Candidates beware: Workers VoteBy Fred GabouryThis article was reprinted from the September 19, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits. 
NEW YORK - Carrying placards reading "Labor must use the ballot" and "Vote like a worker," the New York City labor movement put the finishing touches on a week-long salute to "Ordinary People, Extra Ordinary Lives" when a parade of more than a quarter-million marched up Fifth Avenue here Sept. 12. Brian McLaughlin, president of the Greater New York Central Labor Council, said the parade and activities that preceded it were a reflection of "a revitalized labor movement making every effort to meet the most severe challenges." Then, alluding to the fact that the New York Central Labor Union had the nation's first Labor Day parade in 1882, McLaughlin said, "Let the principles that guided them, guide us today." AFL-CIO President John Sweeney smiled when he described the week's events in New York City, saying they were a testimony to the changes taking place throughout the labor movement. "We knew when we accepted the challenge of leadership that we were signing on for a long fight. But we are turning the corner - more organizing, more grass-roots activity, more solidarity. Labor was never more united," Sweeney said in a brief interview. He was equally decisive when asked about the impact that Kenneth Starr's voyeuristic vendetta against President Clinton would have on the November elections. "We have always said - and our Labor '98 campaign is based on that assumption - that their good sense and understanding of the real issues will guide America's working families when they go to the polls on Nov. 3," Sweeney said. Traditionally, Labor Day celebrations are the kick-off of the final push to the November elections. And such was the case in New York with politicians working the crowds for votes. Although their reception was generally cordial, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki were also taunted with jeers and catcalls. The sharpest attacks on both came from Laborers Local 79, a pace-setter in the campaign against "rat" (non-union) contractors. Bystanders cheered when their float, complete with the local's 15-foot tall inflatable rats, made its way to the reviewing stand with the Local 79 contingent chanting "George, George, George - Rudy, Rudy, Rudy - Rat, Rat, Rat!" Local 79 members distributed thousands of leaflets tying the mayor and governor with the union-busting efforts of the non-union Roy Kaye Construction Company, which has been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract by the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Earlier this summer, Giuliani used mounted police to attack an early-morning demonstration of some 50,000 construction workers protesting the Kaye contract. Many marchers carried their own signs, some calling for jobs, others for an end to child and prison labor, the right of workfare workers to organize and one reading: "Politicians beware! Be aware that union members vote!" In earlier interviews, rank-and-file electricians and office workers expressed anger at GOP efforts to sidetrack public debate of the issues in hopes that publication of the sordid details in Starr's report will enable them to strengthen the grip of the right wing on Congress. Kelly, Ryan, whose 4-year-old son, Sean, was wearing a cap identifying him as a "Local 3 kid," said angrily, "If it was you or I, don't you think we'd do our best to keep it quiet? After all, there are some things that are no one's business." Ryan, a member of Electrical Workers Local 3, said that he sees more involvement by the rank and file as the labor movement has become more family-oriented in recent years. The sign that Pat Morris, a member of AFSCME District Council 37, was carrying read, "Labor must use the ballot box." "This was one of the slogans in the first Labor Day parade in 1882," she said. "And it holds just as true today." Morris said she had decided not to carry another sign from that parade. "It said, 'All men are created equal,' so I left it." Then turning to the issues at hand, Morris said, "Labor is back and we're letting every one know it. It's a great feeling!" The colors, the music and the floats were as varied as the unions they represented: Operating Engineers with a mobile crane capable of lifting 50 tons to the roof of a 20-story building, a squadron of 200 motorcyclists ridden by members of Electricians Local 3, a float from the Iron Workers with members standing on an "I" beam 20 feet above the street, Latino garment workers carrying signs written in Chinese singing "Solidarity" in English, a mariachi band. In remarks at the reviewing stand, John Barry, president of the Electrical Workers and grand marshall of the parade, said the line of march "reaches far back to those who came before us. Their spirit marches with us." Then turning to today's challenges, Barry said, "We must move beyond what is comfortable and do what is needed. For too long and in too many ways we let management set the rules of engagement and that has to change." Barry said that although the surging economy won't last forever, "what will last is in the hearts and minds of working people."
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