We control the means of production

We were on the strike lines this week in New England, supporting our sisters and brothers of UFCW who work at Stop & Shop, a large regional food store chain. They are fighting not for more, but to minimize what they stand to lose in pay and healthcare, all while their company turns a profit for it’s forgiven owners. Members of other unions and the public are behind them, with donations of food and money. AFT Connecticut and AFSCME Council 4 voted to donate $2500 each and follow that with another $500 each per week till the strike is resolved. Other unions followed with donations of their own.

This week also brought news out of Louisiana of the death of another nurse, apparently the result of an attack by a patient. The loss of a sister to workplace violence is both tragic and too common.
I ask for your help in this.
Please contact your congressperson and senators.
Ask them to cosponsor HR 1309 and SB 851, companion bills that would create OSHA protections for Healthcare and Social Workers against Workplace Violence.

Easter and Passover are a time of reflection and as I reflected on this week, I thought of a speech delivered by Randi Weingarten at the National Press Club on Thursday.
One of the things Randi spoke about was the de-professionalization of Teaching.
As I come to know teachers better and better, I realize that their struggles are both different but the same as the struggles of nurses and healthcare professionals.
They are also the struggles of our PSRPs and public servants.
I think they are related to the struggles of our UFCW workers too.

Basic benefits and a voice in the workplace are stripped away.
Healthcare workers are subject to violence and understaffing.
Educators forced to teach to the test, underfunded, and facing violence in the classroom.
Public servants vilified as the “cause” of financial woes, when indeed, they are part of the solution.
Meat cutters and cashiers struggle to make a living wage.
While foreign owners, healthcare corporations, and private investors reap the profits of our toils.

Our UFCW sisters and brothers remind us, as the teachers of Los Angeles, Chicago, and many states recently have.
While we may not control the businesses…..

We control the means of production