Workers–especially Black and brown workers–across the South are exercising their freedom to organize and build a real democracy–from the ballot box to the factory floor. As anti-democratic forces gather in state capitols and C-suites looking to undermine our fundamental freedoms, as part of the Advancing Black Strategists Initiative, Jobs With Justice gathered on the campus of Clark Atlanta University to have a frank and open conversation about the state of our democracy. We were honored to welcome Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su alongside scholars, labor leaders, organizers, and rank-and-file workers for an important and impactful event.
Acting Secretary Su was in Atlanta to promote the Department of Labor’s “Good Jobs Principles” which stem from an executive order signed by President Biden in early September.
“Despite our historic victories so far, hundreds of thousands of workers are still not protected,” said Erica Smiley, Executive Director of Jobs With Justice. “Our site-by-site efforts will not rebalance runaway inequality in the South, let alone throughout the country by themselves. The Good Jobs Executive Order won’t be enforceable in the South without a private agreement between workers and employers that can’t be preempted by southern state legislatures.”
The event coincided with the announcement that Clark Atlanta University and Jobs With Justice are partnering to establish the Labor Center for Advancing Black Strategists and Research, which will be housed within the W.E.B. Du Bois Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy.
“We are thrilled to partner with Clark Atlanta University, Advancing Black Strategists Initiative, and the W.E.B. Du Bois Center on the Labor Center,” said Sherman Henry, who will work at the Labor Center through the Advancing Black Strategists Initiative. “As we often say, so goes the South, so goes the nation and the Labor Center is the next step towards building true democracy here.”
The roundtable event featured a variety of labor and university leaders, alongside workers like Delushandra Thomas, who helped organize the Blue Bird school bus manufacturing facility in Fort Valley, Georgia with the United Steelworkers.
“Blue Bird wasn’t giving wage increases until we won our first contract,” said Thomas, but the challenges are far from over.
“They want us to be grateful despite giving us pennies. We’re still fighting despite the first contract. They’re still doing captive audience meetings, taking individuals or sometimes groups of 10-15 of us off for 20 minutes at a time to threaten us and tell us lies about our union. There are still barriers. People are scared of losing their jobs.”
Thomas believes that the U.S. Department of Labor can help if it sets and enforces standards allowing union leadership to address the ongoing struggles Blue Bird workers still face even after winning their union.
In recent years, the Biden administration shepherded two landmark bills through Congress. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) made significant investments in our national efforts to revitalize the economy following the pandemic, get folks back to work, and make significant investments in a clean energy economy.
However, federal investments in the clean energy economy provide an opportunity.
“With the support of the federal investments, together we can establish an equal and democratic standard setting across the region and throughout the industry,” said Smiley. “This ensures that from Michigan to Mississippi, we build a floor for working people which leaves no worker behind. If we’re successful, I dare say we might finally be back on track to building the multiracial democracy of our ancestors’ dreams. And the souls of Black folks can for once be at ease.”
As the event concluded that afternoon, it was clear that the fights for freedom and democracy in the South remain as vibrant as ever and Jobs With Justice is among the leaders of this effort.
