We like to joke a lot, but this holiday was a bit more serious for both of us. So let's all have a short lesson, shall we? During the Great Depression, jobs weren't exactly easy to come by. Between that economic reality and the almost complete lack of legal protections for workers, doing anything besides going to your job day after day with a broken human spirit would've been... well... crazy.
Lucky for you, me and everyone in between, there were a bunch of crazies working at a GM plant in Flint, Michigan who did just that. The strike lasted 44 days, ending on February 11, 1937 with a victory for the workers. Notably, it was a victory that wouldn't have been possible without the support of Michigan's governor.
When police arrived at the plant, they intended to force the workers out. Instead, Michigan's governor called in the National Guard to protect the workers as they peacefully protested. The result? The first GM contract with the modern UAW.
But why the white shirts? They wore white for the same reason we use the terms 'white collar' and 'blue collar'. The line workers wore blue shirts as they worked and management got the nice, clean whites. In a symbolic move showing that they were no different and should be treated no different, the blue collar workers wore white in protest.
There are many write ups around the internet, but the UAW's is clear and succinct and I would highly recommend it. You can find it here.
As for Justin and I? There wasn't much we could do to celebrate it besides wearing white. So that's what Justin did. I, on the other hand, celebrated by selling out to the man. I tease, but both Justin and I are very pro-union.
My first job was a union job - UFCW 428 in Saratoga, California. I was a bagger. I was able to get health, dental, vision and retirement benefits at 16 years old. Thanks to my union.
There was an appeals process. So when the abusive shift manager above me decided to write me up because she didn't like it that I was dating one of the produce guys (who she was widely known to have a crush on), I had a recourse. I couldn't simply be fired on spot for looking at her wrong. Thanks to my union.
When most of my peers were making minimum wage, I was taking in $2 more an hour. Thanks to my union.
When I heard about and read stories of missed breaks and hours off the clock with no where to turn, I rested easy knowing I had protection from that. Thanks to my union.
When I worked on holidays I got double time instead of time and a half. Any Sunday I worked I got time and a half and when a holiday landed on a Sunday, I got triple time. All a demonstration of the value of the time the job took from special and family days. Thanks to my union.
No system is perfect, but we have the protections we have because of unions. There is an intrinsic value to anyone's willingness to provide their time and labor and that value deserves to be recognized even if it is a 'menial' job like fast food or bagging groceries. This holiday was particularly timely in our opinions because of the renewed debate about raising the minimum wage. Here's the deal - if someone is willing to work a full time job, they should be able to live without additional help from the government. Right now they can't and that's not okay. It is time again for the workers to put on white shirts and stand up for their worth as human beings.
Did this entry get preachy? Yup. Don't make me break out the astro-sloth again. This holiday got my engines firing. It is a celebration of the human spirit. Every holiday has been fun or interesting or unique. This is the first one we've been proud to celebrate. PROUD. So there.
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