By Members of Workers Solidarity Alliance in East Bay and New York/New Jersey
On Monday, September 4, 2023, U.S. Americans celebrate the Labor Day holiday.
Let’s Make Every Day Labor Day! — No, we don’t mean let’s take every day off from work (although it sounds like a nice idea). Nor do we mean we should have massive traffic jams of returning summer vacationers every day neither. But Labor Day is supposed to mean something more than a day off or the end of summer vacation. Labor Day, we are told, is a day to recognize the contributions of working people here in the United States. The fact that almost every other country in the world celebrates labor on May 1st has to do with those who, well over 100 years ago, who worked to split the American labor movement away from the rest of the global labor movement. A global workers that was, largely, radical and revolutionary in its demands and final goals.
No matter what day we celebrate, didn’t working people create all the wealth of this country? Don’t we keep the offices, schools, hospitals, restaurants, factories, transportation and all other workplaces running? And for that we get one lousy recognition day a year?
We are also told Labor Day is a day for the labor movement to show its strength, to flex its political muscles. While too often this has mean cozying up to politicians (who just go ahead and continue to screw us the next day) still, we couldn’t object to any show of strength for workers. But why not show our power every day of the year?
To make the power of working people in society an every day matter we need a labor movement not tied down by high-paid bureaucrats or political hacks but free to set its own course based on the needs of all its members. We need a movement without divisions strictly based on unity of interests. We need a movement which has banished racism, sexism, homophobia and all forms of discrimination and is based on equality and freedom for all. We need a movement which is based on direct democracy, not top down bossism. We need a movement which is militant and uncompromising in terms of our needs and interests, not willing to settle for crumbs.
The kind of movement we are talking about can only be rebuilt from the bottom up, starting in our various workplaces and communities. It should not only seek all the goals we stated above, but should function like the type of society that we want to build. To succeed, it needs the participation of all those left out of the ranks of power, profit and privilege, not only the workers of today but those who were and those who one day will be working people.
We call this type of movement anarchist unionism ( “anarcho-syndicalism”) . Even if you don’t agree with everything we say, but if you at least agree that the current state of the labor movement is not to your liking, or even if you just want to discuss the situation further, get in touch.