You Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Till It’s Gone--From The Catholic Labor Network

By: Linda Houck, (lhouck9630@aol.com)
Director of Liturgy/Music, Holy Family Parish, Luzerne, PA (Fr. Shonis’s home Parish)

I'm reprinting the following from The Rank and File Catholic Newsletter not because I agree with everything in it, but because it speaks of the alienation or ambivalence so many working class people feel right now. Workers of all faiths and of no faith tradition constantly need to find ways to work together for progressive change at the base. The newsletter and additional information from its publishers can be accessed at http://www.catholiclabor.org. Please do not confuse the views and positions of Willamette Reds with those of the Catholic Labor Network.

I returned not long ago from a week in Chicago at the NEA national convention. I am sad to say that I believe the NEA (National Education Association) and PSEA (the Pennsylvania Education Association) are in grave danger of losing their teeth. So many of those in leadership positions present positions of "go along and get along." As a union leader, while I would like to get along with my administrators and supervisors, I'm not willing to overlook our workers' rights to do that.

NEA has watered down its positions on merit pay and teacher evaluations, and the leaders asked for an early endorsement of Obama for 2012. There was a lot of contentiousness, especially regarding the early endorsement, because Obama's Secretary of Ed has not been a friend to public school teachers, and Obama himself has come out on the wrong side of some union fences, including in Rhode Island. They got the endorsement, although 30% of us voted against it.

It's not like the 30% expect a better candidate to come out of the Republican ranks, especially given the current field of candidates, but I personally don't see why we should give an endorsement to someone who is not clearly our champion. If people have to vote for him because he's the lesser of two evils, then so be it, but to come out as an organization and endorse someone who has actually made statements that are opposed to your positions and hurt your members is something else entirely.

I believe that the Catholic Church is missing a big chance here, to field a candidate who respects both life AND human dignity issues that lend to the quality of life, such as workers' rights. Right now neither R nor D candidates are acceptable; but when forced to make a choice I have to "vote my job," as best as possible.

Like many union members, I was a member of the rank and file and trusted in the leadership to protect and guide us in things that impacted our jobs. All that changed when I became President of my local and had to field questions about some of the things in our contract and how the administration tries to override or ignore them. I came to see that the only thing the workers have are the rights they negotiate that are printed in the contract, and those rights are easily lost if they are not defended. I became the "Queen of Grievances" in my first year - I wrote 11 grievances, some of which had to go to arbitration to be won by the Association.

Knowing how hard workers fight for the rights to living wages and equitable working conditions, it is disheartening to see those in leadership at the state and national level get in bed with the politicians, saying that this "gives us a voice at the table." "Go along and get along" is the mantra these days - if we are friendly to them, they are more likely to come around. But those of us who have trained our dogs know that we don't reward the dog before he behaves properly - otherwise he never will. If the politicians know that they have our vote, they have no incentive to change. Why should they? They only have to be a little bit more in our favor than the other guys.

I guess I remember the days when the politicians came looking for the unions to support them, not vice versa. And one thing I've learned in my 7 years at the head of my union is that no one will respect you more because you yielded contractual rights or looked the other way. The administration and School Board don't have to like me, but I make sure that they respect the written contract, because that is all the workers have - and if the political climate keeps going this way, we may not even have that.

My county government is going to Home Rule in January, and in our recent primary election, 11 candidates ran on a Working Families ticket that was endorsed by labor unions. Four of the eleven will now be on the ballot for November general election, running for eleven seats. Although getting four endorsed candidates on the ticket was an accomplishment, it was disheartening that labor did not make a better showing of support for all 11. But it's a start to help the political climate improve for workers, at least in our little corner of the nation. That kind of active political improvement is needed on every level of government and in every aspect of our society, especially considering the vicious attacks on collective bargaining rights of public employees and teachers in other states.

The attack on the bargaining rights of public employees and teachers will have a terrible trickle-down effect if it's successful - prevailing wage will be gone, and we will always be back to serving at the whim of the employer.

Maybe this sounds like I got a little carried away, but unionization is something critical to the well-being of our society, and I fear many people will not know what they had till it's gone.