and wealthy.

They want an America that provides cheap labor to our corporate overlords. An America where the middle class is chained by debt.

We didn't ask for this fight. But we have no choice except to fight back. For the survival of the middle class in America.

For us, for our children, and for our grandchildren. And so that the victims in Haymarket, in Homestead and in Ludlow did not die in vain.

As Cardinal Spellman said 45 years ago, "it is a war thrust upon us, and we cannot yield to tyranny."

I'm ready to fight for what's right. What about you?

http://www.facebook.com/alangrayson#!/notes/alan-grayson/did-they-die-in-vain/196703527019301

[senseandsensibility]

1. k and r

We will keep fighting.

[sabrina 1]

2. We need a hundred Alan Graysons in Congress

He's right, they are taking this back, back to the 19th Century.

[ellenrr]

3. fantastic, damn there are an awful lot of smart people on here

posting things that I would otherwise not know about -
and not the usual drivel -
really meaningful stuff - that I share as widely as I can.

I thank you.
I am pretty much at the point of coming here for my news and views - and forgetting about the usual sources I used to consult.

[EC]

6. This is where I get my news before I look anywhere else.

We have members from around the world, on every Continent. They all post from local news giving us more insight. We do have many members that are very good at research and following the money. So if there is anything hidden - I know DU will find it.

[chill_wind]

4. K & R. Grayson always tells it like it is. n/t

[bobbolink]

5. I made my pilgrimmage to Ludlow.... a stunning memorial. The pictures of the miners with Mother

Jones are very moving.

What becomes very clear at a glance, however, is that these union members and their families were desperately poor.

Thanks to the hard work and sacrifices of these organizers and their members, the unions became powerful and more affluent.

The situation now is that, for the most part, unionists have forgotten their roots in poverty, and do not reach out to those who are now desparately poor.

In fact, unionists now usually use the word "middleclass", which would omit the very ones who gained them the rights they are now trying to hold on to.