The fight for workers’ power is taking place all over the world, the nation, North Carolina — and right here in Asheville
Labor issues and worker fights are all over the headlines lately. Amazon employees went on strike for better labor conditions this past year. Nearly 700 workers were arrested by ICE at a poultry processing plant in Mississippi this past month, less than a year after winning a sexual assault settlement against the company. In July, Australian Exxonmobil union workers ended a 742 day strike after successfully forcing the company to renegotiate their contract; and this past winter saw cities like Seattle and New York increase their minimum wage to $15 dollars per hour and the State of Massachusetts increase the minimum wage to $12 dollars per hour.
Labor Day is a time for us to reflect on and honor the history of the labor movement, find the relevance and lessons to use in today’s context, and determine how we can locally, nationally and internationally participate in continued forward movement toward a more just and sustainable world for all workers.
The history of labor in this country is varied, complex and filled with strife. Workers have always had to fight to establish and protect our rights. Labor Day started in the late 1800’s at the height of the industrial revolution when the average American worker toiled seven 12-hour days per week; children worked in factories and mines and all workers faced the uncertainty of unregulated wages and unsafe conditions.
The labor movement was born from the people’s resistance to these injustices. Striking workers took great personal risk to attain even the standards that we know today. In 1884, the Pullman Car Strike brought business in Chicago to a halt and President Cleveland ordered the army to break the strike, killing dozens. If you’ve heard of the West Virginia Mine Wars that spanned into the early 1920’s, you know this would not be the last time that the U.S. government fired on its own people for protesting inhumane working conditions. In 1903, Mary Harris “Mother” Jones organized the March of the Mill Children on Washington to end child labor. Closer to home, in 1929 the striking members of the United Textile Workers at the Marion Mill were massacred by the local sheriff’s department and company thugs leaving six workers dead and 12 injured.
This Labor Day we honor the numerous workers who put their lives on the line and risked everything to bring about better, safer, and more just working conditions for generations to come. Workers won the eight-hour work day, the 40 hour work week, limits on child labor and workers compensation. The “war” with the government quieted down (at least for white workers) and the minimum wage climbed slowly over the years. The history of the labor movement can feel like a roller coaster at times, with inspiring wins and political steps forward and backward. It’s important to reflect on this ongoing legacy of workers’ struggles and to hold a vision for what is possible for the future.
While we recognize the victories, we know that income inequality continues to rise, that workers have suffered many setbacks in the past decades and we need to strengthen the movement for economic justice in the present and for the struggles to come. In 1965, the average CEO earned approximately 24 times that of the average worker. In 2017 the average CEO of an S&P 500 Index company made 361 times the average U.S. worker (according to the AFL-CIO’s Executive Paywatch). While costs have risen everywhere in the country and the cost of housing has soared here in Buncombe County over the last 10 years, the last time the federal (and North Carolina’s) minimum wage saw an increase was over a decade ago.
The fight for worker justice and the labor movement is not confined to points in history or other places around the country and the world. The labor movement continues here in Asheville and Canton and all over Western North Carolina. Recently Earthfare workers were organizing in West Asheville and Rolled and Roasted employees were supported by their allies in addressing unfair labor practices and transphobia. Last year, advocates successfully won a $15 an hour minimum for a large portion of state employees, and this year, Buncombe County raised their wage floor for regular employees to $15 an hour.
We can continue to build on all the victories of the past. We can make decisions to participate in the forward progress of the labor movement here in the present. We can hold that vision for the future, here and now, and move toward it in various ways.
We can sign up for the NC AFL-CIOs “Count Me In” campaign and find time to take action to support union organizing campaigns and advocate with policy makers on issues that advance worker justice.
We can choose to support businesses that pay a living wage and to withdraw our support from businesses that have shown unfair and unjust labor practices. The Earthfare labor campaign and the highlighting of Rolled and Roasted’s actions show that locals can bring public pressure against businesses violating workers’ rights.
We can choose to have zero tolerance for sexual harassment, racism, xenophobia, anti-trans or anti-LGBQ employers, or other egregious workplace practices.
We can add our name to the growing choir of North Carolinians who support a raise in the minimum wage by signing on to the Raising Wages NC campaign.
We can continue to press the city of Asheville to join Buncombe County and raise the minimum wage rate for municipal workers to $15 an hour, improving the lives of hundreds of workers.
We can listen to workers about their struggles (and choose to believe them), we can share our stories, and we can actively find constructive ways to have meaningful dialogue with our neighbors who may not agree with us.
We can organize, organize and organize some more. As workers, we can find our place in the movement. We can find spaces with groups like the Western North Carolina Workers’ Solidarity Alliance and the annual Workers Assembly to work alongside other comrades with similar struggles. We can join or form unions in our workplaces.
Groups like Just Economics are here with organizing tools like the Voices for Economic Justice program and open meetings. ASURJ, the PSL, the IWW, CIMA, SONG, Tranzmission, WNC Workers’ Center and Down Home NC all deal with workers’ struggles in our city and region.
If you have ever worked or are currently working in unsafe or unfair working conditions, it’s time to organize. If you work for pay less than what you can live on, the time is now to find your place in the labor movement. If you care about your neighbors and the trajectory of economic justice in this country, you must find ways to act in solidarity with efforts to bring about the vision of a better future. We know how far the labor movement has come and we can decide not to take one step back. This Labor Day we find our place to listen, share, and take action.
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Just Economics is a local, non-profit organization working to educate, advocate, and organize for a more just and sustainable local economy that works for all in Western North Carolina. Just Economics focuses on three primary issues–living wages, affordable housing, and better transit. Vicki Meath is the Executive Director of Just Economics and has been with the organization for nine years. Carmen Ybarra is the Community Organizer and Emma Hutchens is the Living Wage Program Coordinator.
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