Organizing for a better life in Atlanta

Submitted by Stafford Purvis, a Union Summer intern in Atlanta, GA.

This summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to participate in the AFL-CIO Union Summer internship program. Being an AFL-CIO Union Summer intern has brought me full circle. I am a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta. As a Morehouse student, we learn the deep rich history of one of the greatest world leaders of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King once said, “The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.” These words echoed in my mind as I spent my summer having conversations with people who help to run city of Atlanta. As the son of blue-collar workers, I was provided a decent life and strong work ethic. My goal this summer was to help city workers in Atlanta achieve the same decent life.

Working people who get up at the break of dawn to provide services for Atlanta’s schoolchildren. Working people who make sure our neighborhoods are safe. Working people who show their love for the city of Atlanta through their action of labor.

These public-sector jobs are the foundation for the middle class. Union Summer gave me the tools to help the city workers of Atlanta negotiate together, obtain fair wages and experience the dignity of hard work. My conversations were about preserving the values of hard work and fairness that drive the city workers of Atlanta to persevere every day. These conversations are the key to protecting the middle class in communities like Atlanta.

As part of my program, I learned that unions have been important tools for advocating for our working rights as well as our civil rights. As we face the future, unions will continue to be a part of workers’ rights and the struggle for equality in this country.

One of the conversations that stood out during my internship was with a man who told me that love is what drives him to work. Love for what he does, love for his family and love for the city of Atlanta, where he has worked for 25 years. But he also told me that love isn’t enough to put food on the table. I couldn’t learn this in the classroom. This is something I had to experience through my one-on-one conversations.

I am a better man as a result of my internship, and I am honored to be a member of the AFL-CIO Union Summer’s 20th year class. My hope is that my conversations this summer help create a better environment for achieving decent salaries and working conditions. And we achieve love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.