As Election-Year Nastiness Hits a Fever Pitch, Let’s Focus on What We Have in Common — Not What Divides Us
A Happy Fourth
For me, Independence Day 2024 was one to remember. I traveled to Missouri to celebrate the Fourth of July with extended family.
My sister-in-law and her partner wanted his family, which is mostly from Ohio, to get together with hers, which is mostly from California. So, we met somewhere in the middle at Lake of the Ozarks. It’s one of the largest manmade lakes in the world and a prime example of a proper heartland recreation area, with vast expanses of water for boating, skiing, and jet-skiing; multiple state parks to explore along the shore; and “party coves” in which to drop anchor, drink beer, and bob around in the lake.
I’m happy to report that it was a whole lot of fun. We ate hamburgers on a pontoon boat at night under the stars, watched the fireworks go off, and listed to Ray Charles blast out of the speakers singing “America the Beautiful.”
We also celebrated my youngest child Isaac’s seventh birthday. While family decorated the vacation home and made cupcakes, Isaac hit the docks for some fishing and landed his first catfish. It was a total trip to watch my Oakland-raised city boy take to the country life like it weren’t nothin’.
I’ll admit that going into the trip without having spent much time with Midwesterners, I was expecting my experience might be something like “City Slickers” meets “National Lampoon’s Vacation” meets “Meet the Fockers.”
Boy, was I wrong.
The blending of families brought diverse life experiences and political views together under one roof for a proper vacation that anyone would have enjoyed, with all of the positive vibes that entails. Sure, it was the Fourth of July, but the spirit of the gathering was focused less on the Declaration of Independence being signed at the Second Continental Congress and more on what it means to be American today — in other words, practical stuff.
We embraced one another as family. We saw commonality before differences. We were OK with the fact that we weren’t perfectly aligned on every little issue, because at the end of the day, we got along just fine based on having found common ground.
Watching the kids interact, I was happily reminded of how awesome young people are at finding the common ground that we jaded adults often struggle to recognize among ourselves. Having never met before, the children of both families connected right away on their shared interests: Roblox, fishing, swimming, watching baseball, and so on.
It got me to thinking: What if we took a bit more childlike of an approach to life, like these kids? What if we sought out what we had in common rather than fixating on our camps, cliques, and caucuses and how they put us at odds with our neighbor?
In any case, what did my Missouri experience amount to that would be most relevant to all of you? I suppose it would be the profound reminder that no matter how fractious things seem right now politically and socially, we still truly do have it better here in the United States than most anywhere else. That’s because as working people — which, of course, the vast majority of us are — we still have far more in common than not, and we always will.
Knowing that, I think we’d be well-served to challenge ourselves during this politically divided era to work as hard as possible to be patient with one another and focus on our similarities rather than our ultimately petty differences. If we work on tightening the ties that bind us, we’re likely to emerge much more quickly from this dark modern era in our nation’s history.
Glaziers’ Strike
San Francisco’s Glaziers Local 718 — along with the rest of the NorCal glaziers of DC 16 IUPAT — took to the streets on Monday, July 1, after members overwhelmingly rejected management’s last “best and final” offer.
My bulldog, Oliver, and I hit the picket line to see how things were going. So far, the members are holding pickets at shops and not construction sites. This allows them to withhold shop labor and impact the point of production without asking you to take a walk with them.
It’s a strategic move that we might take for granted. I went down to the lines to join them, and let me tell you: The glaziers have been holding their own. They possess a strong vision of a fair contract, militancy among the ranks, and union leadership that’s capable and clear-eyed about these negotiations.
The threat of future actions even brought a $300 million job under a PLA in record time, thus making the glaziers’ strike a success for all trades.
Let’s rally with them and boost their lines when we are able. If you want to support them, you can also boost their message on social media. One day longer, one day stronger.
Turn to page 12 and check out Local 718’s section to see some great strike photos.
Working Toward More Work
The first half of July has been a busy time for this council’s board of business representatives. Many of the board’s members have answered the council’s calls to action and testified before regulatory bodies at San Francisco City Hall.
The outcomes? All positive! Your reps have helped move multiple items forward in various committees, as well as pushing forward legislation that would reduce the transfer tax on union-built, pension-funded residential projects.
Read more about this smart legislation, co-sponsored by Ahsha Safaí and Connie Chan, in this month’s cover article.
See you next month in the Labor Day special edition of Organized Labor.