When contract talks between my union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and our employer, the Pacific Maritime Association, reached an impasse last autumn, the PMA reacted by locking out 10,500 longshore workers and creating a national economic crisis. The lockout brought home to the ILWU and 29 port cities on the West Coast the shrinking power of the American worker and the current trend of our government coordinating with corporations, not workers, on how to conduct our national affairs.
As longshore workers from Tacoma’s Local #23 brainstormed ways to settle the dispute and protect our jobs, families, communities and way of life, the idea of "America In Solidarity" started to form. When the dust settled following our contract dispute, we decided this theme was still relevant as our fight still continues as does millions across the country who struggle in the wake of incessant corporate greed and mismanagement and government officials who pander to their every whim.
Sometimes one’s vision is right in front of you, but the ILWU was not the only group of workers under attack in the Puget Sound region. As 2002 came to a close, thousands of Boeing workers were receiving pink slips, the Murrey-American strike touched hundreds of families in Pierce County and the closing of the Tumwater Brewery was devastating to Thurston County. America In Solidarity kicked off in 2003 and we have made an impact ever since.
In my dozens of meetings, people ask me "What is America in Solidarity?"
I tell them this is a theme to reignite the labor movement in America. This isn’t a union/non-union or Democrat/Republican issue because there are politicians on both sides of the aisle with proven track records of friendliness to the average working man. Americans will always differ on issues like gun control, abortions, freedom of speech, but what 99% of us all have in common is that we work to provide a good home for our family, schooling for our children and a good community for us to live and prosper in. Workers are the ones that built the buildings, bridges and cities of our great land, stormed the beaches of Normandy to provide freedom for the world, and made the United States of America the beacon of industry, technology and liberty for all. Unfortunately, many of our politicians have forgotten this or have grown up in a closed system of extreme wealth that never taught them of living from paycheck to paycheck, sweat and dust across the brow or facing a pink slip from unnecessary corporate layoffs.
The corporations will always be able to outspend and outpublicize the common worker, but we are the ones that vote and we must focus our country's politics and economics on the necessity of job security, workplace safety, health care, wages and protection of the American worker from the Homeland threat of corporate greed.
I could write pages and pages on why we need to this, but merely ask yourself:
"Are you one bad quarter from losing your job?
" Do you think your elected politicians are more concerned with your job or the corporations that sponsor them?"
Everyday, "America in Solidarity" seems to grow a little. One more person reads our brochure, sees this website or one of our t-shirts. I hope you agree that it is time the workers of America rise in unison and reshape the way our politics and economics work for the 99% of us, not the elite 1%.
Over the past three years dozens of politicians have signed the America In Solidarity pledge to support working families. In turn, America In Solidarity has donated thousands of volunteer hours in helping elect them. We have conducted phone banks, neighborhood canvassing, built and distributed yard signs and staffed fundraisers. We have also developed a scholarship program honoring former labor leader, historian and activist Ottilie Markholt. Finally, America In Solidarity has proven to be a leader in the community by hosting and sponsoring a series of events including town halls about the war in Iraq, caucus trainings and picnics celebrating May Day and Labor Day.
Check out the rest of our site and see how you can get involved. You can also send me off an email at Todd@americasolidarity.com
In solidarity,
Todd Iverson
Co-founder and President, America In Solidarity