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The line I posted to Facebook this morning is the first line of a poem about Joe Hill, the labor activisit (and one of my personal heroes). Aside from direct participation in organizing for the IWW, Hill was a poet, cartoonist, and song-writer for the labor movement.
The copper bosses, seeing their profits threatened by organized labor were, in one of the great triumphs of capitalism, eventually able to have Joe Hill framed for murder and executed.
The complete poem was written after his death by Alfred Hayes:
The poem has been put to music many times, beginning with Earl Robinson in 1936, though I first heard it when listening to Joan Baez's rendition at Woodstock. (On CD, 40 years later. I wasn't actually there :)
So, happy Labor Day everybody. Like holidays, vacations, sick leave, safe working conditions, workman's comp, and your 40-hour work week? Enjoy a living wage paid for in money that you can spend anywhere you like instead of only at the company store? Then take a moment to remember Joe Hill, and all the others who fought and died for your rights.
Even if you're not a member of a union, you still enjoy the rights and privileges that the IWW and various other groups have brought into existence.
Yes, various politicians, especially in the last few decades, have been unable to undo some of what was gained, but they haven't yet been able to undo all of it, try as they might.
The copper bosses, seeing their profits threatened by organized labor were, in one of the great triumphs of capitalism, eventually able to have Joe Hill framed for murder and executed.
The complete poem was written after his death by Alfred Hayes:
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe" they filled you full of lead.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
"In Salt Lake City, Joe," says I,
Him standing by my bed,
"They framed you on a murder charge,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead,"
And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe "What they can never kill
went on to organize,
From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
Where working men defend their rights,
it's there you'll find Joe Hill,
I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he.
The poem has been put to music many times, beginning with Earl Robinson in 1936, though I first heard it when listening to Joan Baez's rendition at Woodstock. (On CD, 40 years later. I wasn't actually there :)
So, happy Labor Day everybody. Like holidays, vacations, sick leave, safe working conditions, workman's comp, and your 40-hour work week? Enjoy a living wage paid for in money that you can spend anywhere you like instead of only at the company store? Then take a moment to remember Joe Hill, and all the others who fought and died for your rights.
Even if you're not a member of a union, you still enjoy the rights and privileges that the IWW and various other groups have brought into existence.
Yes, various politicians, especially in the last few decades, have been unable to undo some of what was gained, but they haven't yet been able to undo all of it, try as they might.
