The stakes are high for union workers in this year’s Nov. 5 elections. The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) has a few suggestions about what Black trade unionists should be looking out for this election cycle.
Black workers in the United States continue to face many challenges. Unemployment is higher, Black Americans are paid lower wages and are often discriminated against in various ways while at work. Black workers are also often excluded from important networking opportunities that could advance their careers, and have higher fatality rates because they are often employed in occupations where injuries are more common.
The CBTU’s Dwight Kirk emphasized that these factors should be considered as union workers head to the polls this year. “Most of our folks understand the consequential stakes in this election and what it means in terms of our ability to continue to make life better for working people, African Americans, people of color in this country –– or whether or not we’re going to be playing in a defensive mode for the next four years,” Kirk said. “To that extent, people are talking about the issues that say, ‘Well, if you want to protect your right to vote, or if you want to protect your ability to collectively bargain, or if you want to protect the healthcare benefits that you have, then you have a choice in front of you. And that choice is to show up at the polls and to vote. Vote your interests.’
“We’re hoping that we can make the case to people that it is in their interest to be motivated enough to vote and to vote in their best interests.”
The CBTU, a nonprofit membership organization, speaks from a powerful social justice position. Across the nation, its chapters sponsor scholarships, help youth apply for jobs in the trades, and work on projects that confront food scarcity and housing problems.
The recent death of William “Bill” Lucy, a co-founder of the CBTU, resonates deeply for the organization’s members –– especially during this election season.
Lucy was a long-term civil rights and trade union activist. He helped organize the 1968 Sanitation Strike in Memphis, Tenn., that moved Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. so much that he came to support the Memphis workers. Lucy also authored the famous “I Am a Man” phrase that laborers carried on placards as they demanded recognition of their often-dangerous work.
His work led to his serving as international secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) for 38 years, and his social justice work led him to co-found the Free South Africa Movement (FSAM) in 1984. Lucy was also the first African American president of Public Services International (PSI), an organization he helped push to form closer relations with Latin American and African countries.
“When you look at the span of time that Bill was in the movement, involved in different issues and consequential things –– from Martin Luther King and participating in the Sanitation Strike in 1968 in Memphis to Nelson Mandela being freed in South Africa in part due to the work that anti-Apartheid leaders like Mr. Lucy engaged in, to Barack Obama becoming the president — Bill Lucy was the person who opened the door for him with labor in 2007; without Bill Lucy, there would possibly be no Barack Obama,” Kirk said.
Hillary Clinton was the initial Democratic Party front-runner for the presidency, but because Lucy invited Obama to speak at the 2007 CBTU convention, he was introduced to Black trade unionists who had a very positive response to his campaign. “Mr. Lucy secured CBTU’s endorsement for his campaign, which helped other unions say it was okay to invite him to speak at their locals, raise money for him, supply volunteers for his campaign. It was critical, and, as we saw, eventually Obama won the nomination, won the presidency. Bill Lucy was the one who, at the beginning, opened the door for Obama to get that strong support from Black workers and then to get labor support in general.”
The CBTU has historically promoted work that fosters a better society. With this year’s elections, the organization says labor union workers should select candidates that help give create a better chance of becoming a better society. “In that vein, what candidate can do specific kinds of things to make the situation that people of color and Black folks encounter better?” asked Kirk.
“I think it’s pretty clear. Harris has made it pretty clear that she … has an agenda that appeals to the interest of Black working people. This election is one where you can feel the tension everywhere, and that should tell you that people see this election as being important.
“I just hope that for the folks [who] believe that things should not go back to the past, that they just do their part. Just vote. Yeah. Just vote.”