Happy Labor Day, Y'all

This weekend we celebrate Labor Day, and I am one of the many who are amazed at the growing movement in organized labor all across the country, but especially in the South. Beginning in the 1930s, racists, determined to uphold Jim Crowe ideals, passed union-crippling laws to disperse the growing collective movement amongst the working class. Even today, bad behavior towards workers is often shielded behind the KKK dog-whistle “right-to-work”.

But today, workers across the country are pushing towards the future, as young workers new to the workforce make up nearly two-thirds of the union gains. Indeed, headlines are regularly filled with stories of successful union organizing in new workplaces, even in new industries.

People are rediscovering the Labor Movements and Leaders once buried by time and anti-worker rhetoric.

Georgia Union Workers in 1941

We are re-reading the pro-union speeches by Dr. King, and rediscovering the correlation of civil rights and workers-rights, and seeing the road towards something better in our own time.

But that path is not without its roadblocks.

For the last year, roughly, I have been part of a group of workers setting up banners and handing out informational leaflets outside The Atlanta Opera’s performances in an effort to bring attention to the ongoing labor dispute my union (IATSE 798) and the workers have with them.

A full account of the ongoing fight can be found at SupportOurCrew.com but to summarize it: The Opera is unfairly misclassifying their workers and blocking their right to negotiate a contract which would grant workplace basics such as overtime pay, minimum wages, and benefits such as healthcare and retirement for their Hair and Makeup workers.

We’ve garnered local and national press about our struggle, and we have a case in front of the National Labor Relations Board awaiting judgement. Citing our case, the NLRB and the Justice Department have created a joint partnership to combat union-busting and ensure workers can exercise their right to organize.

It’s a big deal!

Unfortunately the process is slow, as our case could change federal labor laws. What that means for myself and my union kin is that we have been outside every show the Opera has put on to let their audiences and the public know what anti-worker shenanigans they have been up to, sometimes joined by local leaders like Secretary of State candidate Bee Nguyen and Labor Commissioner candidate William Boddie.

And we’ve always done it the correct way; my Field Rep has contacts the local police departments, we follow city ordinances, and while occasionally loud, we maintain peaceful presence outside of the performance venue. We assure worried audience members that we are not asking for them to boycott, but rather urging them to contact the powers that be and let them know that the Hair and Makeup workers deserve better treatment. After a year I’ve gotten pretty good at it.

In June I was standing outside Pullman Yards doing this very thing for TAO’s summer series. I was with my long-suffering and supportive husband, along with my friend Alex and her friend. Alex had been with us a few times, and being a lawyer (and social justice warrior), has been very interested in the progression of our fight, and the impact our case could have on federal labor laws.

I was sharing with her that I had just learned that Pullman Yards had the only mural in Atlanta of a labor leader, A. Philip Randolph. Just at that moment, someone from a car pulling into the parking lot shouted at us “it’s not the only one!”

I was immediately excited because I thought I was abo

ut to get some more cool Atlanta history fact from this woman in the SUV.

“It’s not the only one,” she repeated. “There’s a second one here”.

A. Philip Randolph Mural at Pullman Yards

I tried to pass a pamphlet through the window and explain why we were outside of the venue, but I was met with odd hostility. As she pulled into the parking lot, I shrugged it off and continued my conversation with Alex.

Out of the corner of my eye, though, I saw that the woman had parked her car and was now charging at us outside the property line.

“Why would you say it’s the only one?” she demanded.

Whoa. The vibe was off.

Generally, when people who come back to speak to us after parking, it has always been with genuine curiosity stoked by our banners, and to take one of our flyers. I’ve met some amazing people!

“I didn’t realize there’s more. That’s cool! The Hair and makeup workers at the Atlanta Opera are fighting for the very things that the people in the murals were fighting for.” Again I tried to give her a flyer.

Instead, she aggressively came into my personal space, demanding to know why we blasted their name all over our social media. Truly the only mention of Pullman Yards was to indicate to our supporters that we were not going to be outside the normal Cobb Energy Center, because the summer series had moved in-town.

She told me that she herself was a union member, of IATSE 700. (I later found out this is false; I asked a member of 700 to check their roster and she wasn’t to be found.)

However in the moment, I thought, “Oh! She’ll get it! She knows what we’re working towards!”

She identified herself as the owner of Pullman yards and she was extremely angry at us for being there, accusing us of trespassing on the public sidewalk.

Alex pointed out that Pullman Yards COULD make a powerful statement of solidarity by not allowing any production company with an ongoing labor dispute to use her facility. The owner was NOT having it.

From there things simply spiraled into a, frankly, bizarre back-and-forth. We got a roving diatribe that we were wrong for what we were doing, that Marvel studios was going to be filming in their location later that year, and what about all those union workers? I can only guess that her argument was that because of the large amount of union workers working on projects on her property in the future, our strife should be discounted.

From outside their venue we could hear a busker at the restaurant, and she demanded “should she be expected to give THEM a union contract too?”

“Did they ask for one?”

“No.”

“Well, we DID. And we are being DENIED that right.”

Her focus switched to my tone, about how unpleasant and rude I was. The irony being, of course, that I was not being disrespectful, for a rare change (see long-suffering husband above). Though I will admit that even now I’m hurt about her attempt at a low-blow.

Mercifully, she did eventually walk back into her venue, leaving me perplexed. I’m no stranger to being flicked off by the occasional luxury car Opera attendees or having my leaflet thrown back at me, but this was something else.

But a few moments later a young gentleman walked out to talk to me.

Turns out, he was a BRAND NEW member of IATSE local 479, and was being sworn in the following day! I was so excited for him, and celebratory fist bumps were given. And I praised him for the hard work that went into getting accepted in to the union and wished him a long, and healthy career.

That’s the amazing thing about the labor movement; people get ANGRY at us for asking for what’s fair and right, but when you meet the young people who are ready to carry that torch onward, it helps you keep on going.

Hopefully that owner eventually sees what power a venue that prides itself on being a labor positive space in a progressive neighborhood has, so they do not become a beacon of the perils of gentrification.

Because at the moment, it feels that those murals are little more than performative ally-ship, with less value than they paint they are made of.

IATSE Workers at The Atlanta Opera