The changing seasons mean different things to different people in Sawtown.
To the children, autumn means the start of school, Halloween candy and the long wait for Christmas. For the young adults it means the beginning of high school football, marching band, hayrides, making out under the bleachers and Halloween candy. For others it means sighting in the rifle, getting the hunting gear packed, and cleaning up the cabin from last year.
For others Fall means the leaves changing color, putting up storm windows, and cleaning the gutters after the leaves fall and stocking up on Halloween candy.
But for many union households it means, the Labor Day picnic and the start of the political season (along with scheming to get my fair share of Halloween candy). What most others dread, those campaign ads on TV, is eagerly anticipated at my house, even the Labrador curls up in front of the TV when the election season hits full speed. Bridget tries to convince me it’s because it’s closer to the fireplace, but I know better, even my dog is politically motivated.
It’s like watching the ads during the Super Bowl only I get to scream at the TV. Political endorsements tend to be the liveliest union meetings during non contract years. Interviewing candidates and then deciding who gets our support is frequently intense union business. In October the ritual of going door to door commences. Visiting with neighbors, talking about things that can change their lives and reminding every one to vote.
This year is no different. Armed with handbills about union endorsed candidates the weeks fade toward Election Day, the only day of the year when I know there will be great and dramatic TV. While the candidates change and I expect some day even the parties will change again, the issues don’t.
My first campaign was about ending a war in Viet Nam. This year it is about ending one in Iraq and not starting one in Iran. In 1972, we walked the streets knocked on doors to get workers to support a candidate who wanted to protect American jobs, who thought that no American should ever go to bed hungry and that no child should have to grow up in poverty.
The context of the 2006 election is that more children are in poverty than ever, every day more US soldiers die abroad fighting for something, but what, is not exactly clear. Jobs continue to be shipped overseas frequently subsidized by taxpayer money.
This year, the prospect of ending the draught of being out of power has many of us energized. Re-establishing the constitutional balance of power where at least two branches of government are doing their job might mean ending trade agreements that are giving away US jobs. It might mean saving the Republic from an imperial Presidency that is actually threatening it. Perhaps it might even be possible to get some fiscal rationality into the Ways and Means Committee.
Of course winning labor law reform is still a ways off since a veto proof Legislature seems unlikely. Although many times the threat of something is more powerful than the thing itself. So merely the threat of labor law reform might provide some limitations to our employers who are still committed to ending our existence as trade unionists.
Cool evenings, walking through neighborhoods that I only visit during the political year has a sense of completeness. Most members are glad to have the visit. A short conversation about their particular issue usually ends with a reminder to vote and a promise to do so by the member.
Every once in a while a door knock leads to a debate. Yesterday I rang a door bell only to be met by a member who had just voted to accept a contract with a 5% pay decrease. He noted that his taxes were still rising, his sewer, water, and power bill still going up. He was going to vote for the candidates who would lower taxes.
We debated exactly which taxes he was concerned about: his local property taxes, his state sales tax, or his federal income tax. We wondered whether investing more in schools was better than building more prisons (it’s that oil change ad), pay me now or pay me later. We discussed if it was better to cut taxes for the richest 5% of citizens, not one of whom is a union member, or if it was better to tax them and use those funds to improve Medicare or to fund a national health insurance plan.
In the end what it came down to was, was he going to vote what he thought was his own personal interests or was he going to vote his interest as a worker? Would he support candidates willing to tackle the trade issue, or the health insurance issue, or labor law reform or ones who would cut taxes for the rich and give welfare to the largest corporations in the world?
As I walked away from his house I honestly don’t know how he’s going to vote or if my visit made a difference? But, as I reached the end of the block and checked my map to find the next members house I knew he understood why his union endorsed the candidates that they did. He knows that the candidates endorsed by the union would promote workers’ issues, promote a more just and fair society, and would not allow multinational corporations to run rough shod over the county. These candidates if elected would investigate price gouging by oil companies, would insure that company pension plans weren’t voided leaving 20 plus year workers with pennies on the dollar. Who knows, they might even change the tax code so that it was in the interest of timber companies to own their own forest lands instead of selling them to insurance companies.
While others are spending their weekends watching the NFL or getting their home ready for winter, we’re planning our election night party. Oh, and waiting to raid the kids Halloween candy basket after they fall asleep because, after all, some things never change.
October 31, 2006
