Solidarity for…

...well, for five days was all it took, as it turns out.

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Laid-off workers at a Chicago window factory ended a five-day sit-in after banks agreed to lend the failed company $1.75 million for outstanding wages and benefits, union officials said Wednesday.

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Workers approved the deal at a meeting Wednesday night. Union official Carl Rosen said the average worker will receive about $6,000 under the package.

But he added: "This is about more than just money. It's about what can be achieved when workers organize and stand up for justice."

When the union's inspiration
Thru' the worker's blood shall run
There can be no power greater
Anywhere beneath the sun
But what force on earth is weaker
Than the feeble strength of one
The union makes us strong!

Well done, brothers and sisters.

Tune time.

Pete Seeger - Union Maid
Danny O'Keefe - Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues
The Stonemans - Wreck Of The Old 97
Greg Trooper - Muhammad Ali (The Meaning Of Christmas)
Bing Crosby - I'm An Old Cowhand (From The Rio Grande)
David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
Rickie Lee Jones - Chuck E.'s In Love
Lee Dorsey - Get Out Of My Life, Woman
Bobby Gentry - Ode To Billy Joe
New Riders Of The Purple Sage - Ripple

Selected randomly, as usual, but the first tune provides an appropriate and timely prod for a shout out to the men and women on the Machinists' line at Boeing.

Thanks for stickin' to the union, brothers and sisters.

Making May Day matter...

…by closing down the docks to end the war.

More than 25,000 West Coast International Longshore and Warehouse workers, including many hundred in Tacoma, are taking a day off work today in protest of the war in Iraq.

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ILWU International President Bob McEllrath said the workers are “standing down on the job and standing up for America.”

A solidarity shout out to the men and women of the ILWU for reminding us what this day really means...or should.

To the barricades!

"You have nothing to lose but your links!"

Heh™.

From the "Credit where it's due" file.

A bravo for Senator Clinton...

Senator Hillary Clinton, D-NY, announced today that she will forgo CBS News' upcoming presidential debate unless the network can reach a resolution with its striking employees.

"The workers at CBS News have been without a contract for close to two and a half years," the Senator said. "It is my hope that both sides will reach an agreement that results in a secure contract for the workers at CBS News but let me be clear: I will honor the picket line if the workers at CBS News decide to strike."

I expect no less from the rest of the field, but Hillary's the first out of the gate, I believe.

Quote of the day.

"It's our duty. It's the only power we have."

GM striker Eric Lehtonen

Just wondering…

…how many GM assembly jobs could be secured for, say, the cost of the CEO's salary? Or a modest across the board cut in executive compensation?

GM and the UAW helped create the American middle class. With a little vision, they could be parters in leading its restoration.

Hey, a guy can dream...