cybersteward.net

Willard Plumerson was dead before his time
but he was born again
in a burst of economic paranoia
heaven and white skin privilege
holding more promise
than his sliding stock quotations

he kept busy
scurrying to the foreman’s office
to tattle on other workers’ toilet activities
in between cutting train axles
on an engine lathe he called his own
for over forty years

Willard made few friends
with his boasts of blue chip stocks
had no friends for support
when they plummeted sometime in the ’60s
in a smoldering heap
like the trash tray’s steel fragments
in the belly of the lathe

he couldn’t quite find his class
not “working”
not “middle”
he floated somewhere on a republican cloud
with his white Jesus
and a micrometer that was always at least
three thousandths of an inch
away from accurate

he couldn’t quite place his heart
not “management”
not “union”
his only seat on a board
was the one behind the lathe
where he’d eat his lunch alone
or on special occasions
with a couple others just as scared as he

there they’d argue the body count
of angels dancing on the heads of pins
out of bibles on their blue-jeaned laps
where bankruptcy
plant closures
and quality circle lies
were never listed as realities of life

- by Sue Doro, from her book Blue Collar Goodbyes.

I picture the above poem being about someone I’d call a “company weasel.” That’s someone who sees the union as less than perfect, and so he seeks to advance his own interest by betraying those of his fellow workers and his union.

This is the one thing that should set us apart from management. They are trained to look out only for themselves, but our strength as union members is in how well we look out for each other. And if we fail to do that, any weakness in our union is nobody’s fault but our own.

And let’s not forget the words of Clarence Darrow:

“With all their faults, trade unions have done more for humanity than any other organization of men that ever existed. They have done more for decency, for honesty, for education, for the betterment of the race, for the developing of character in men, than any other association of men.”

Filed under: quotables, unionism