I walked a picket line with John Edwards

by: Sandra_Verthein

Sun Aug 05, 2007 at 09:16:33 AM CDT


Yesterday John Edwards marched with the hotel workers who have been picketing the Congress Hotel since 2003.  I got an email about it while I was at the Yearly Kos convention at McCormick Place, and it seemed like too good of an event to miss, so I decided to duck out of the convention and go march with him.  An hour before the event I went over to the John Edwards booth, rounded up three other Edwards supporters, we grabbed a cab and headed over.

Here is my best photo from the event, which I took while marching in the picket line with John:

Strike_JRE6

More photos, and more info, and a poll below the fold.
Sandra_Verthein :: I walked a picket line with John Edwards
Apparently this is something that Edwards does a lot -- taking a few moments to march with striking workers in whatever town he is visiting.

Here is a picture of me in front of the strikers, my orange Kos bag over my shoulder and a DFA button and a JRE sticker on my lapel:

Strike_Sandra1

Here is John Edwards with two of the guys that went with me from the convention (note the orange Kos lanyards).  I had been taking a picture of the two of them when suddenly John walked by to get in his car.  They just ran up to him and said, "how about a picture?" He put his arms around them and I just kept clicking and got this cool shot:

Strike_YK+JRE

Here a couple of quotes from a Sun-Times article about the event:

http://www.suntimes....

"Your cause is the cause of working people," Edwards told the strikers. "Making sure that those who work earn a decent wage, get health care coverage and can actually support their families and their children."

The picket was a return visit for Edwards, who marched with the strikers four years ago during his last presidential campaign.

"I was proud to be with you years ago, I'm proud to be back with you now," Edwards said to cheers. "Your cause is my cause."

[...]

After walking the line, Edwards stepped in front of his videographer and, with the striking workers in the background, declared, "I'm John Edwards and I approved this message." Then he hopped into a maroon minivan--one car only, no motorcade-- and zipped down to McCormick Place to face the liberal bloggers at the YearlyKos convention.

After John left we all took off back to McCormick Place for the presidential forum, which was an absolutely fabulous event.  After the forum all the presidential candidates did break-out sessions.  When we checked in for the convention we had to choose which break-out we wanted to be in, and were given a color-coded wrist band. When I registered they were out of Obama and Edwards, so I had to take a Richardson, which I was later able to trade to someone for an Edwards.

The Edwards session was great, and my friend Maureen, a fellow Illinois DFAer, was one of the people who got to ask a question.  Here is a picture of her listening to the answer (she is the one standing in the middle in front of the giant picture of Edwards):

Maureen+JRE

And here is a picture of Edwards answering questions (sorry these are so dark):

JRE_at_YK

And yes, I am as close as it looks.  All in all, a totally cool day!!!
Poll
Have you ever marched on union picket line (either as a union member or supporter)?
Many, many times.
A couple of times.
Once.
Never.
I would if given the opportunity.
I wouldn't even if I had the opportunity.
Other.

Results

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I walked a picket line with John Edwards | 16 comments
I cross-posted this on Daily Kos (4.00 / 1)
It is at:

http://www.dailykos....


Basic stuff: The common wealth should be used for the common good, not to enrich the well-connected few.  

Re Poll: (0.00 / 0)
First, for context: 50 years ago I was Vice President of my local of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks. Then I got drafted and went back to school and have never since had an opportunity to join a union.

I would obviously have walked the picket line if the Railway Clerks had gone on strike (which I don't believe they have in my lifetime). But it's my belief that, in general, the people on picket lines should be union members. I would feel out of place joining the picket line of a union I didn't belong to.

Bill Thomasson

Permission to reprint explicitly granted

I know what you're saying (0.00 / 0)
but I can tell you from experience that those folks are fearful and any support they can receive is well appreciated.  For most it's probably their first experience doing something like that and it's kind of scary.  You don't really have to belong to a union (not everybody can) but you can tell them you support them.  As a graduate of the PATCO class of '81 when we marched we loved everyone who supported us.  Also, many times it's family members who are with them.  I wish them luck........ 
[ Parent ]
As an Old-Time (1950s) Union Member (0.00 / 0)
I view having nonmembers on the picket line as a sign of weakness that the company is sure to exploit. "See, our workers don't really support this strike."

And the notion of people being afraid to walk a picket line strikes me as weird. It's simply what union members do. That was clearly understood in the 1950s.

Bill Thomasson

Permission to reprint explicitly granted

[ Parent ]
I am surprised (3.00 / 1)
at the idea that having non-union-members in the picket line would be exploited as a sign of weakness.  To me it seems like it says, "See, this is not just something that union members support but that everyone supports."  But maybe that's not how it works?

Basic stuff: The common wealth should be used for the common good, not to enrich the well-connected few.  
[ Parent ]
That's Not How It Usually Works (0.00 / 0)
Normally, the company has no reason to care what anyone but its own workers thinks. If the union can't put enough of its own members on the picket line, that's a sign the workers don't support it and they may end up just going back to work whether the union says so or not.

This particular strike is different. It's been going on for years and the company is operating just fine. In the conventional sense, the strike was lost long ago. Public pressure may be the only hope to salvage anything. But that's not the foundation on which the union movement was built.

Bill Thomasson

Permission to reprint explicitly granted

[ Parent ]
I didn't say they were afraid (0.00 / 0)
I meant it is scary for anyone who hasn't done it before.  You're putting your job and family on the line for a cause and most people have never done that before.  It's not a sign of weakness to have people who support you join you for a cause they believe in too.  Sorry if I wasn't clearer.
Really? The 50's?  That would make you........
[ Parent ]
Yes, I'll be 71 Saturday (0.00 / 0)
And I think what I'm hearing is that things have changed. In the 1950s -- and for a couple of decades afterward, I believe -- the notion that a company could find enough strikebreakers to actually fire the striking employees would have been a definite stretch. Not totally inconceivable, but unlikely enough that it didn't really figure into people's calculations. What going on strike meant was that there would be no money coming in for a few weeks.

And I may not have fully understood what you were saying. It now appears that you were talking about the fundamental act of going on strike rather than the act of walking the picket line once the strike has started.

Bill Thomasson

Permission to reprint explicitly granted

[ Parent ]
Happy Birthday (0.00 / 0)
Many happy returns and may we (I'm 67) be around to return to those "good old days" when we had a government that we could trust (for the most part).
[ Parent ]
OT (3.00 / 1)
< under30> Could you trust them or did you just not know that you couldn't trust them? < /under30>

ltsply2
[ Parent ]
Ignorance was bliss I guess (0.00 / 0)
Government just never seemed to be in my face so much as it is today.  I'll admit I didn't look too closely then but we made to this point without too many controversies that have shaken the very foundations of our way of life.  I long for those days and is why I've become more involved. I want future generations to enjoy what we had and I feel a sense of urgency that we must fix this mess very soon.
[ Parent ]
Well ... (0.00 / 0)
I think there was more of a sense that we knew what the government's foreign policy actually was. The Bay of Pigs invasion was underhanded in a lot of ways, but the American people weren't lied to in the run-up to it.

Corruption, of course, was worse. Perhaps much worse. Both in the sense of money flowing under the table into politicians' pockets and in the sense of outright election fraud. But the American people knew that. It wasn't a shocking surprise.

And on one point, the four years' difference in Joe's and my ages may make a difference. I'm old enough to clearly remember the (Joe) McCarthy era. But again, everybody knew where Joe was coming fronm.

Bill Thomasson

Permission to reprint explicitly granted

[ Parent ]
Perhaps because Edwards was there (0.00 / 0)
they were expecting to have regular citizens marching with them, and that is not normally the case?  I was assuming that the point of sending out an email asking us to come there was so we would march, but perhaps we were doing something unexpected.  Basically, when we got there the picket line was already in formation, and there was a woman there with a bunch of signs, so we asked if we could take one and join them and she said "sure" and we did. 

Basic stuff: The common wealth should be used for the common good, not to enrich the well-connected few.  
[ Parent ]
they want people to march with them (0.00 / 0)
there was a representative from UNITE-HERE at one of our DFA meetings, and they invited us to march with them on their 4 year anniversary.

William J Maggos
[ Parent ]
Obama too (3.00 / 1)
Just for those stopping in. Obama also walked the picket line with Unite Here Local 1. More info here.

ltsply2
Cool! (3.00 / 1)
Sandra, I think it's gret that you joined UNITE HERE workers on their picket line!

I think it says something positive when respected leaders and members of the community join workers in a picket line. It says that people are watching and they don't approve of what the company is doing.

While I agree that it's important to have a sizable number of workers on the line, I don't think it hurts to have folks like Obama or Edwards show up, especially for the media attention.

I walked a picket line with John Edwards | 16 comments
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