Labor Movements Matter
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Like many of you, come from an immigrant and working family, one who has had to make sacrifices in order to make ends meet. It infuriates me to see how many families and individuals today are being exploited and maltreated by their workplace, a workplace where they cannot leave for it is the only way to put food on the table. At our previous gathering here at Polly’s, we heard from a couple of women who are strong supporters of the Suffragist movement. Most of them painted a picture of a better tomorrow where women were equal to men. Imagine a world where your place of origin, the color of your skin, or your sex does not matter in a workplace. Imagine having shorter workdays and obtain a fair pay, a wage that would suffice to pay for your basic needs. Now imagine being able to come home from work and being able to have dinner with your spouse and possibly children. You are able to spend time with your husband or wife and children, maybe even enjoy a nice dinner with them. Imagine not being overly exhausted as you lay in bed at the end of the day, for you had not worked from dawn to dusk. This is what the Industrial Workers of the World is striving for. We are trying to bring together all groups of labor into a unified whole in order to achieve industrial freedom, essential for men and women alike. Women, men, of all ages and ethnicities should unite in order to achieve this.
I have seen men wake up everyday with calloused hands, sore muscles, and aching bones, yet get up and go to their job in order to bring home a couple of cents, but something is better than nothing. They work endlessly, day after day until their bodies can no longer withstand it. Women are forced to do the same activity at their job a cramped, stuffy area each day, enduring exploitation as well as abuse, both physical and verbal. Their managers or bosses, often sexually assault them however, too afraid of losing their job, they remain quiet. There are pregnant women who have to do strenuous work day by day, leading to miscarriages. However, even when children do survive to a talking and walking age, they are being stripped of their childhood, forced to leave school to join the workforce in order to help their families in any way they can. Whole families toil for a hardly sufficient wage, something that should be changed. The Industrial Workers of the World is at war with the ruthless invasion of family life by capitalism. By joining the labor faction, you will be joining a force that will benefit men and women of all ages. We will be able to have a family life, one that many of us have imagined where our children will be able to run around and play and we will be able to spend time with our spouses.
I have seen individuals who came to the United States, the country of opportunity, freedom, and acceptance, seeking for a better life. However, they are faced with rejection and prejudice simply because of the color of their skin or their accent. It is inexcusable to discriminate individuals due to racially different or participate in a different culture. Immigrants and minorities are humans too. They deserve respect and equality. They should be able to have the same working rights as well as a reasonable wage, just like everyone else in the work force.
Just last year, during the Lawrence Textile Strike in Lawrence Massachusetts, we were able to successfully achieve our goal which was to raise wages for the workers. We were able to do this because the community came together, setting aside any differences that they may have had, in order to achieve something bigger. Something that their children, and their children’s children will be able to benefit from. We can do that here too, with your support and vote for the labor faction. Everyone, not just the individuals in the workforce, should band together in order to achieve standardized wages and shorter workdays. Immigrants and women should not be paid less than men for performing similar jobs. We must fight to transcend ethnic and gender boundaries in order to achieve equality, better working conditions, and shorter workdays.
The Industrial Workers of the World appeals to women to organize side by side with their men folks, in the union that will determine its own rules of work and wages, something that will improve the lives of many. I am here, urging women and men alike, those who are workers themselves, spouses or siblings of workers to join the cause for the success of our program will benefit all workers, regardless of sex, ethnicity, or background, and ensure that all that have exploited us for their own benefit are brought to desistance. Unlike some individuals of the United States may believe, individuals of the working class matter, for they are the ones that are making our country prosper day after day through arduous labor. They are the ones sewing the seams of the pants many of you wear, putting together the tables at which you sit, creating the items we use each day. Without the hundreds of working individuals, we would not have much, which is why it is of importance and priority to come together as one, to make our voices heard and create a change that would improve numerous lives, not only here in Greenwich Village, but across the state of New York and maybe even the entire country. Immigrants or citizens, woman or man, adult or child, we are all humans. There can be no true democracy while women and individuals of color are being denied any right or privilege that is enjoyed by a white man. Men, women, children, need to come together to create a single union that could unite labor. By joining the Industrial Workers of the World and voting for the labor faction, you will be assisting in uniting labor, which will be able to further push to standardize wages and create safer work environments for everyone. Help us achieve industrial freedom, obtain equal pay, safer workplaces, and shorter workdays. Remember that more than one group suffers under corporate capitalism and you can unite them to force change. Remember that by joining the labor faction today you will help create a better tomorrow for many individuals and their families for generations to come.
