Portside

It was clear to us in the Justice@Smithfield campaign that you could not win relying solely on worker meetings and house visits or relying on solidarity in the community. We had to had to build visible activity inside the plant. Having workers see one another in collective action, not being fired and even winning things is how the union takes on a living presence.

Trump is one of the manifestations of national discontent. To his slogan “Make America Great Again” my response – as a tribute to Labor and working people – draws from one of our truly great Americans, Langston Hughes, who proclaimed “Let America be America Again! Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain, seeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me.)”

"The union I am privileged to lead suffered two troubling events this past week. First, a former high-ranking UAW official, now deceased, was implicated in an indictment from the Department of Justice accusing him and other co-conspirators of misappropriating funds from the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center (NTC). Second, workers at Nissan’s Canton, Miss. plant voted against unionizing."

A labor activist reflects on the United Autoworkers’ (UAW’s) crushing defeat at a Mississipi Nissan plant last week.

United Automobile Workers fails in bid to organize in southern car plant. New charges with National Labor Relations Board could prompt new vote.

UAW Files New Charges Against Company, Seeks Federal Court Order To Prevent Future Unfair Labor Practices

"On Tuesday, the U.A.W. said a petition for a union election had been filed by employees at a Nissan plant in Mississippi with more than 6,000 workers. They asked for a vote within a month."

We have to answer the cries of people who want elected leaders to do something different. They want to be treated fairly and they need a political party who represents them. It’s shameful that the elites have one-and-a-half political parties. Working class men and women have zero parties—or they have half a party. That’s what upset's progressives. I hope the DNC takes a different turn and restore the party’s integrity. I’m hopeful, but won't hold my breath.

Now Nissan workers are experiencing the brunt of those intimidation tactics, the Mississippi Alliance organizing this week's demonstration at Canton claims. Its website is filled with examples of unfair treatment. Signs at a recent protest organized by the UAW proclaimed, "Labor rights are civil rights."