September 2008 – Page 13

Labor’s Hidden History: Bloomington, Illinois and the Labor Party

As I watch the election coverage, read and listen to endless arguments about the value of third parties and/or shifting a major one to the left for a change…..I can’t help but think about how much history has been vanished from the standard-issue history books, how historical amnesia is no accidental occurence. And especially, how much labor history has been erased, forgotten. Every time the phrase “What’s the matter with Kansas?” is invoked (ostensibly to brand midwesterners as die-hard conservatives), I think of the unknown history of midwestern radicalism, socialism, populism, and radical unionism—history still sitting in the attic, waiting for the dust to be blown off.

Practically every midwestern city had an active radical movement in the not-so-distant past; Bloomington, Illinois was no exception. In fact, so much so, that the 1919 mayoral election almost went to the Labor Party. Yes, even during the first Red Scare, with the Palmer Raids in full swing, even after Eugene Debs’ imprisonment for daring to speak out against WWI, not to mention the assassinations of IWW members in the recent past, voters took to the polls and damn near elected a slate of socialists to govern the city.

(psst! admin! can we get a labor category? I think I’ll be using it a lot for the next two weeks!)

Throwing a Spotlight on McCain’s Record

Gloria Feldt and Carole Joffee have published a piece for the Huffington Post that clearly takes McCain to task on his record towards working women.

We’re an advocate and academic, respectively, with longstanding passions for economic and reproductive justice for women. We’ve come to understand the direct and profound interconnections between the two. There’s good reason why the words “barefoot and pregnant” have been so frequently joined together historically.

We haven’t heard anyone question McCain from that intersection of women’s lives, so we are asking him these questions:

First, John McCain, do you think women belong in the paid labor force? This might seem facetious or rhetorical, but it’s a very serious, core question. We know your wife, Cindy, chairs the board of her family’s company. And we’ve noticed your most visible surrogate to women voters is Carly Fiorina, who was until recently one of the top corporate CEOs in the country.

But surely you realize the overwhelming majority of women don’t have the resources of these two women. So if you accept most women will spend some of their lives in the labor force, do you believe women should earn the same as men, for the same jobs? You’ve opposed the equal pay measure stalled in Congress-the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act –because you say it would “open us up to lawsuits”. Open who up? And if you support equal pay for equal work, what would you do to guarantee it?

How will Gustav impact the race?

At The New Republic, Nate Silver argues that Hurricane Gustav could end up helping – rather than hurting – the Republican Party in at least five ways, with the most potent of these – I think – being this one:

5. Crisis Mentality May Benefit McCain. By appearing in New Orleans, and perhaps even delivering his acceptance speech from there, McCain will have the opportunity to appear “presidential”. Rather than asserting to that he is ready to lead — an assertion that was undermined the the selection of Palin — he may hope to give the appearance of actually demonstrating such leadership.

Americans (for reasons I don’t quite grasp) still consider Republicans more capable of handling major crises. If McCain can manage the aftermath of Gustav well (which just requires him not to make a major gaffe), he could parlay this expectation into real support, and perhaps a boost at the polls. Which is why I’ve been a little anxious since McCain announced that the RNC would essentially be canceled, and McCain would deliver his speech in NOLA; for the first time in awhile it seems, the McCain campaign is playing politics well.

On the other hand, as Michael Tomasky points out, there is definitely a huge risk in canceling the RNC:

Point number two: The real reason for this convention is not to push the GOP’s positive agenda. That’s a nice side story. But the real reason to have a four-day Muslim-unpatriot-a-pollooza. This is what Dick Cheney and, in a more restrained and presidential way, George Bush were supposed to do Monday night. It is surely what Rudy Giuliani and Joe Liberman are supposed to do Tuesday night, if Tuesday evening’s session still comes off.

The Republicans’ best shot at winning this November is to raise questions about Obama in the minds of enough voters. They can win, in other words, only be going negative. Therefore, every minute of Obama-hating on national TV the GOP loses is a minute that helps the Democratic candidate. Ideally from Obama’s perspective, and assuming of course a minimum loss of property and life, the optimal result is no convention Monday and Tuesday nights. Let Palin and McCain speak. She’ll come across as the lightweight she is, and he’ll be seen as conducting a salvaging operation.

The fact that every major news network covers the conventions is very important; for three or four days, each party has the opportunity to put their best foot (and stagecraft) forward and reach out undecided voters and independents, as well as the party’s base. A well-crafted and well-executed convention can be especially crucial; a one-two punch of effective messaging and potent attacks could potentially deal irreparable damage to the opposing campaign (in fact, if McCain hadn’t chose Palin, that’s what probably would have happened on Thursday). Tomasky is arguing that by foregoing the absurd amount of positive press a convention provides, McCain could potentially cripple his campaign, or at the very least, leave it in very bad shape as it heads into the fall.

Which is to say that McCain is playing a very risky game here; if he’s right, and McCain is still in good shape in the coming weeks, then Obama is probably in worse shape than we thought. But if these recent polls are any indication, McCain’s gamble isn’t really paying off. Gallup’s daily tracking poll shows Obama maintaining 6-point lead, 49/43. And a recent CBS poll has Obama-Biden leading McCain-Palin 48/40. Now, my guess is that both of these results reflect a post-convention bounce, and my point is that McCain will probably not benefit from such a bounce, leaving him at a distinct disadvantage.

Of course, it’s worth mentioning that Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight thinks that we should ignore polls for the time being, but projects that when all is said and done, Obama will come out with a persistent 2-4 point lead. Which suggests that McCain’s recent actions – the Palin pick and the decision to (effectively) cancel the RNC – will at best turn out to be ineffective attempts at significantly changing the dynamic of the race.

cross-posted at The United States of Jamerica

Update: Edited for clarity

Eight Hours for Work, Eight Hours for Rest, Eight Hours for What We Will!

That was the motto for the Eight-Hour Movement, chanted in labor demonstrations and union halls far and wide in the latter part of the 1800s. The fight for the eight hour day was a long one, originating with the onset of the Industrial Revolution itself (first in the form of the ten-hour day, with two hours for meals). In the earlier part of the nineteenth century, the fight was primarily through pressure on state legislatures to limit the hours of the workday; the existing trade unions tended to have a narrow focus on their own crafts, and their power rose and fell with the economic tide (as did their level of solidarity with other crafts in the form of labor councils). Legislatures were reluctant to hear arguments in favor of working hours on a human scale; it was felt that “the remedy is not with us” (as a Massachusetts legislative committee formed in response to the many petitions received from factory workers replied) and/or that limiting the hours of the workday would be bad for the economy. Workers shifted their arguments from more time for citizenship duties or further education, to the better quality of work that would result from the shorter workday. By the time the mid-1800’s rolled around, several states (New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Ohio, California and Georgia) had passed various ten-hour laws due to popular demand—laws which inevitably included loopholes for ‘special contracts’. Those ‘special contracts’ nullified the law; employers demanded them as a condition of employment, and blacklisted workers who stood up for their (paper-tiger) legal rights.

The general ineffectiveness of those laws spurred more interest in forming labor organizations—not the relatively smaller, city-based craft brotherhoods that occasionally would assert political power, but larger, regional unions that were politically driven. Those unions were also craft-based, and concerned primarily with the welfare of their own members (as well as control of their jurisdiction), but the seeds had been planted for national labor unions, and there was a renewed interest in forming trades’ councils and solidarity with other unions. This intensified with the rise of the railroads, when economies were no longer so “local”.

The eight-hour day was a key issue to the Chicago labor movement, who galvanized enough support that a state law was passed in favor of the eight hour day in 1867. As in other states, those canny Illinois politicians wrote enough loopholes in the law as to render it ineffective, so on May 1, 1867, the first general strike in Chicago in support of the eight-hour day was held. (It was only two years before, on May 1, 1865, that Abraham Lincoln’s body was displayed in Chicago for public mourning. A favorite Abraham Lincoln quote on labor hangs proudly on the wall of my union hall: “Labor is prior to, and independent of Capital, which would never have been created without labor’s first existing. Labor is the superior of Capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”)

The fight continued into the late 1800s, with most unions and trade coalitions demanding the eight-hour day. May 1, 1886 was set as the day for nationwide demonstrations for the eight-hour day by the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (precursor to the American Federation of Labor). In Chicago, this demonstration was not merely for the eight-hour day or other jobsite conditions, but was also a show of strength by various immigrant communities. When a bomb went off in Haymarket Square, eight labor leaders were arrested (none of whom could have set off the bomb), tried, and sentenced to death. Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolph Fischer and George Engel were hanged, Louis Lingg killed himself on the eve of execution; Michael Schwab, Samuel Fielden and Oscar Neebe remained in prison (and were later pardoned by Governor Altweld). It wasn’t until the New Deal with its Fair Labor Standards Act that the eight hour day became standard.

…or has it?

saying goodbye on a good note…

It’s been my pleasure guest blogging here for the past two weeks. (I think I’ve overstepped by one day–Labor Day screwed me up.) I tried to touch on different topics of interest to me and hopefully of interest to some of the readers here at Feminste and I’ve been excited when people took the time to write thoughtful feedback. Thanks!

Some of the comments left on the ethical tourism post have led me to start a new series of articles on my own blog, Macha Mexico: A Lesbian Guide to Mexico City, about the politics of tourism. Please check out the website over the coming weeks as we provide information about concrete, important ways to be a better tourist in Mexico and Latin America. Also, look for a series of interviews with rad Mexican feminists and queer women whose voices aren’t otherwise being heard outside of Mexico.

And now, some good news regarding abortion rights in Mexico City…

For those that don’t know, abortion laws in Mexico are set by individual states and in April of 2007, Mexico City became the first municipality to legalize abortion without restrictions up to the twelth week of pregnancy. This was awesome news for the women of Mexico City, but Mexico’s Supreme Court spent the last few weeks debating whether Mexico City’s law was constitutional

Fortunately, on August 28th, the court ruled to uphold Mexico City’s law, protecting women’s reproductive freedom within the Distrito Federal.

(cross posted to Macha Mexico)

While this is an important victory, there are still many obstacles to reproductive freedom, even in Mexico City. Anti-choice activists are proposing a referrendum in Mexico City for residents to vote on the law, which will be a hard battle for pro-choicers in the coming months. And, of course, there are the women in the rest of the country who still lack access to legal abortion. According to government estimates, more than 110,000 women get illegal abortions every year in Mexico, although activists say that this number could be higher than 500,000.

Consider giving money to one of these organizations fighting to make abortion safe and legal for women throughout Mexico.

Red Latinoamericana de Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir

The link above leads to the (Spanish language) website of the Latin American Network of Catholics for the Right to Choose, which is composed of sister organizations from Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile and Colombia.

CDD is a partner organization of the U.S. based group Catholics for choice, which describes the work of CDD Mexico as follows:

Since 1994, Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir in Mexico-an organization committed to women’s empowerment and rights-has engaged in educational efforts that offer the progressive church community, policy-makers, legislators, health providers, educators, opinion leaders, women’s rights advocates and the general public, liberating Catholic positions on sexuality and reproductive health, gender and the rights of Catholics to make decisions based on their conscience. In a predominantly Catholic country such as Mexico, CDD’s contributions to public debates are particularly important since they reflect the diversity of perspectives that exist within Catholicism, especially on the topics of reproductive rights, sexuality, and women’s roles.

As an independent Catholic non-governmental organization (NGO) skilled in public education and advocacy, Católicas helps to bring these perspectives to public debates on democracy, gender equity, health and reproductive rights, drawing on its principles of individual conscience, Catholic social justice, women’s rights and democratic pluralism.

To contact the Mexico branch of CDD, follow the contact information here, or e-mail cddmx@cddmx.org.

Mexfam: Fundación Mexicana para la Planeación Familiar

The mission of this not-for-profit is “to provide quality, cutting-edge services in family planning, health, and sex education, prioritizing populations that are most at-risk in Mexico: youth and the poor, in both urban and rural areas.” Although their headquarters are in Mexico City, scope of their campaigns include all of Mexico, including rural areas where access to contraception is limited and there are many barriers to reproductive choice. Mexfam is also involved in the fight to pass laws protecting the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS as well as the struggle for access to quality medical care for HIV postive people.

Mexfam has clinics all over Mexico, included six in the greater Mexico City area, and macha friends have told me that the clinics are gay-friendly and that lots of lesbians go there for their women’s health needs.

You can make a donation using PayPal or a wire transfer here.

This is just a short list (tomorrow is the first day of school for this busy teacher), but please check back to Macha Mexico over the next week for more links and ways to get involved in supporting the struggle reproductive freedom in Mexico.

introduction to cripchick and the mda telethon

Hello, all! Cripchick checking in—Thanks to the lovely Feministe folks here, I’ll be guest-blogging for the next two weeks.

A little bit about myself:

I identify as a queer, disabled, radical woman of color interested in an intersectional approach to ending oppression. I recently started blogging in the last year and am amazed at how much it has changed my life (very interested in using the internet for community-building). Even though I sometimes struggle with the disability community, the Disability Rights Movement is home for me and is where I came to understand why it’s important to organize. Most of my writing here will centralize disability as a feminist issue.

And on that note (nice transition, eh?), I wanted to share last year’s Labor Day blog carnival around the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon with you. Every year, Jerry Lewis hosts a big telethon [fundraising event where people call in by phone to give money] to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Many disabled people have protested this fundraising method because of its pitiful poster children images. These images are designed to make you feel sorry for disabled people and/or fear disability. As many often point out, it makes it really difficult to go to a job interview if an organization representing people like you has told your boss you needed pity, not equal opportunity or justice. These images of pity and charity infiltrate every part of our life.

Many disabled people also protest the telethon because they believe that the focus should not be on curing— or eradicating— disability but improving access to society and accepting people as they are. An example of this is in Jerry’s 1990 Parade Magazine article where he talks about the hardships we face with inaccessibility. Jerry’s solution to this problem is a cure for disability while the disability community’s solution to this would be to make accessible bathrooms.

You can check out the Telethon Protest Blog Carnival at Kara’s place and read more about anti-telethon efforts at Ragged Edge Magazine and Laura Hershey’s Crip Commentary website.

Shorter Michael Gerson: “Women are children.”

Michael Gerson – noted Bush minion feminist – believes (not surprisingly) that most women are idiots:

Palin is a historic pick — if elected as vice president, she would most likely be America’s first female president. Though the evangelical/hunter/beauty-contest contestant is unlikely to appeal to the hardest core of Hillary’s feminist supporters, she is likely to appeal broadly to most women, who will be undisturbed that she doesn’t fit feminist stereotypes. The left’s main response to Palin’s unconventional background has been to sneer — but a sneer is not an argument. [Emphasis mine]

I don’t understand why this is so hard to understand: the vast majority of women who voted for Senator Clinton did so both because of what she represents and what she stands for. Yes, many Clinton voters were excited to see a woman in the Oval Office, but they were also excited to see a feminist and pro-woman president in the Oval Office. Sarah Palin is on the wrong side of a whole host of issues; not only is she anti-choice, but she’s also opposed to meaningful health care reform, universal pre-K, and comprehensive sex education. Or in other words, Sarah Palin is clearly a terrible choice for Clinton supporters and women in general. And – surprise! – most Democratic women (who voted for Clinton) understand this fact, and are reacting accordingly (by not giving Palin their political support). The fact that Gerson really believes that women will flock to McCain because he chose a woman as his running-mate, only shows how little regard he has for women as rational, thinking adults.

Salve!

Hello Feministe readers! My name is Jamelle and – thanks to Jill’s generosity – I’ll be guest-blogging here for the next two weeks. I’m not particularly good at writing extended descriptions of myself (they always turn out really stilted), but here goes:

I’m a fourth-year (yes, that’s the terminology we use) at the University of Virginia, majoring in Political & Social Thought and government. I’m involved in a pretty fair range of activities at the University, but for the moment, that’s not terribly important. What’s more relevant, I suppose, are my internet activities. I normally blog at The United States of Jamerica with two close friends – takahe83 and protogoras – and occasionally contribute to the blog PostBourgie. The vast majority of my blogging has to do with politics: from shallow stuff concerning the ‘horse race” to more deeper takes on various issues and concerns in American politics. Occasionally though, I’ll blog about music, cartoons, and other nerdy things.

I blog mostly from a center-left perspective (putting me pretty close to the Democratic Party on most issues) and though I’m not an explicitly feminist blogger, I do consider myself a feminist (or a feminist ally, either one works), and I work hard – as a dude – to make sure my blog is “feminist friendly.” You can expect my writing here at Feministe to be similar to my writing at my blog, so with that said, I hope you enjoy it.

Before The Speculative Commentary Gets Out of Hand

News is that Sarah Palin’s oldest daughter, Bristol, is five months pregnant and plans to marry the father and keep the baby. Amidst some nasty rumors that Bristol is actually the mother of Palin’s infant — rumors that are completely unfounded but don’t stop the Daily Kos kids from running them into the ground — they chose to disclose this information to lay to rest any other potential rumors surrounding their kids’ parentage. Considering that this breaks on the third day after the announcement of Palin as the chosen VP candidate, I wonder if she’ll be on the ballot come November. Reports are that McCain already knew about the daughter’s pregnancy, but others report that McCain’s camp is just now settling in Wasilla to do the vetting they should have done before.

Some thoughts: I assume many are going to fall back on many of the stereotypes about teen pregnancy to characterize Palin’s family, particularly Bristol. They’re hicks. She’s irresponsible, she gets what she deserves. And so on and so forth.

Sigh. The scared, pregnant teenager I was can’t imagine how much it sucks that Bristol has to go through this with prime-time media breathing down her neck. But the truth is that many teen parents, especially if they’re from wealthy, stable families with lots of resources, can be great parents who raise happy and healthy kids. In this respect Bristol is not at a disadvantage. To the Palins’ credit, she appears to have their full support, and I find their forthrightness admirable considering the negative stigmas surrounding teen pregnancy. Moreover, Bristol is going to benefit from her mother’s fundamentalist base. The religious right’s belief that “doing the right thing” is getting married and starting a nuclear family will bolster her decision and her experience as a young parent because she will have support from her family and community.

I am a little troubled that marrying the father is part of the equation. I understand that the importance of the nuclear family is part of their religious community’s culture, but I’m still bothered by the willingness to throw a teenager into a legally binding contract considering how much we know about the instability endemic to teen marriages.

Nevertheless, the religious right is going to hang their hat on her choice while working to deny that right from the rest of us. Oh, and Sarah Palin is against sex ed in schools.

UPDATE: Obama is on it, saying he’s offended that people are trying to trace some of the rumor-mongering back to his camp, reminding that he himself was born to an eighteen-year-old mother, and tells reporters to “back off” the story. “I have said before and I will repeat again: People’s families are off limits.”

Quannu lu gattu nun c’e li surci abballanu!

…Sicilian for “when the cat is away the mice will play” (will dance), which is kinda how I feel when I’m guest blogging. I’ve guest-blogged twice, and posted two introductions at Feministe, here and here; my first introduction at my own blog is here. So, as Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes sang, “if you don’t know me by now…..”

Then again, I’ve never done a “100 things”. Don’t know if I’ll make it to 100….