I am finished with my first day of work. That is a bit of an understatement, since I had been participating in orientation with other IWJ summer interns last week. My time in Chicago was great- and there was great discussion about the history of unions, and a greater understanding of our own rolls with the unions over the summer (see previous post for more detailed explanation).
My day began at 6:00 am. Interestingly enough, I was on time. As mornings are not necessarily my most productive time, I myself was a bit skeptical. I spent an hour and a half going over the history of the AFL-CIO and the Ironworkers Union in Arizona-specifically rebar workers. At about 8:30 I left with Felipe and about 7 other men with Union to go on Delegations. (A Delegation is when a group of workers go as a group to inform local businesses and owners about the abuses of possible employers that they could come into contact with.) Today we went to an area business owner who is possibly going to hire the company that the rebar workers are striking against. Next, we met with the city manager of Tempe, and finally with an accountant for another construction company.
It seems that my day is going to consist of early mornings, with hand-billings (fliers that tell the story of the workers, and we hand them out at the work site where other workers are not striking-in an attempt to inform them that there is a way to deal with the injustices and abuses happening on the work site) more delegations, afternoons essentially off and meetings in the evenings with area religious groups or organizations. So as I plan to continue to work, I have begun to wonder, what does work mean to us? How do we value the work that we do?
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