This is the beginning. It doesn’t matter how everything turns out in the end because the biggest battle has already been fought and won, and nobody has to whisper anymore:
In six weeks, I raked up almost six thousand individual hits from all over the country on one article, in another piddly blog, about how my union president arrogantly, or ignorantly, used our dues to fund anti-union activities. He can kill me at this point, and the truth — all of it — still prevails. Good enough for me.
I’ll let Ministry handle the rest of this:
You are a powerful and brave individual. You are willing to say and do what so many others can’t and won’t ever do. For that and so many other things you are a hero. Some people say you are wrong for airing the dirty laundry of the union but unless this dirty laundry is thrown out, the union will continue to deteriorate and truth is that union has to always stand for exactly what it means and if people aren’t willing to participate as such, they are not and should not be part of the union. Thank God you exist, more so thank God you do not and will not ever give up or shut up.
First of all, thank you for writing. You’re way too kind.
Your post brings up an excellent point: dirty laundry. Princeton’s WordNet defines such as “personal matters that could be embarrassing if made public.” I’ve been careful to hold my tongue about the stuff that doesn’t concern the public.
When the president of my union stays in an anti-union hotel during a labor education, unity conference while everybody else stays in union hotels all around him, that’s a PR issue as well as an ethical dilemma. The union buster sees that and uses it against us if and only if we fail to speak against such abuse. If we allow ourselves to be apathetic and silent toward stunts like that and others, it makes us ALL look like hypocrites and cowards, which is most definitely not what the labor movement is about. Thus, we should stand up against the dirty laundry LOUDLY so that the world knows we disagree. THAT is solidarity.
If folks want to throw away their rights to voice their opinions out of fear or because that’s what they think is best for our leaders, they should do us all a favor and take their asses on over to North Korea where that kind of pacification is mandatory. Otherwise, I’ll just remind nimrods like that to quit pissing on my Constitution and passing judgment on me for holding elected leadership accountable.
Proud to stand next to you, Sister!