Grand Rapids, MI event on building a fighting labor movement
Grand Rapids, MI – On Saturday, March 1, 30 workers came to Fountain Street Church to learn about raising class struggle in the workplace and fighting back against Trump’s onslaught against unions. Tom Burke, President of IATSE Local 26, spoke on the necessity of union organization and revolutionary leadership. He also explained the FRSO united front strategy, and the strategic alliance between the multinational working class and the Black liberation and other oppressed nationality movements.
The teach-in was put on by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. It empowered workers in unions to strive to take on leadership and organize other workers on the job, especially in the face of recent attacks on unions by the current Trump administration.
Burke said, “Those of you looking for jobs can seek out already unionized workplaces and strengthen the union movement from within. The Teamsters and Association of Flight Attendants are good unions in industries that are hiring.”
Burke said, “Younger and newer trade unionists can benefit from studying the mass line at the FRSO.org website. Union organizing boils down to listening to other people, to then formulate demands and slogans that unite them to fight the bosses. Unions can lead the fight against Republican attacks on the entire working class.” Burke emphasized the importance of creating slogans that make sense to people.
Burke pointed out the potential for workers in the room to become the militant minority in their workplaces. That the goal of organizing within the union is to make rapid changes in the workplace and society.
“If you’re going to make a revolution, then you have to be in trade unions or strategically aligned with the workers’ movement,” stated Burke.
Burke continued, “You can see it with the way some unions operate already and have a lot of power at work. Then there are other countries, like Venezuela, where workers self-manage some of the factories themselves.”
The audience showed support for Burke’s messaging, including his stating the necessity for trade unions to stand against chauvinism, to stand for women’s liberation, trans and LGBTQ rights, and the duty for white workers specifically to oppose racism and discrimination in the union. He specified that unions must take on broader issues of the whole working class and unite to create change.
During discussion, many union members stood up and explained how they organize within their union and the struggles they waged and continue to fight for. Carsten Forester with the American Federation of Musicians, or AFM, expressed how important it is to organize as a musician, and how many musicians look towards their industry as an individual business and aren’t necessarily made aware they have an opportunity to be part of the union, which prompted another audience member to express their interest in joining the AFM and who was given the resources to do so.
Local activist Wren Burns brought up the issue of public library workers in Grand Rapids unionizing. A two-thirds majority of library pages, a specific job category, signed a petition to join the already existing union. They are asking the library board to recognize them. Burns said, “All of the library pages are hired as seasonal employees even though some have worked there for over ten years! Pages are only making $12 an hour.”
The discussion turned lively when it turned to Trump and the Republican attacks on unions and workers. The list of attacks includes putting many federal employees out of their jobs, laying off healthcare workers at veterans’ hospitals, shutting down of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board that makes rulings on union disputes with bosses. Republicans are bad mouthing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and threatening a national “Right to work” law that strips union power.
The American Federation of Government Employees held rallies a week after their members were put out of their jobs by Trump and Elon Musk. In local constituent meetings, union workers showed up at Republicans’ town hall meetings to challenge their U.S. Representatives and denounce the firings and layoffs. There are science rallies being organized across the U.S. on March 7. Motivated by professors, technicians, and other workers at universities and research institutes, one of the main backers is the United Auto Workers union.
The meeting ended with the formation of an International Workers Day committee to host a May Day rally for immigrant and workers’ rights in Grand Rapids. As part of the IWD committee, there is a plan for workers from different unions to organize a fundraiser for the emergency response to ICE raids and defend workers from Trump’s attacks.