Workers of the World
I grew up in a union household. My dad was union electrician. He was elected president of his local, Local 48 of the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electical Workers). When he got older and had arthritis in his ankle that made it difficult for him to climb around the buildings he was working on, he went to work for the union as a representative. His career included becoming a labor negotiator for the City of Portland Employees, a organizer for unions in the Portland shipyards, a board member and founder of a Credit Union for union members, and began an inter-union coordinating body called the Metal Trades Council, as well as representing the electricians with whom he had worked. He negotiated better wages and benefits for union members. He did this because he knew they deserved it. Workers create. Bosses organize, finance and take. During my childhood, my mother was a housewife. When I was in college she worked for a few years for the county cemetery. They gave her a headstone wh...