Peace Movement Connects with Labor for Big October March in DC
Back in April, peace movement activist Paul Shannon began looking round for a national project that spoke to his values while addressing the economic crisis. Soon Paul's search had him in conversations with AFL-CIO and other trade union leaders. Everyone seemed to think that 2010 is an exceptional year: business-as-usual would simply mean defeat for everything folks like Paul care about: implementing effective climate-protection measures; bringing all the troops home; creating decent green jobs. For Shannon this trifecta of policy principles is a no brainer: together with my employer, Mass. Global Action, Shannon has launched the Majority Agenda Project with the claim that the crises of environment, economy and peace are deeply interconnected and therefore that their resolution requires an interrelated package.
Whatever one thinks about the President and the hopes he raised, Paul reasoned that policies are based on social movements clamoring for change. By May, Paul found one answer: the One Nation Working Together (1N) movement. Led initially by the NAACP and SEIU 1199, the movement waxed lyrically about “standing behind” the President's progressive policies but also, “standing-in-front” of it, that is, leading from below!
Paul liked what he found, especially its strong focus on jobs. But he wanted more... to bring the peace movement into the mobilization. After all, it was that movement that had put hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in the Bush era and it did so in the absence of a supportive media. Next up, Paul and others had involved United for Peace and Justice in a dialogue with the 1N movement leadership. Emerging from these conversations is a policy document that speaks to the need for “peace abroad and jobs at home”.
Now came the hard part: how to translate DC-based conversations into action on the ground. With the 1N movement projecting itself as on ongoing effort that will involve peace, labor, people-of-color, immigrant, faith-based and environmental sectors, the hard work began at the US Social Forum held in Detroit (back in June). Majority Agenda activists networked promiscuously and distributed over 5,000 leaflets. Still many people reasoned that if you want change in an election year, you'd better put all your organizing eggs into the traditional get-out-the-vote basket.
Back in Boston, the labor movement was beginning to get involved too. Now the entire initiative is being spearheaded by the health workers of the Service Employees International Union (Local 1199). A powerful mobilization is underway to have people "get-on-the-bus"; folks can register at the Majority Agenda Project website as well as at Jobs with Justice.
Of course, Shannon has to explain to a skeptical peace movement why it should be involved in the march for jobs and justice. Surely, many people reason, will standing behind the President on jobs mean that we have to stand with his Afghan adventure? For Shannon, it is about building the relationships with broad social forces that have the collective power to end the wars while bringing justice to the home front. It is also about challenging the right. Here's Paul reasoning:
“One Nation represents the only likely vehicle for a broad-based alternative mobilization this fall. Without such a mobilization, Glenn Beck, the Tea Party and the right wing mobilization will continue to have the field to themselves before the elections. Such a strategic mobilization before the elections should be a major activity for all those working for justice and peace regardless of what issue they now work on. The reality is that the peace movement’s agenda will be set back years if the right-wing mobilization is allowed to go on unchallenged.
“A successful One Nation mobilization on October 2 in Washington DC will directly advance key parts of our movements’ agenda related to economic justice, green job creation, civil rights, human solidarity and the diversion of resources from war to human needs.
“Mobilizing around October 2 puts us into relationship with key labor, civil rights, youth and other social justice groups with whom we need to work in order to be effective in the long run. Here is a major opportunity for the peace movement to deepen our relationship with people of color and labor. The hundreds of organizations that have come together in Washington DC and in New York City to pull this effort together are predominantly African American. Dozens of significant unions are involved, advancing the theme of how we must all work together. It is they who approached the peace movement to get involved in this effort with them. While we have differences on particular issues with these organizations, here is a chance to collaborate where we agree, to deal with our differences, and to build relationships for the future.
“Our involvement might allow us to have some impact on the October 2 event itself and gives us access to One Nation resources (speakers, bus transportation, etc). The overall purpose of One Nation is to unify the majority of Americans around a hopeful and inspiring vision or our nation based on social justice. However, the process of reconciling and synthesizing the language and specific priorities of the various sectors of the movement – civil rights, peace, labor, immigrant rights, environment et al – into a cohesive and concise message is complex. Involvement puts us in a better position from which to respectfully advocate integration of our perspectives more broadly into the politics of One Nation, both before and after October 2.
“A significant peace presence on October 2 will allow members of the peace movement from Boston, New York and other areas up and down the east coast to come together to form a strong peace contingent at the rally itself. This anti-war contingent will allow us to give visibility to Afghanistan, the military budget, etc and relate our agenda to the central demands of the demonstration.”
Suren Moodliar is a coordinator of Mass. Global Action and collaborates with Paul Shannon in the Majority Agenda Project.
