Labor's Bookstore is having a sale---And we have some thoughts on labor education

Labor's Bookstore does a pretty good job when it comes to providing the books and Zoom trtainings that union stewards and local union leaders need to do their jobs effectively. We have featured their products and trainings on this blog in the past.

There is something painfully frustrating in hearing local union leaders and stewards complain that they're lost or getting buried in their work or feeling cut off from their union or union resources. "No one listens!" and "No one helps!" and "No one comes to meetings!" and "I don't know what I'm doing!" are common complaints. Often these complaints are less about not having help and resources and are more about cries for help. We're dropping the ball somewhere, the steward or local union leader is frustrated or disappointed and doesn't want to do the work alone, the union needs a functioning representative in the workplace and the member-leader is caught between feeling responsible to their coworkers and the union and feeling as if they're failing. Neither the union nor the member-leader speaks a language of solidarity, struggle, and power-building. A smart HR person has their ear to the ground and picks off the member-leader and the union takes a hit.

If giving someone a book or sending them off to a training solved the problems at hand we would have almost no problems. Most unions have good training resources, though these may be buried in a closet or in the trunk of a staffperson's car. We're less good about supporting our people who hold positions in locals and who do the daily work in the workplaces, even if that work is most often about showing up with the right attitude and being willing and able to listen. Our failed relationship with labor education and supporting or mermber-leaders is systemic, and this makes us vulnerable.  

By all means, give folks books and send them to trainings and use Labor's Bookstore as a primary resource. Local union leaders can take this on themselves if that's necessary. But we set ourselves up for failure if this is our idea of education or self-education. A better movement would develop a curriculum, have regular check-ins with local leaders and activists, teach people how to develop their own learning in cooperation with one another, give people the means and the resp[onsibilities of learning in groups, and put activists in direct contact with one another and back this up with resources. We often pass by existing leaders or potential leaders in worksites in a rush to get immediate tasks done, and we do so without giving enough thought to who and what leaders are and the existing models of leadership that people are familiar with and can work with. We need to be patient and deliberative in all that we do.

Empower your mind this Labor Day with educational books that celebrate the history and strength of organized labor. Knowledge is our tool, solidarity our foundation!

Visit our website to view our collection. Enter code LABOR2024 at checkout and receive a 20% discount on your entire order! Sale ends 9/3/2023 @ noon!

Growing Labor Education to Build the Labor Movement

The United Association of Labor Eeducators Taskforce on State Federations and Central Labor Councils joins with the Albert Shanker Institute to host a webinar "Growing Labor Education to Build the Labor Movement ".

We will hear from four different university-labor partnerships that have been successful at expanding or creating labor centers. We will discuss how these partnerships leverage political power to create spaces for workers to learn, grow, and lead the labor movement of today.

Register here:

https://umass-amherst.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwuceCqqzwqH9DpMVf2L6EARvApFVRscuq2#/registration

Upcoming events and trainings, requests for solidarity, and some short union news updates

The following comes to us from Portland DSA and the Oregon AFL-CIO:

Union membership means more wealth for working Americans
June 24, 2024 | Labor Tribune
“New studies prove what unions have been arguing for years: Union membership means more wealth for working Americans. The Center for American Progress (CAP) analyzed new data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances and found that the median union household has significantly more wealth than non-union households, and these differences hold across demographic groups including race, ethnicity and education levels."

Labor and Community Organizations Stand with Chip Workers Demanding Living Wages and Safer Working Conditions
June 25, 2024 | Oregon AFL-CIO
“CHIPS Communities United (CCU), a coalition of labor unions, environmental organizations, and community groups, and the Oregon AFL-CIO today urged Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) to invest in its workers and honor their demands for living wages, safer working conditions, and an end to unpaid shutdowns. ADI worker demands point to larger job quality concerns and the need for strong labor standards accompanying public investment in the semiconductor industry.”

AFL-CIO President Applauds New Regulations Ensuring Fair Wages for Clean Energy Jobs
June 26, 2024 | AFL-CIO
“These new wage regulations are a historic win for working people, made possible with the culmination of decades of advocacy by the labor movement and years of work by the Biden–Harris administration. Today, we fulfill one of the key promises of the Inflation Reduction Act: that we can create good-paying union jobs and advance clean energy policy at the same time.”

Oregon Minimum Wage Has Increased More Than 30% Since 2016
June 27, 2024 | Oregon AFL-CIO
“On July 1, Oregon’s three minimum wage levels will increase by 50 cents, bringing the hourly minimum wage to $15.95 an hour in the Portland Metro Area, $14.70 in standard counties, and $13.70 in non-urban counties. According to the most recent data from 2022, just over 4% of Oregon workers earn minimum wage. That means over 100,000 people will see their paychecks go up in July.”

Race and Labor (a Labor Notes workshop)
Sat. June 29, 9-11am
How does racism show up in our workplaces and our unions? What are some strategies to confront it and build solidarity for a stronger, multiracial labor movement? And what can you say to union siblings who aren’t convinced racial justice has anything to do with union politics? This workshop addresses how class and race are inextricably linked, tracing back the origins of “race” as an invention of the ruling class to divide workers. We'll talk about how to move to strategies of unity. REGISTER: https://labornotes.org/events/2024/race-and-labor-june-2024

What to Do When Your Union Breaks Your Heart (a Labor Notes workshop)
Tues. July 2, 4:30-6pm
If you’re a union member, unfortunately the chances are good that you’ve had, or will have, your heart broken at least once by one of your own leaders. Whether you tried to get involved and there was nowhere to go, or the members got sold out, or leaders want to keep the union as their exclusive club, it can feel pretty harsh. In this workshop, we’ll talk about how to recommit to your union and change the culture into one where leaders respect and serve the members.
REGISTER: https://labornotes.org/events/2024/workshop-what-do-when-your-union-breaks-your-heart-july-2024

Secrets of a Successful Organizer (a Labor Notes training)
How to Organize at Work and Win !
Sundays, July 7, and July 14, 6-8pm
Portland Association of Teachers, 345 NE 8th (basement)
RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/secrets-of-a-successful-organizer-2024/

Union Makes Us Strong - Jazz Performance (Portland Jobs with Justice)
Portland Jazz Ensemble Composers' Ensemble
Thurs. July 11, 6:30pm
Norse Hall, 111 NE 11th Ave, Portland
JwJ's annual Summer Solidarity fundraiser, dinner buffet, cash bar, raffle prizes
TICKETS: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/pjwj-pjce-summer-jazz-show

LERC Summer School (OR AFL-CIO/)
Labor Education and Research Center
Fri-Sun, July 19-21
University of Oregon Campus, Eugene
Whether you are a new member or experienced leader, Summer School has something for you. Join us for a weekend of education, discussion and socializing with 100+ other union members from across the state.
REGISTER: https://lerc.uoregon.edu/ss24/.

Investigating Grievances - a Labor Notes Steward's Workshop
Wed. July 24, 4:30-6pm (zoom)
*Limited to stewards and officers who work with stewards
Grievances are a lot more than what you write down on a grievance form or what gets said in a grievance hearing. Some of the most important work that goes into winning a grievance happens before you even file, and pays off big time if a grievance ends up going to arbitration.
RSVP: https://labornotes.org/events/2024/stewards-workshop-investigating-grievances-july-2024

Support Unionizing Preschool Workers Illegally Fired (ILWU 5)
Workers at two Guidepost Montessori locations in the Portland Metro area have lost their jobs due to extreme union retaliation. Two of five locations in the Portland Metro area decided to unionize, and the company responded by shutting down the unionizing locations for at least 3 months each. Workers can use support while they stay committed to their unionizing campaign, and as they grapple with the loss of their livelihoods and relationships with their students. DONATE:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-unionizing-preschool-teachers-illegally-furloughed

Starbucks Workers United Rapid Response Network (SBWU)
Baristas will be bargaining a national foundational framework, an agreement that sets the standards for SBWU contracts across the country. The 10,000+ unionized Starbucks partners have come a long way to get to this moment – and we're determined to keep the momentum strong and fight to win at the bargaining table. By joining the rapid response network, you'll be on standby to mobilize quickly when called upon - this could look like calling into a store, holding a flyering event outside a store, organizing a solidarity standout, lodging customer complaints, etc. If your support is needed, it will likely be a tight turnaround time - so the form asks some specific questions to help gauge what level of capacity you and your organization may have for rapid response organizing. SIGN UP: https://tinyurl.com/SBWUrapid

Save the Date: Webinar on Organizing, Collective Action, and the National Labor Relations Board

Please join the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) for a webinar on recent developments at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and their impact on worker organizing.

NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo will deliver opening remarks on the significant reforms her office has undertaken. A panel discussion about those reforms and their impact on workplace organizing will follow General Counsel Abruzzo's remarks.

The webinar will also discuss a recent EPI report that illustrates measures the NLRB has taken to support workers' organizing and bargaining rights under the Biden administration.

Featuring:
General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, National Labor Relations Board
Larry Cohen, Past President of the Communications Workers of America, Board Chair Our Revolution
Cindy Estrada, Strategic Advisor to the President for the Center for Transformational Organizing, AFL-CIO
Worker Organizer (TBD)
Lynn Rhinehart, Senior Fellow, Economic Policy Institute

Moderated by Samantha Sanders, Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy, Economic Policy Institute

Tuesday, June 11, 2024, 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. PT

REGISTER: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3jqGZ93DTaWTmKUKnbM5dA

Registration for the Labor Research Action Network Conference is now open!

Registration for the Labor Research Action Network Conference is now open!
The conference will run from Thursday June 20th 8am to Friday June 21st 5pm PDT.

The 2024 LRAN conference is co-hosted by the University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center (LERC) and will be held at Portland State University. The theme of this year’s conference is “How labor can confront a rapidly changing landscape," and plenary sessions will focus on exciting efforts at strengthening and co-enforcing worker protection laws in Oregon and the rise of independent union organizing. Workshops and trainings will be held on a range of issues, including AI, climate jobs, and worker co-ops. The agenda will be available in April.

The early bird rate for admission is $130. The rate will go up to $150 on May 1st. Register here.

If you need a hotel room, there is a room block at the University Place Hotel & Conference Center Portland (union hotel). The rate is $114/night and includes breakfast. To book a room, call the hotel directly at 503-221-0140 and mention the LRAN conference.

Black History Movie Night In Portland On Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7:00 PM

 

Join SEIU Local 503 AFRAM Caucus, the Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and Portland Rising for a Black history movie night at the SEIU Local 503 office on 2/29 at 7pm. Representative Travis Nelson and Oregon AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Sarina Rohrer will be leading the event.

Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists: Black History Month Events

Black History Month

Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists: Black History Month Events

Ongoing throughout February both on Zoom and in person in Portland

The Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) cordially invites you to join us for a month-long recognition of Black excellence in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association, Portland Rising, Oregon AFSCME, and AFRAM/SEIU Local 503. The primary focus is health care.

February 8, 2024 at 6:30pm: Black Relevance in Politics Forum

February 15, 2024 at 6:30pm: Health Care Forum

February 22, 2024 at 6:30pm: Labor History Workshop (In Person at Oregon AFL-CIO)

February 29, 2024 at 7:00pm: Movie Night (In Person at SEIU Local 503)

Click here to learn more about these exciting events!

Hard Ball Press to issue a powerful historical novel about west coast longshore workers

Hard Ball Press publishes great books for working people. Here is an announcement of a forthcoming book that you won't want to miss.

In December, 1980, an officer with the longshoremen’s union in San Francisco learned there was a shipment of military weapons on the docks waiting to be loaded onto a ship bound for the fascist government of El Salvador. Ronald Reagan had just been elected president on a right wing, pro—fascist agenda. The El Salvador government was murdering thousands of its citizens.

Herb Mills, an officer in that ILWU Local, proposed that the union refuse to load the weapons -a direct violation of their union contract that could lead to the officers going to jail and the government taking over the union.

Could they stop the shipment and keep out of jail?

Out of his personal diary and historical union records, Mills fashioned Presente, A Dockworker Story, a fictional account of that campaign. The names have been changed, but the courage and the daring of the union men and women have not.

Release date: March 7, 2024

A very special Black History Month Movie Night & Discussion will be presented by CBTU, Portland Rising, and SEIU AFRAM on Feb. 29

The Oregon Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) is pleased to announce a very special 2024 Black History Month Movie Night presented by CBTU, Portland Rising, and SEIU AFRAM (African American Caucus). We hope you will join us and let others know about the program. Please forward this post to others.

Thursday, Feb. 29 from 7-9 pm
SEIU Local 503 Office
525 NE Oregon Street, Portland 97232

The program will focus on the intersections of black history with labor organizing, women’s work, and health care. It promises to be an excellent night of learning and fun.

We’ll show two short films:

“I Am Somebody” (1970) is a 30-minute documentary about black hospital workers on strike in Charleston, South Carolina, made by Madeline Anderson, a pioneering African American director. As the civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer described it: “This film packs a tremendous punch and is deeply moving at the same time. The fact that 400 black women were able to take on the power structure of the state of South Carolina - and win - is of decisive importance to all of us.”

“The Politics of Race and Medicare for All” offers a brief history on the creation of Medicare in the 1960s

Then there will be a special panel moderated by Vinnie Blanco, Jr.:

Travis Nelson, RN, State Representative, House District 44, will talk on health care inequities and efforts to create a universal health care system, and

Sarina Roher, RN, Secretary-Treasurer, OR AFL-CIO, will discuss bargaining challenges for health care unions and the challenges of being a healthcare worker.

All are welcome. We encourage mask wearing to address the cold and flu season, but masks are not required. CBTU, JWJ and Health Care for All Oregon will have information tables at the event.

The song remains the same...

This photograph was taken in Richmond, VA. around 1940. The woman with the sign was a member of the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers (FTA-CIO). FTA-CIO was a great union and far ahead of its time in many ways.  
 

Black History Month with the Oregon Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists

The Oregon Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists CBTU) is having a dynamic series of learning opportunities as part of Black History Month. No union person should miss taking part in these events. A list of what's coming is below. If you can't read that, try clicking on the image to make it larger or go to the Oregon Chapter of CBTU Facebook page or contact us and on the blog and I will send it to you.

Three Upcoming Labor Events In Portland (One is by Zoom)

READY-TO-STRIKE: Break the Dam! We are the Tide! (Portland Community College Federation of Faculty and Academic Professionals)
Fair Contract Now! Invest in Educators! Invest in Students!
Sun. Jan. 28, Noon
Terry Shrunk Plaza, 431 SW Madison St.
RSVP: https://tinyurl.com/FFAPjan28

Rally with New Season Labor Union (NSLU)
Living Wages, Fair Attendance and Discipline Policy
Tues. Jan. 30, 11:30am-1:30pm
Corporate HQ, 1300 SE Stark
DONATE: https://www.gofundme.com/f/new-seasons-labor-union-solidarity-fund

Investigating Grievances - a Labor Notes Steward's Workshop
Tues. Jan. 30, 5-6:30pm (zoom)
*Limited to stewards and officers who work with stewards
Grievances are a lot more than what you write down on a grievance form or what gets said in a grievance hearing. Some of the most important work that goes into winning a grievance happens before you even file, and pays off big time if a grievance ends up going to arbitration.
RSVP: https://labornotes.org/events/2024/stewards-workshop-investigating-grievances-january-2024

Sara Nelson & Hamilton Nolan to speak in Portland on February 18

I am not a fan of writer Hamilton Nolan, but I am probably in a minority in that among left-of-center Labor folks who are familiar with his work. I am a strong supporter of  "Sara Nelson, the fiery and charismatic head of the (CWA) flight attendants’ union" and I want to urge people to attend this event at Powell's Books in Portland on Sunday, February 18 at 3:00 PM. What follows is a media release from Powel's about the event.)

Sunday, February 18 @ 3:00 PM
Powell's City of Books

The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor (Hachette) is a timely, in-depth, and vital exploration of the American labor movement and its critical place in our society and politics, from acclaimed labor reporter Hamilton Nolan. Inequality is America’s biggest problem. Unions are the single strongest tool that working people have to fix it. Organized labor has been in decline for decades. Yet it sits today at a moment of enormous opportunity. In the wake of the pandemic, a highly visible wave of strikes and new organizing campaigns have driven the popularity of unions to historic highs. The simmering battle inside of the labor movement over how to tap into its revolutionary potential — or allow it to be squandered — will determine the economic and social course of American life for years to come. In chapters that span the country, Nolan shows readers the actual places where labor and politics meld. He highlights how organized labor can and does wield power effectively: a union that dominates Las Vegas and is trying to scale nationally; a successful decades-long campaign to organize California's child care workers; the human face of a surprising strike of factory workers trying to preserve their pathway to the middle class. Throughout, Nolan follows Sara Nelson, the fiery and charismatic head of the flight attendants’ union, as she struggles with how (and whether) to assert herself as a national leader, to try to fix what is broken.

The Hammer draws the line from forgotten workplaces in rural West Virginia to Washington’s halls of power, and shows how labor solidarity can utterly transform American politics — if it can first transform itself. A labor journalist for more than a decade, Nolan helped unionize his own industry. The Hammer is an urgent on-the-ground excavation of the past, present, and future of the American labor movement. Nolan will be joined in conversation by Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

Please note: Signed preordered books will be shipped to you and are not available for pick-up in the store the night of the event (but if you're planning to attend, don't worry! Signed editions are usually available at the events). Also, we are sorry but we can not accommodate personalized inscriptions, or guarantee the signed books are first editions. Thanks for your understanding.

Some quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. to live by

"Dr. King's Legacy and the Future of the Labor Movement"

 Most of us know that Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis in 1968, but fewer of us may appreciate what he was doing there at the time - supporting a strike by sanitation workers organizing with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSME). This workshop uses the 55 minute documentary, "At The River I Stand”, to examine the relationship between Martin Luther King and the Labor Movement. The film will be followed by discussion among attendees. We’ll look at the relationship between the labor and the civil rights movements, whites-only unions and the legacy of racism and prospects for unity between labor and other grassroots movements for racial equity and justice.

WHEN: Monday, January 15, 9:15 - 10:40 AM
WHERE: Garfield High School; 400 23rd Ave.; Seattle, WA

For more information:
Sea MLK Jr Coalition (seattlemlkcoalition.org)

Joyce Provost Wheeler, the labor movement and labor history, and some lessons for today

Many years ago when I was working in Baltimore I got in a car with Joyce Wheeler on a Baltimore-humid day in August and went somewhere---I don't recall where---and listened to her talk about the how-tos of organizing and movement-building. I tried hard to take it all in. Joyce was energetic and was focused on teaching while I was trying to drive and learn from her at the same time. Some of what she had to say seeped in, but I was a poor student and a not-so-good driver. Joyce passed on in 2019. She lived a full life, but she is very much missed by those who knew her and learned from her.

What follows comes from Joyce's husband, Tim Wheeler. Tim says that "Here is a condensed version of one of the last chapters in my book, 'The Man From Lonaconing: The Life & Times of George A. Meyers.' I just finished it and added it to the book today. Joyce was such a quiet, unassuming, fearless, hero!" Tim carries on as a writer and as a source of knowledge and experience that should benefit young people finding their paths in the labor and progressive movements. I am posting this account by Tim because it describes aspects of the labor movement that I grew up in and some of what I have taken for granted. My intent here is to carry forward something invaluable from Joyce and Tim. The activists and leaders who are at the base of our labor movement and who are working for progressive change have to be creative, selfless, dedicated to our goals and focused on them, and willing to touch the hearts and lives of the young and those who face discrimination. They need to roll with the punches and understand that there are times of victories and defeats and still keep going forward. The labor movement needs to continually uplift and celebrate their diversity and spirit and make this our emblem. I think that Joyce was trying to say all of that in my car so many years ago.

 

IF FBI GETS IN THE WAY WE'RE GOING TO ROLL RIGHT OVER THEM!

Joyce Provost Wheeler earned a degree in anthropology at the University of Washington in 1963. A gifted dancer, she planned to do graduate work in ethnomusicology to preserve all the precious folk dances of isolated tribes around the world. Her career path veered suddenly when we met at a Student Peace Union meeting and got married. She ended up a kindergarten-First Grade teacher at Grove Park Elementary School on Baltimore’s far west side in 1970. I am to blame. I became a full-time reporter for the Worker, paid the minimum wage.

Joyce went to work as a classroom teacher to support the family. In all her forty years, she always taught “structured phonics.” Mack B. Simpson, the principal of Grove Park ignored Joyce’s use of a banned textbook, her insubordination in using phonics to teach her children to read. She invariably earned “Superior” ratings as a teacher. Teachers in the upper-grades would comment to Joyce, “I don’t know how you do it, but every one of the children who was taught by you, knows how to read!” Bored after fifteen years of teaching, she turned her classroom into a mini-zoo. Bunny rabbits hopped around her classroom, two orange and white guinea pigs that looked like miniature Guernsey cows, gerbils, a tiny female mouse with a brood of baby mice, a pair of Terrapin turtles, a huge tarantula spider that Joyce placed on her shoulder as she taught the children to read and write. The crown jewel of her animal collection was “Nagayina,” a lovely red-tailed Columbian boa who also liked to sleep wrapped around Joyce’s shoulders when the tarantula was in her cage.

She told her students they must feed the animals, clean up after them, and keep a log measuring their weight and behavior. She assigned them to write essays about the animals. Soon they all became pets. The children loved Joyce’s classes.

She decided to produce a play with all her children playing roles in this drama. It was performed in the big multi-purpose room. The play she chose was “Wagon Wheels” about African American pioneers, freed slaves, who emigrate to Kansas after Civil War Emancipation and establish the town of Nicodemus, an all-Black community in the middle of the prairie.

I attended an evening performance and I will never forget the expression on the faces of the parents, all the people from the Grove Park community, when they saw their youngsters perform in that marvelous play, the parents’ faces filled with joy and amazement. Dressed in their western costumes up on the stage, the children gathered round the camp fire, belted out their lines loud enough for everyone to hear. They sang cowboy songs like “Git Along Little Dogie” and “I Ride An Old Paint.” They were bringing to life a chapter in the history of the African American people deliberately erased by the white supremacist ruling elite. The children were depicting their ancestors--- pioneers, cowboys, frontiersmen, trekking into the wilderness, fearless and brave!

In the spring of 1974, Baltimore teachers walked out on strike. It lasted one month. Joyce was the picket captain at Grove Park Elementary. Virtually all the teachers joined the picket line. Baltimore teachers did not win that strike but Joyce played such an outstanding role in uniting the faculty and community, she was chosen ever after as the union “Building Rep” at Grove Park. Teachers would come to her, sometimes on the verge of tears, to complain of this or that grievance, Joyce would take them by the arm and lead them down to meet with the principal to resolve the issue. An active member of the United Action Caucus she and other UAC members in Baltimore worked hard and won bargaining rights for the Baltimore Teachers Union, AFT Local 340. Joyce Wheeler was elected and reelected without opposition as BTU Treasurer.

She was held in such high esteem at Grove Park that she was asked to write a centerspread article in the Baltimore Afro-American about the history of the school. The article, co-signed by Joyce and Principal Simpson appeared in the June 23, 1979 edition of the Afro under a headline,  "Once Upon A Time.” They wrote: “This is the 25th year of the Supreme Court Desegregation Decision, Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education. Grove Park School and the surrounding communities have witnessed block busting by real estate interests, the upheaval surrounding the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr…The school is like a living organism. It has experienced both good times and hard times. Grove Park is on course, providing an excellent education for the children….”

Events moved swiftly in the years that followed. Principal Mack B. Simpson left Grove Park School. His successor was Margaret Mitchell, a gifted, progressive educator. The clouds of political strife were turning dark and ominous. Republican, Ronald Reagan, the smooth-talking Grade-B Hollywood cowboy actor won the 1980 Presidential election and within months fired 12,500 striking air traffic controllers in August 1981.

As a member of the Baltimore Teachers Union Executive Board, Joyce was urging strong action in defense of public education and the rights of school workers. As a member of the Baltimore Communist Party, she was meeting, often in the living room of our home, or in the home of Jim and Margaret Baldridge, to plan all this fightback.

One spring day in 1981, Mrs. Mitchell looked out the window of her Grove Park office facing on Kennison Ave. Parked directly across the street was an unmarked sedan with two white men sitting in the front seat. They were parked there all day---and the next.

What is this? Mitchell called School Police at Baltimore schools headquarters on North Ave. She spoke to one of the commanders she knew well. Please send a squad car to find out who these men are, she told the officer.

Within an hour he called her back. “Margaret,” he said. “They are FBI agents assigned to keep one of your staff-members, Mrs. Wheeler, under surveillance.”

Mrs. Mitchell’s jaw dropped. “What? My Joyce Wheeler? You mean the woman who has been teaching children at Grove Park to read for the past ten years? Well Mark, you send your officers back out and inform those FBI agents to leave immediately and don’t return!”

Captain Mark did. The FBI agents disappeared and never returned.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Mitchell called Joyce on the intercom and asked her please to drop by at the end of the day. When Joyce sat down in front of the principal’s desk, Mrs. Mitchell asked her, “Joyce, by any chance, have you noticed the car parked across the street with two men in it for the past three days?” Joyce shook her head. “Well, we now know who they are. FBI agents. According to Baltimore School police, they were assigned to spy on you. I arranged to have them removed. If ever you are accosted by these or any other federal agents, please let me know. I will do everything I can to protect you from this kind of outrageous harassment and intimidation.”

A few months later, the entire labor movement of Maryland, African American, Latino, and white, was mobilizing in solidarity with the striking PATCO air controllers fired en masse by Reagan and his union busting minions. The AFL-CIO Executive Council had endorsed “Solidarity Day,” a plan for tens of thousands of union members to gather in Washington D.C. September 19, 1981 and march in support of PATCO and all other workers fighting to defend their union.

Joyce and fellow BTU Local 340 members, marched proudly with the American Federation of Teachers. More than 500,000 union workers and their allies marched that day. Joyce played a leading role in pushing a UAC resolution through the AFT National Convention in Denver endorsing Solidarity Day and she worked tirelessly to fill BTU buses for that march and rally Sept. 19. She was Woody Guthrie's "Union Maid" who never was afraid of goons and ginks and FBI finks who made the raids.

Joyce Wheeler. Photo from Tim Wheeler. 

Please register and attend Oregon Labor's Strike School.

We are just a few weeks out from STRIKE SCHOOL - Oregon Labor’s bootcamp-style training happening at the Oregon Labor Center on Saturday, January 27 from 9:00am - 5:00pm. Click here to register today!

In 2023, over half a million union members just like you went on strike in communities across the country. As a result of the strikes and other contract campaigns, we saw nearly 900,000 union members win double-digit raises at the bargaining table. Strikes work. Employers are scared of them because they know workers truly hold the power in the workplace.

A well organized bargaining unit is a strong bargaining unit. That’s why at Strike School we will focus on the “buildup” to a potential strike rather than the strike itself. Join us to learn some best practices from experienced trainers around the preparation, strategy and organizing it takes to win.

Labor's Bookstore Sale Ends On 12/31. This Is A Great Resource For Union Stewards, Activists And Local Union Leaders

Labor's Bookstore is holding their end-of-year sale with a pretty good discount on orders, bit you need to get your order in on or before December 31 to get that discount. 

Labor's Bookstore should be a first-stop for pragmatic union stewards, local union activists, and local union leaders. They produce and market the kinds of books that you need in the variety of situations that you will face daily if you run for or hold local union office or function as a steward or active union member. They also do low-cost and effective trainings by Zoom.

People tend to put reading and studying off. We use the excuse that we're too busy or we hope that someone else will pick up the slack or it just seems easier to do the work ourselves or complain than it is to take action and bring others along with us.

Then we get busy or things start to fall apart.

Five of the worst experiences union stewards and activists have are sitting in meetings and realizing that they are unprepared, being told or believing that you didn't do your best job in defending a union member or the union because you were unprepared, hearing someone say that you sold them out, and being so busy and stressed that you're not bringing others along with you and taking offense at people who say that our first job is get others actively involved in running the union and doing the steward work. 

Do the reading, the studying, the organizing and the mobilizing now. You won't be able to do it later when things are falling apart or it's time for all hands on deck. Stressed, too-busy and unprepared people unintentionally weaken unions.

Labor's Bookstore is one of your first-stop and best resources.

Some sample titles:

Managing With Labor's Values by Ken Margolies

The Union Steward’s Complete Guide, 3rd edition

The Union Member's Complete Guide: Everything you need to know about

 working union - 2nd edition (2019) updated and revised

I Just Got Elected — Now What? A New Union Officer’s Handbook - 

4th edition, 2023 by Bill Barry