Rallying in Solidarity: From Egypt to Wisconsin to Cambridge

Today, the Crimson put out a call for the young people of America to learn from the revolutions of the Middle East. It suggests that our generation is not as politically engaged as the middle-aged Americans who make up the Tea Party movement. The Crimson asks us young Americans to learn from the social-network-oriented organizing   of the Tunisian, Egyptian, and Libyan protestors.
To me, this seems like ironic timing. Not only do multiple student groups plan to protest outside Republican Representative Eric Cantor’s speech at the IOP tomorrow, but the students and workers of Wisconsin have banded together in what is now a 70,000 person, week-long occupation of the statehouse.
However, the main difference between Egypt and Wisconsin (other than the fact that Egyptian protestors probably weren’t carrying signs reading “Walk like an Egyptian”) is what the people are protesting. After all, the people of Wisconsin aren’t doing anything revolutionary. Unlike the Egyptians, they are not overthrowing a government or establishing a democracy. They’re simply protesting for the right of their family members, neighbors, and friends to utilize collective bargaining to achieve fair wages. But they are also demonstrating that the American people have both the power and will to organize.
Rallies are, frankly, inspirational. The Surprise Absurdity Protest against the Westboro Baptist Church earlier this year outside of Harvard Hillel undoubtedly did very, very little to change the opinions or tactics of the reactionary WBC; however, it did bring the entire Harvard community together in a message of solidarity and invigorated interfaith and intercultural alliances.
Similarly, the Wisconsin protestors aren’t calling for radical change or drastic reformation of any political or economic system. They are simply fighting for the status quo, to retain rights they should be able to take for granted. As blogger Robert Creamer writes, unions are absolutely essential in modern America.
After all, the gap between the rich and the poor is ever-increasing in America. The President has extended tax cuts for the rich and cut programs that America’s poorest residents depend on (although my co-blogger Michael Cotter thinks those cuts are acceptable). As we sit and watch, the middle class is disappearing into the lower class; the lower class is being stomped upon by government leaders and corporate leaders alike.
Now, more than ever, unions are vital for workers to retain their rights and dignity. As states across America introduce bills to limit workers’ rights to unionize, the hope, strength, and solidarity of the Wisconsin reverberates throughout the entire country.
Just as the popular revolts in Tunisia spread to Egypt, I hope that Wisconsin’s message of labor solidarity spreads across the United States. And in fact, it already has—Democratic legislators in Indiana have also fled to Illinois in protest of an anti-union bill there. Yesterday, 1500 Bostonians rallied outside the state house in solidarity with the Wisconsin protestors.
Even closer to home, workers’ rights are a relevant issue even at Harvard today. Tomorrow night, hundreds of students and workers will gather in the First Parish Church to rally in support of the Harvard dining hall workers, represented by the union UNITE HERE, whose contract is up for renegotiation this spring. The Student Labor Action Movement (which I am part of!) is protesting Harvard’s investment in HEI Hotels and Resorts, a company that has been accused of not allowing workers to unionize. And many Harvard students have friends and family members who would be directly affected by anti-union laws.
So, I don’t know what the Crimson was thinking when it called for American students to become more politically engaged. The inspirational rallies in Wisconsin, as well as exciting and important actions by Harvard students right on our own campus, demonstrate not only that students care about workers’ rights—but also that we are prepared to go out and fight for them.
Photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtsullivan/5458191925/.