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Another Student/Labor Coalition Formed
Matt Parker worked through July with the
Dallas AFL-CIO
Last year, a Student/Labor Coalition formed at the University of
Texas at Dallas (UTD). In August, 2002, a similar coalition came about at the
University of North Texas at Denton, 30 miles north of Dallas. Activist Matt
Parker found a faculty sponsor and expects began activities during school
registration at the end of August.
Beginning July 10, Parker joined with the Dallas AFL-CIO at
twice-weekly sign-making parties. They create yard signs for labor-endorsed
candidates. While working alongside the best union activists in the county,
Parker has lined up support for the new coalition. He asks labor leaders to
find out if their members have contacts on the campus.
Jobs with Justice is pledged to help the new coalition. In all
parts of the nation, students play a major role in Jobs with Justice
coalitions.
**
Students Are Important in JwJ Coalitions
The number of students at Jobs with Justice conferences,
especially college-age women, has grown strongly through the years. The 2000
conference devoted considerable attention to their special strengths as they
celebrated a large number of victories.
Kendra Fox-Davis, President of U.S. Student Association,
welcomed 150 people to a student activism pre-conference session with,
"It's really an incredible time to be a student-labor activist."
Last year, her organization and JwJ formed the Student Labor Action
Project (SLAP) to fight sweatshops around the world. Fighting against
sweatshops and, especially, against child labor is an immensely popular cause.
Speaker Paul Booth was the first president of Students for a
Democratic Society in 1962. He said that there the 1960s and the present period
have very little in common. At the present, a reactionary coalition is on the
verge of ultimate victory or defeat in America.
Panelists told about student activities that included strikes,
boycotts, sit-ins, coalition building, Living Wage fights, and specific tactics
for winning demands for students and for workers. Speakers stressed that most
students actually are workers. Some said that there was a trend toward
localizing issues. A number of student leaders had participated in recent
fights to win specific demands for university workers or for workers influenced
by university dealings. In some cases, students were instrumental in leading
union organizing drives.
Kim Johnson, for example, is organizing
graduate students at New York University for the United Auto Workers, which
already represents thousands of graduate assistants at University of California
campi. Johnson reported on a two-year fight that involved community, church,
and other labor union people.
Good tactics brought by several students were:
Involve alumni
Develop strong
leadership and democratic procedures for long term durability
Know your
issues well
Get a web page
Archive your
campaign
Do not
underestimate the power nor flexibility of student organizations
“Workers
have to risk their jobs and families, but we don't.”
Without student cooperation,
the universities cannot exist
How to hold a building once you sit-in
24-hour
vigilance
lots of public
exposure
ignore the police,
let them come and go
lots of
banners, signs, etc
support groups
get a core
group of committed occupiers. Others may come and go
Lists of back-ups for occupying duty.
For some of the old-time union activists, student Jobs with
Justice fighters sounded unusual: "It was like an incredible happening,
and we're still kind of like, 'how did this happen?'" But there could be
no doubting the effectiveness of the militant youths who attended the Jobs with
Justice conference!