A Reminder From The Unions... 'Which Side Are You On?'

[WillyT]

Link/Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwKQ0tLIsa8&feature=player_embedded

"Which Side Are You On?" is a song written by Florence Reece in 1931. She was the wife of a union organizer for the United Mine Workers in Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1931 the miners of that region were locked in a bitter and violent struggle with the mine owners. In an attempt to intimidate the Reece family, deputies hired by the mining company illegally entered and searched the Reece family home. Sam Reece had been warned in advance and escaped, but Florence and their children were terrorized in his place. That night, after the men had gone, Florence wrote the lyrics to "Which Side Are You On?" on a calendar that hung in the kitchen of her home. She took the melody from a traditional Baptist hymn, "Lay the Lily Low", or the traditional ballad "Jack Munro". Florence recorded the song and it can be heard on the CD Coal Mining Women.

Reece supported a second wave of miner strikes circa 1973, as recounted in the documentary Harlan County USA. She and others perform "Which Side Are You On?" a number of times throughout.

The song is referred to by Bob Dylan in the song "Desolation Row".

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which_Side_Are_You_On%3F

:patriot:

[LWolf]

1. I'm on the side of workers and their unions.

Unlike too many elected Democrats and some DUers.

[WillyT]

3. Me Too...

:hi:

[Enthusiast]

13. You are always on the right side

if you side with labor. It is as simple as that.

[LWolf]

15. Yes.

I've been sorry to see Democrats support union-busting efforts by the current administration. :(

[Donald Ian Rankin]

40. I disagree.

The most obvious and controversial counterexample is that there are various issues where "protecting American workers" (or European workers, but "protect American workers" is the slogan most often seen on DU) and "protecting workers" have impelled in opposite directions.

[LWolf]

41. Can you give a concrete example,

instead of referring to "various issues?"

[Donald Ian Rankin]

46. Agriculture in the EU I know for a fact; steelworking in the US if memory serves.

N.T.

[LWolf]

47. What about agriculture and steel working, specifically?

What have unions done to impel what, in what directions?

[WillyT]

42. Yes Please... Examples ???

Thank you in advance.

:hi:

[Donald Ian Rankin]

45. Various bits of protectionist legislation.

If memory serves me, steelworking and agriculture are two of the more high-profile ones (here in the EU, the grain mountain and the like resulting from the CAP are infamous).

There are many contributing factors to third-world policy, but the extent to which the first world uses subsidies and tarriffs to undercut its industries is an often-underestimated one.

[Sebastian Doyle]

2. Uh, well...

<------ I think that says it all.

[Brickbat]

4. My man's a union train man, and I'm a union wife. We'll stick with the union the rest of our life.

Which side are you on? Which side are you on?

[WillyT]

5. That's Right !!!

:hi:

[Brickbat]

6. Union is the reason my family lives the way it does.

We never forget it. It's our religion. I sang "Which Side Are You On" and other labor songs to my kids as lullabies.

UBC, BLET, UTU, NWU and Newspaper Guild. UNION STRONG.

[geardaddy]

17. Are you NWU?

Solidarity sister!

[Brickbat]

19. Solidarity! But busted!

I was when we lived near Minneapolis and I could get to meetings, but I'm not anymore, :o. I was listing the unions we are/had been in. Are you in MN?

[geardaddy]

20. Yep, in Minneapolis

I'm a member of the chapter steering committee.

[Brickbat]

26. I still get the e-mails, but I stopped paying dues when I started work at a newspaper and joined the

Guild there. I really should get back into it, now that I'm freelancing again...

[geardaddy]

27. Well, isn't this kismet?!

I've just taken on the job of membership coordinator. lol So, I'm sure you'll be getting a call from me sometime soon to urge you to renew!

:D

[Brickbat]

28. I should have kept my mouth shut!

I keed, I keed! :)

[geardaddy]

29. ..

:rofl:

[Bluebear]

7. We work hard, but who's complaining? Thanks to the Union, we're paying our way!

[dana_b]

32. so look for, the union label

I'm looking but can't find it anymore!! :(

[William Z. Foster]

8. kick

Don’t scab for the bosses,
Don’t listen to their lies.
Us poor folks haven’t got a chance,
Unless we organize.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Indeed

A good reflection. Timely too.

Enthusiastic K&R.

[michreject]

33. Did you ever sell that Honda (made by non union labor)

And buy that Toyota (Made by non union labor)

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Pete Seeger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iAIM02kv0g

[Bryn]

11. I support the unions

:hi: My Dad was a union member.

[Dappleganger]

25. As was mine...

CWA. :)

K&R

[flyarm]

12. Union all the way..retired union worker here!! solidarity!! eom

[KharmaTrain]

14. Unions In 1931 Aren't Unions In 2010...

I'm very pro-union but I also see the movement has lost a lot of ground during my lifetime. Fewer and fewer workers are members or able to become members and its influence has diminished accordingly. The movement has undergone 30 years of non-stop union busting and negative publicity by the media that has turned people who should be very pro-union into the total opposite...constantly voting against their best interests. Education and outreach are more important now than ever.

In the 30s, unions were a lot more intrepid...willing to go on strike and stand up to the large corporates...we don't see that today. There aren't any major actions against a Wal Mart or Toyota...a show of numbers and resolve in standing up for workers and thus appealing to the populist attitude in this country today.

If there's a time we need strong and growing unions, it's now.

[fishwax]

16. kick for unions

:kick:

Proud union member, here :patriot:

[geardaddy]

18. Kick, Rec, and Solidarity brothers and sisters!

:D

[mdmc]

21. where in desolation row is this song referenced?

[Brickbat]

31. Praise be to Nero's Neptune.

The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody's shouting
"Which side are you on?"

[mdmc]

39. ah yes

know i recall..

[Catherina]

22. Standing proudly on your side with Rebel Diaz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dr05tXktSo


See I gotta draw the line I cant take it no more

If you aint down with revolution what you waitin for

Makin money for suckas and our communities poor

Rippin flags off of coffins man this aint our war

Colonized and terrorized by the worlds biggest killers

the US government the biggest weapon and drug dealers

Fillin prisons with children incarceratin the future

Myspace and facebook they got us stuck on computers

Stuck on stupid bumpin music that's the abusive to the shorties

And the nonsense that you spittin they just listen and absorb it

Ive been dormant ive awoken im a giant im ready

Im with the APPO in Oaxaca and we holdin machetes


WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?


CHORUS:

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Chi city!!!

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

South bronx!!!

WHICH SIDE ARE YOUON?

Oaxaca!!!

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Palestina!!


(RodStarz)

I rock hard like palestinian children holdin slingshots!!!

Im with every single kid that's down for hip hop

For the culture the life what it really stands for

This music is resistance it's the voice of the poor

Im on the side of the workers, the teachers and lunchladies,

on the streets with brown mommys raisin our brown babies,

im with youth organizers cleanin up the bronx river

im like jaime escalante when I stand and deliver

im with evo morales man he runnin bolivia

distribution of the land so they could all live bigger

im with hugo and fidel, grandmaster and melle mel,

with the Panthers up in queens justice for sean bell,

im with camacho negron, im with ojeda rios,

freedom for oscar lopez time to get an appeal,

im with abu jamal im with assatta shakur,

im with the compas in Immokalee getting a penny more!!



(Lah Tere)



im with elvira arellano im with Rudy Lozano,

im for a world without borders and a better tomorrow.

Im with Mothers on the Move Im with sistas on the rise

Im with La Pena del Bronx, keepin culture alive

Im with the kids at the Batey watchin a beat battle

Mean muggin all these yuppies in shorts and brown sandles

Im with parents everywhere fightin for good schools

And for all these good women to find some good dudes





Im with Salvador Allende Man Im Super Anti Momio!

Con el pueblo en la Havana grito Viva Cuba Cono!

Im for immigrants, activists, unions and freelancers

For djs mcs bombers and breakdancers

Im with editors, engineers and indy media

Im with my family and my crew Rebel Diaz

Im with Dj Disco Wiz a Latino Pioneer

Cuz its its dope when the elders break bread with the kids..


(G1)


Im for tellin the truth exposing the lies

Think about the dead soldiers when youre drivin your ride

Them people died for the oil and Daddy Bushs revenge

Im with the widows the children and the lonely best friends

Im with Families Stayin Together as ONE

Im Not for the Raids and the Deportations!!

Im with Victor Toro and The M.I.R.

So watch out for those snitches in that unmarked car!

And for Lil Saulito, we gonna fight for your moms..

So we gonna shout her out, twice in One song..

Im for twelve million workers and Elvira Arellano

Im for a world without borders and a better tomorrow



WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?



CHORUS:

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Chi city!!!

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

South bronx!!!

WHICH SIDE ARE YOUON?

Oaxaca!!!

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Palestina!!


- Rebel Diaz

[Catshrink]

23. 10 Things That Terrify Right-Wingers

from alternet, via this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x541972

#10 is unions:

"Here’s another one that scares the Right-wing coastal elitists who in fact run the conservative movement, the operatives.

Most people understand that the Right’s corporate patrons don’t care for organized labor because it hurts the bottom line. But there’s another thing to fear: Union members are more likely to vote their economic interests than be blinded by culture war distractions.

In 2004, although George Bush won the votes of white working-class men by 25 percent over John Kerry, blue-collar white guys who belonged to unions broke for Kerry by 21 percent. Charles Noble, a political scientist at IC Long Beach, commented, “Clearly, union members had a different perspective on the election, most likely provided by the unions themselves, which poured millions into educating and mobilizing union households.” In 2008, John McCain beat Obama by 25 percent among all gun owners, but Obama won over union members who pack heat by a 12 percent margin. Guy Molyneux, a partner with Hart Research, which conducted exit polls for the AFL-CIO, told the New York Times that white male union members “supported Mr. Obama over Mr. McCain by a margin of 18 percentage points, while for all white men, exit polls found they backed Mr. McCain by a 16 percent margin.”

White working-class “Reagan Democrats” voting for the colored guy? The horror!"

http://www.alternet.org/story/147159/10_things_that_ter...

[Ganja Ninja]

24. Unions all the way. n/t

[Greyhound]

30. Always have been, always will be with the workers, no matter what color their shirt. n/t

[asdjrocky]

34. I seem to post this every couple of months-

Workers Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTafZRecy2k

[michreject]

35. I stand for the union

I retired from UAW local 160 with 30 years of service. My father and mother retired from Chevy local 235.

I have never owned a vehicle made by non union (scab) workers.

I stand in solidarity.

[Bozita]

36. Solidarnosc

[MilesColtrane]

37. .

Join your union, join your union,
Friends, we need our unions now,
Friends, we need our unions now

Thieves grow rich and liars prosper,
Milking profit's sacred cow.
They make war to make their money,
How we need our unions now.

One man's pay for three men's labour,
Bosses' powers enshrined in law.
When our rights are torn and trampled,
How we need our unions more.

Women's rights and women's wages,
Fiercely fought and barely won,
Children's care and education,
Go where all our hopes have gone.

Shake the souls of union leaders,
Shout the message clear and plain,
Leave the desk, desert the boardroom,
Fight the workers' cause again.

Quiet words did not avail us,
Patience only earned defeat,
Unity's our only answer,
Join your unions on the street.

Stand with us and swell the numbers,
We are the majority.
Sing in chorus, raise the banners,
Union is victory.

[asdjrocky]

38. My favorite version-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKWfnO7fhQM

[Starry Messenger]

43. Mine too!

:D

[amborin]

44. +1 that's great, thanks for posting!