I've just read about the upcoming debut of your magazine, and am very excited about its description. Please let me know how I can subscribe whenever it becomes possible to do so.
Dick Burton
Political Action Chair
Seattle Community College Federation of Teachers
(AFT Local 1789)
It is my opinion that the current government interest in a voucher program is primarily an attempt to break the teachers' union and then an attempt to further erode and disassemble the public school system. It also creates an environment where children are programmed with ideological prejudice as an essential ingredient of their training.
John Loester
Labor Party member
Allentown, PA
Mom was from Europe; Dad was 2nd generation union electrician. Put myself through college doing office work for insurance companies (early 1970s). Working for the insurance industry was frustrating for most femaile employees of any age, race or position, marital status, and many men as well. In those days we thought if a "girl" got her degree she would escape the typing pool — seems amazing today. My brother got his master's and eventually became a lobbyist for a teachers' union.
I went to work for civil service, typing welfare checks. Took promotions and eventually a responsible position at county hospital. Finally finished college. Studied math and became an apprentice with a suburban electrician's local in 1982 — under a consent decree for females. After a challenging and long apprenticeship (made longer by becoming a mom) I was denied my journeyman ticket by 12 white suburban heterosexual males. I had to sue my local to turn out. I won a small judgment, but had injured my back on the job and been denied any disability benefits by a doctor of similar description ("You can do other work," said Dr. Compassionate. "No," I said. "I can't sit in a chair 8 to 5.")
But he knew that. In the end, I returned to office work...same classification as I had 20+ years ago! As an electrician I was a hero to women and the envy of men. No more! Are secretaries really soap-opera watching, face-painting, bouffant-haired junior college dropouts? Even if so, aren't we entitled to the respect others enjoy? We have many responsibilities and are eminently blamable.
As a middle-aged union activist, I can't even get a lateral transfer at work, let alone a promotion. I'm glad young people are turning away from "clerical." I'm stuck here — my "ex" refuses to pay child support. But my daughter will expect better.
Mary Collins
My name is Tom Hopper. I'm a Union Organizer and Business Representative with IBEW Local 21 in Illinois. Our newly "amalgamated" local represents 14,000 members in the communications and CATV industries, mostly in Illinois and NW Indiana.
I have purchased several of your publications, training manuals and more, for myself and my new staff of young, energetic organizers. Thank you for your dedication to this country's labor movement. Thank you for sharing your years of experience, thoughts and your vision. I love my work (organizing) and am lucky to have the resources of a new local, backed by the commitment of the officers to organize, something so rare in the IBEW. I would like to thank you personally even though we have never met. Instead I simply say one more time — Thank You.
I have one request — to link your website to our local's website on the internet, which I create and maintain. If you would like to check it, the address is: https://www.ibew21.org
Tom Hopper
IBEW Local 21
Downers Grove, IL
I am thrilled to hear you are coming on the Net. I will send you the $40.00 when I send my bills out. Good luck and may God bless your effort.
Jim Kaylor
You asked, "Do you favor promoting a Labor Party?" The thrust of the question has to do with support of the principle of a labor party, not the Labor Party that actually exists. Activists in the existing Labor Party have gone beyond the principle; many of us are engaged in the task of party building and have been doing so for some six years, back to the days of Labor Party Advocates.
Since then we've had a founding covention in 1996 and a constitutional convention in 1998, both with about 1400 delegates from all over the country. Now we have a national party that's supported by progressive union bodies representing one million workers. We have some 45 autonomous party chapters in all parts of the U.S. We have thousands of members and hundreds of serious activists.
My wife and I are volunteers state organizers for the Labor party of New Mexico (LP de NM), a chapter in the national Labor Party system. With 150 members, LP de NM is 70 percent unionist, 50 percent people of color, and one-third women. A small core of dedicated activists work hard to build the LP de NM into a viable force in the political affairs of New Mexico.
LP de NM works from a recently designed three-year strategic plan for annual doubling of membership, finances, and union and organizational support. By 2002 we project a membership of 1000 and some 10 affiliated union bodies. We expect significant support from organizations dedicated to social and economic justice. And we plan to have a solid financial base. If we reach these goals, we will be positioned to submit an electoral plan to the national Labor Party to run candidates for local office in the 2002 elections.
Our work in New Mexico is but one of many such efforts around the country. We're united around the slogan, "The bosses have two parties. We're building one of our own."
Bob Mast, State Organizer
Labor Party of New Mexico
National Writers Union/UAW
There are no International Unions organizing anyone in the private sector service industry in my area. I am chairman of the Central Labor Council Organizing Committee and I get calls on a fairly regular basis from nurses interested in organizing. Unless the IBEW becomes interested in organizing nurses (which I don't foresee) I'm at a complete loss as to what to tell these nurses. While there is a large service industry in need of organizing, SEIU's only local activity is to seek to represent people already represented by the Austin Federation of Teachers. Go figure!
Last week a group of Hispanic workers at a drill manufacturing company called on our local Central Labor Council. There are about 100 non-supervisory employees at this plant. Most of them do not speak English. The plant is run like a plantation. Without any help from any union, the workers have already managed to organize half of the work force to sign a petition that they were going to send the plant owner in St. Louis. It is doubtful that there is any union locally with the resources or the desire to help these people organize. Most unions locally are more interested in talking about organizing than in actually doing it.
Michael A. Murphy
Austin, TX