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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!gumby!wupost!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!daemon
- From: harelb@math.cornell.edu (Harel Barzilai)
- Subject: CALL for LABOR PARTY
- Message-ID: <1992Aug20.030400.14542@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
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- Organization: ?
- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 03:04:00 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 84
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- Topic 263 Lcl 1100 President:Labor Party Now
- dwalters Labor News & Notes 3:35 pm Aug 18, 1992
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- UFCW Local 100 President Bill Fiore:
-
- 'We have to start the Labor Party here. We need to get an independent
- labor candidate into local office.'
-
- (The following speech was presented by Bill Fiore on Saturday, July
- 25, at an evening rally in San Francisco held as part of the July
- 25-26 National Conference for Independent Labor Political Action.
- Fiore is president of Local 1100 of the United Food and Commercial
- Workers Union in San Francisco.)
-
- Well, it's always nice to be first. I didn't make it this morning. I'm
- sorry I didn't. I heard there were some great speeches made. I'm not
- going to bore you with a long speech. I think this conference is a
- great idea, and I think the idea of a labor party is absolutely
- necessary. We can see by the popularity of Perot that there's a real
- need in this country, a real political void. And there are a lot of
- working people out there that I think are really sick and tired of
- being sick and tired. They're looking for some direction.
-
- Now, we sat around here today, and had a lot of good ideas about a lot
- of things that I think we already now. A lot of us know the things
- we've talked about today. They're good to rehash, they're good to hear
- again, but I think it's time and I hope there's interest in a platform
- being put together Q hopefully out of this meeting. Something
- tangible.
-
- There are at least five issues out there I'm sure everybody can agree
- on. I'll just name a couple of them.
-
- The right to strike. A living wage. Healthcare, education, the
- environment.
-
- We may have different ways of wanting to get there, but I'm sure
- there's at least four or five issues that we all agree on. I think
- it's time that the labor movement give those people out there that
- went to Perot, and who don't want to vote, who are apathetic and say
- they don't give a damn anymore, give them a chance, and build a
- platform. We may not win the first time. We may not win the second
- time. Start with the Board of Supervisors race in San Francisco. Start
- small, build, go somewhere, leave this meeting with an actual goal and
- something to do.
-
- A labor party is a great idea. Someday I think it's going to be a
- reality. But I think we have to start it small. We have to start it
- here. A lot of people here have a lot of energy, have been working in
- this movement for a lot longer than I have. But I've been to a lot of
- things like this, again, where we're talking to each other. And I
- think it's time we laid down a candidate, we get together a platform,
- and run on that platform. Try to get a candidate into a local office.
- I have no idea who it is. We have to meet to figure that out. And the
- platform. It's not me; life is too short for that.
-
- But life is also too short to keep voting in these creeps that are
- winning, one after the other. So all the energy that is out there Q
- this went on in 1970. When I put this out on the floor before, someone
- reminded me that it was tried before, and the bureaucrats that run
- unions Q like I do Q that they're not going to be on the bandwagon.
- But who cares? If the rank and file picks up on it enough, they'll get
- on that bandwagon. And that's what its going to take, because these
- people are elected.
-
- Anybody who's interested, let us know. Let me know. I'll be here
- tomorrow. And it may be a tough thing to start off, it may be painful,
- it may sound simplistic. But I think there has to be a carrot behind
- all of this. Tony Mazzocchi and the presidency Q all that's a great
- idea, and a giant labor party starting off at a national idea is a
- great idea. But I think we need to start off at a grassroots level.
- If I could give my members something to work on in San Francisco, and
- say we've got a candidate right here who's talking for you, for labor
- Q Board of Supervisors or whatever Q it's a reality. With an umbrella
- group like the labor party behind that on the national level. Thank
- you for listening.
-
- Reprinted with permission from:
- The Organizer
- 4017 24th St.#19
- San Francisco, CA 94114
- 1 Year, 12 issues, $12.
-