fUnKY GuPpIes

The last couple of days have been filled with intense learning, prayer, and continued discernment about the summer that is to come. I have been barraged with stories of workers facing injustices in the workplace over and over. I sometimes find myself feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the men and women who continue to be exploited by the companies and men and women who profit from their labors. The excerpt found on the statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your weak and your poor…” are still there. They have not been erased though they have I am sure been eroded through pollution and just weather wear. The greeting that my ancestors read as they sailed the Atlantic Ocean is the message that is not being relayed to the workforce presently in America.

Walking through downtown Chicago- there are taxis everywhere. I was so tempted after hearing about the Taxi-Divers Campaign in Nashville, TN to ask each individual driver if they were unionized. I was visiting with fellow interns about the reality of our lives being forever changed. I will not be able to go into a hotel without examining or researching whether or not the hotels have union contracts for their employees. Tomorrow, in the afternoon, we will be as a group joining the longest workers strike in America today. The Congress Plaza hotel has refused to negotiate a contract with their employees for the last five years. There has been an individual striking everyday-24/7 for the last five years! What a testament to the spirit of these men and women, and the validity to their campaign.

I continue to be reaffirmed in my decision to have been a part of this organization. Some clarifications have been made that I would like to post on the blog simply because I want to be clear about what I will be doing this summer. I will NOT be working for a labor organization. Instead, I will be working with religious leaders, encouraging them to organize on behalf of the workers to speak about the human dignity of work, and how a just wage and benefits are great not only for employees to adopt (increase public morale) but to also see that it is great for the work force of America. Essentially, this is an issue of poverty. To continue to eradicate poverty from our world, religious leaders can speak on behalf of their congregations to alert the business communities that just wage/living wage is an important issue.

*I have learned some more information about my stay in Phoenix, and will be joining an already existing campaign. I will be leading and organizing delegations of clergy men and women to fight for the rights of the men and woman of the Great Western Campaign for the Iron Workers Union. Please continue to keep me in prayer that I may continue to be a vessel of transformation for myself and the men and women that I will encounter.