When I visited The Sun Ra house in Philly... Ra had an award on the wall that was front and center. He had amazing awards from amazing places, but one was front and center... It was from kids.. Just a note from a class thanking the Arkestra for playing their school. I asked Marshall Allan about it and he said that award.. Was Ra's favorite....
The General Secretary of the Industrial Workers of the World sent out a request for a member to be interviewed by some high school students. I jumped on the opportunity. I am a very busy person, but.. I really enjoyed taking the time out of my busy life to type out my answers to their questions...
How have you been personally affected by
unions?
My father
and step father were both union members as well as my mother, so personally, I
had a good access to a good childhood. I never went without anything and didn’t
have to go to school in buddies. HA! I have been an officer in my Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers and now I am a delegate in the Industrial Workers of
the World, the union gives me a strong feeling of responsibility to others. My
in depth study of the labor movement has given me an education about the
history of the United States that most people won’t get from the normal
corporate owned media and schools. My work as an organizer has given me a
wealth of knowledge of how to move in the world of human experience. Personally
unions are to me what the church gives to others, community and a safe place to
forward my studies. My paycheck is another thing the union got for me. I am
well paid as a Locomotive Engineer. I am a reformer, a different kind of union
person, so I have been given a very big job by the unions we have today. So in
effect, unions have made my work even more important, especially being an
organizer. A person who works to make the bottom of the structure stronger.
What do you believe was Eugene Debs’s
greatest contribution to America?
The
industrial union concept and structure. And not just as a concept, the Great
Northern Strike was proof that this concept works to forward human need in the
face of greed and exploitation.
How have unions changed since Debs first
pushed for their formation?
In the
railroad industry, they have hardly changed at all. We are still organized by
craft. Debs and others formed the American Railway Union because craft unionism
was giving the railroads plenty of ways to divide and conquer. Engineer vs.
Fireman, Conductor, Vs. Trainman… Ect. Ect. I think society has also changed in
the way that folks look at community. I think the unions of today wish people
wanted them to be the source of community they once were. In the days before
radio and T.V… unions were the community center. They were the place people
turned to in times of stress. Now, many big unions suffer the same problems
very large structures face. Uncontrollable culture shifts and serious lack of
connection to the roots of the structure. A loss of mission and vision of the
goals and purpose.
Within your lifetime, have you noticed any
changes in how unions function?
Recently,
there has been a push coming from large business unions to “outsource” their
direct action tactics off on organizations, such as Our-Walmart and other
organizations that are being funded by unions, but appear to be organic in
nature. I see this much in the way corporations sub-contract. The unions have
found a way to subvert liability issues and sometimes internal union political
responsibility. For example, spending money on organizing drives can get a
union leader in trouble if the drive does not go so well, so the liability will
be on the “grass roots” organization. Sometimes funded from other sources, but
with a clear union connection and goal.
There is
also in my lifetime a sort of “Rank and File Rebellion” pushing up from the
bottom of larger union structures. I am a member of two of these Rank and File
movements, Teamsters for A Democratic Union and Railroad Workers United. There
has also been Rank and File reform caucuses in the International Aerospace and
Machinists Union (IAM) AKA Rosie’s in Seattle at Boeing and in the Chicago Teachers Union. CORE, “The Caucus
of Rank and File Educators”. These reform organizations are pushing for
Democratic principles and shop floor tactics that the Industrial Workers Of The
World have always known to be what moves the working class into control and
winning positions.
Eugene Debs held some controversial views
on economic policy. Eventually forming the Democratic Social Democratic party
in his later years. What elements of socialism do you find to be most present
in the modern union?
Well, it
matters who sets the policy, in relation to the controversy. The answer to this
question will reveal my understanding of socialism that is not academic. I have
not studied Socialism in great depth. I think in unions today you find elements
of a social structure that puts human need over the need for non-humans, aka “entities”
aka banks. Unions these days have become the bargaining agents for people to
move the money into the pockets of the workers, but in my opinion and
experience, not much else. I am a member of a credit union. This was
established by my union workers as a way to use a social structure of democracy
to keep fees down. I think the worker ownership of the union makes them
socialist in nature, but without a real tangible culture of ownership and
involvement, the unions of today have become more of a service that relies on dues
but not providing a great wealth of human knowledge and culture.
Much of Debs early union work was with
railroad workers, As a Locomotive Engineer, How does Eugene Debs legacy affect
you, In either a practical or inspirational manner?
“I have a heart
for others, and that is why I am in this work. When I see suffering about me,
I myself suffer,
and so when I put forth my efforts to relieve others I am simply working for
myself. I do not consider that I have made any sacrifice whatsoever, no man does…
unless he violates his conscience.” Eugene Victor Debs
In
the context of that quote, I was raised in a German Catholic union home by a
Lebanese activist Buddhist mother. She was the daughter of a Lebanese immigrant
and the youngest of 18 children. That is a long story, but my two fathers were
workers, one an electrician and one who was a railroad worker. My mother went
to school to become a teacher in her early 30’s. At college she found an
activist group working to get the University of Louisville to divest funding
from South African Apartheid. This is where she came out of the closet. So, my
manhood has a serious foundation in the working class church and in serious
activism and I was raised by lesbians and college activist. HA! HA! So,
The quote from Debs sounds very Buddhist to
me. An unselfish desire to work for others. Debs did time in prison for his
workers. His ideas and beliefs… He sacrificed his life for. I have fancy and
have read others accounts that Debs was authentic. He always gave his money to
the union and never asked for and would many times forfeit salary. His work
load was not set by compensation. So, for me as a union organizer, it is his
serious accountability that is inspiring to me. He also loved the people that
he worked for and looked past their dusty and crass working class ways. You can
read and feel this in his letter called “You Railroad, Men”
At
the end of the email you ask for any interesting facts or insights.
Did
you know that the President of the United States ordered by law that any
opposition to WW1 would be considered treason and punishable by law?
Did
you know that the Catholic Church outlawed “interest” on money loans all the
way up into the middle 1800’s?
As
for insights…
The
union I would rather be in is called the IWW. I cannot be solely represented by
this union set forth in a law called the Railway Labor Act. I am not allowed to access
my right to free association for a reason. So, I voluntarily, proudly have
involved myself in this union because, I decided that the Preamble to The IWW
Constitution was what I seriously believe. I am 45 years old and have a son who
is 12, so, I am very inspired and honored to be asked by your group to answer
these questions. We must look forward to the seventh generation some say, so I
am honored that my friends in youth seek my knowledge gained from life experiences.
I get from you inspiration.
In
the IWW, we have other very inspirational leaders who have been part of our
struggle, I would suggest looking into Joe Hill. This year is the 100 year
centennial celebration of his murder by the hands of the capitalist class. He
was sort of our songwriter/ organizer saint. We also have another amazing
person who worked for our organization called Utah Phillips. He had a saying,
“The long memory
is the most radical idea in this country. It is the loss of that long memory
which deprives our people of that connective flow of thoughts and events that
clarifies our vision, not of where we are going, but where we want to go.”
So,
with that quote… keep asking question and use that tool that is yours and yours
alone.. Your brain. It’s the best tool you got.
I
could go on forever but if you are interested in my music or further
experiences on the rails… go to:
John
Paul Wright
Industrial
Workers Of The World
Railroad
Workers United
Kentucky
GMB
