Open question: What is it about the South and labor unions?

[mac56]

I've lived here in Georgia for nearly three years. Used to work as a Teamster organizer. Right now working as a writer - and indexing a book about globalization in the South. The book is confirming everything I've observed about unions down here. People seem genuinely scared of organizing, or completely enmeshed in doing things "the company way" without question. Interspersed throughout seems to be some unusual religiousity that says collective bargaining is some kind of sin against God and nature.

Can someone who's lived down here longer than I have cast some light on this for me?

[XanaDUer]

1. In the 1950 and 60s

my NYC , union family members tried to come down to help organize the poor slobs who lived in the Deep South, which would include FL at that time.

Well, you would think that my family members and co-organizers had bubonic plague or something.

Of course, some were terrified to even be seen shaking the hands of the union organizers.

My relative told me he remembers one man in a grocery store who was terrified to even be seen near a union worker.

There is still the attitude that unions are "pinko" organizations.

Sad, but there it is.

[whistle]

2. Racism, business control, ruling elite....

<link> http://www.blackcommentator.com/going_south.html

[Crachet2004]

3. Damn good question...

I started school in the South-Georgia-and have worked in the South longterm, several times since. I like the Southern people, Black and White, as well as any I have ever known, on a one to one basis. But here is why Unions have a tough time.

This is why: Union{s} is a bad word down there...because of the War. The Union beat them. Yep, believe it or not. Union=Yankee=Bad.

Also, Union=Communist=Bad.

Also: the Union, during the War, tried to make Blacks=to Whites=Bad...which is the same thing employee Unions would do: make the Black=to the White=Bad.

Finally, there is a tradition of respect for aristocracy in the South, that exists nowhere else in the nation. The Whites in the South are traditionally oriented, and the tradition (or myth) is one of stately white mansions and courtly manners... Of course, the elite down there reinforces this almost medieval acceptance of class through their control of education.

I have had many discussions down through the years about the best way to cure society's ills, and a Black friend of mine finally convinced me, it is all about education. With good education, all the other problems are automatically solved.

So there is your answer: educate...and for God's sake, stop calling them "Unions". They need to be 'employee associations', or whatever. Use local people as organizers, and educate. Communism is DEAD. And common Whites need to realize, that yes, Union means Blacks and themselves rise together, to the same level-but that it IS upward mobility, for ALL concerned...or everyone can stay at the dead, flat bottom, where they are now, and how does THAT make a White man better than a Black man? It only benefits the old White master.

Because Slavery isn't over, it has actually become an equal opportunity oppressor. Economic chains bind as tightly as any other, and that is the lesson that Whites down South must learn. To get through to them, someone must make them realize, they are as much a Slave as Blacks ever were...and the only way to freedom, is to purge their hearts of hate.

[cap]

4. i am not sure the South would listen

remember redneck comes from the red necks of the malnourished white men. They will starve before they allow themselves to be on a par with the black man. The boss man can do anything to poor whites and they will not complain

[Nadienne]

5. Well, I don't know about down South

but here in the midwest, "union" sommetimes seems to be associated with "biting the hand that feeds you".

[wishlist]

6. Obedience to authority seems to be ingrained with many Southerners

Here in N.C. there is a history of anti-union sentiment and intimidation by those in power including tragic incidents of violence and retaliation (the subject of a PBS documentary a few years ago) combined with the traditional Southern Protestant upbringing emphasizing deference to authority figures at home, school, church and the workplace. I know many Southerners who were raised to always say 'yes ma'am', 'yes sir' and show unquestioning obedience to their elders. Their upbringing has carried over into adulthood resulting in reluctance to question authority and stand up against people in power for fear of punishment. Fundamentalist religious teachings must have a strong influence.

I was raised up North by parents who encouraged being outspoken and questioning authority with impunity, which seems to be very different than the upbringing of most of my Southern friends. I was a union activist for many years and constantly frustrated by my Southern co-workers' prejudices against unions combined with their fearful reluctance to stand up to management by joining and participating in the union.

[oscar111]

7. huey long:race war:full employ

huey long showed that it is not hopeless in the south

whites see blacks as the cause of all social ills, so whites pay little heed to other theories of the cause of ills.

reduce racism by jobs for ALL, so no competition. Also by natioalization of housing or guaranteed value for your house to end fear of ethnics next door.