Three weeks ago, I did something I should have done a long time ago. I joined a union. You are now being addressed by a member of the National Writers Union, United Auto Workers, Local 1981, AFL-CIO.
You may think that because I joined the union I have a grievance; perhaps I have a bone to pick with my employer at Greenpeace or maybe here at WebActive. That’s not the case. Although – now that I have the union watching my back, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to give you a little behind-the-scenes tour at the WebActive commentary factory. First off, what’s with the picture? That is not what I look like. Some Greenpeace bureaucrat took that picture many years ago and somehow Sam Tucker gets his hands on it. Then he paints it yellow, so it looks like my liver exploded. I called him on the phone and said, “What’s with that?” and he said, “Oh, that’s what we do on the web to be creative.” That’s creative? That’s a computer geek with a mouse and too much software and I wind up looking like I’m in the final stages of jaundice. And what about Max Van Peebles? He doesn’t even have a picture! I’m going to be sitting here for weeks across from an empty space. Max probably saw what they did to my picture and is afraid to send one in. And you wonder why I joined the union. And another thing. Do you know why all these commentaries are three minutes long? Because we record them on a machine and after three minutes it cuts you off. We all can’t be succinct and pithy like Gene Karpinski, some of us need to ramble. It’s a burden, I tell you.
But I’m not going to bring a grievance. That’s not why I joined the union. Besides, what are we going to do? It’s a writers union, for crying out loud. We’re not exactly the Teamsters. I joined the union because I’m a writer, that’s my primary vocational skill. I joined this union to be among writers, to improve myself as a writer. To me, unions are not about strikes and grievances, but about taking pride in your work. My dad always said, “Union work is quality work,” and if there’s one thing my dad knows, it’s quality work.
Beyond improving myself as a writer, I joined the union to take my place in the larger circle of labor, because it is labor that creates all wealth. The National Writers Union is a local of the United Auto Workers, part of the AFL-CIO. When my membership packet came in the mail, it included coupons for rental cars. I figure that’s where the UAW comes in. I joined the union because in eight years of Greenpeace activism and organizing, I’ve seen what is good for working people and the environment.
Working people don’t want polluting technologies because they work in those mills, they live in those towns; this is where they raise their children. Working people have no interest in cutting all the forests or stripping all the fish from the sea, because they know that if we cannot sustain our environment, it cannot sustain us. There are times when we all get pinched between jobs and the environment, when the cynical and greedy try to play us against each other. But labor and environment have a common cause – and a common adversary.
Around the world, the first of May is the traditional workers’ holiday. Today, I invite my fellow commentators to join me in the National Writers Union. Solidarity forever, the union makes us strong.
Sticking With the Union
Three weeks ago, I did something I should have done a long time ago. I joined a union. You are now being addressed by a member of the National Writers Union, United Auto Workers, Local 1981, AFL-CIO.
You may think that because I joined the union I have a grievance; perhaps I have a bone to pick with my employer at Greenpeace or maybe here at WebActive. That’s not the case. Although – now that I have the union watching my back, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to give you a little behind-the-scenes tour at the WebActive commentary factory. First off, what’s with the picture? That is not what I look like. Some Greenpeace bureaucrat took that picture many years ago and somehow Sam Tucker gets his hands on it. Then he paints it yellow, so it looks like my liver exploded. I called him on the phone and said, “What’s with that?” and he said, “Oh, that’s what we do on the web to be creative.” That’s creative? That’s a computer geek with a mouse and too much software and I wind up looking like I’m in the final stages of jaundice. And what about Max Van Peebles? He doesn’t even have a picture! I’m going to be sitting here for weeks across from an empty space. Max probably saw what they did to my picture and is afraid to send one in. And you wonder why I joined the union. And another thing. Do you know why all these commentaries are three minutes long? Because we record them on a machine and after three minutes it cuts you off. We all can’t be succinct and pithy like Gene Karpinski, some of us need to ramble. It’s a burden, I tell you.
But I’m not going to bring a grievance. That’s not why I joined the union. Besides, what are we going to do? It’s a writers union, for crying out loud. We’re not exactly the Teamsters. I joined the union because I’m a writer, that’s my primary vocational skill. I joined this union to be among writers, to improve myself as a writer. To me, unions are not about strikes and grievances, but about taking pride in your work. My dad always said, “Union work is quality work,” and if there’s one thing my dad knows, it’s quality work.
Beyond improving myself as a writer, I joined the union to take my place in the larger circle of labor, because it is labor that creates all wealth. The National Writers Union is a local of the United Auto Workers, part of the AFL-CIO. When my membership packet came in the mail, it included coupons for rental cars. I figure that’s where the UAW comes in. I joined the union because in eight years of Greenpeace activism and organizing, I’ve seen what is good for working people and the environment.
Working people don’t want polluting technologies because they work in those mills, they live in those towns; this is where they raise their children. Working people have no interest in cutting all the forests or stripping all the fish from the sea, because they know that if we cannot sustain our environment, it cannot sustain us. There are times when we all get pinched between jobs and the environment, when the cynical and greedy try to play us against each other. But labor and environment have a common cause – and a common adversary.
Around the world, the first of May is the traditional workers’ holiday. Today, I invite my fellow commentators to join me in the National Writers Union. Solidarity forever, the union makes us strong.