(The following information on "How to SLAC" is taken from the
SLAC "Starter Kit For Young Troublemakers.")
Start with leftist or liberal professors or TAs [Teachers Assistants] in classes which touch upon labor or contain issues concerning workers. Left-wing organizations on campus are also a good place to look for potential SLACers. Those organizations that focus on political or environmental action can supply you with a beginning membership, such as New Party chapters, Amnesty International, PIRGs, graduate teaching unions, Greenpeace, or others. Approach these people with literature or videos.
Don't rely on your local or national newspapers for honest labor news. You won't find it. Subscribe to Labor Notes (see resources) to get a labor activist's view of current labor struggles. To hear more about local labor news, call the federation of labor in your area (often called the labor council) or the AFL-CIO statewide office to get literature on the latest developments in the region or states, and to subscribe to their publications if they have any. Make a special point of calling the unions that represent campus workers. Their issues are your issues. Also, don't feel shy about calling outside unions directly who are involved in struggles. Most are thrilled to have supporters in the community.
Now that you have information, get interested people together and show it. The Staley videos Deadly Corn and Struggle in the Heartland are excellent (see resources). Make it fun by providing refreshments (i.e., beer); pave the way for a community of friends fighting for just causes. Do not forget to set up a date for your first meeting and to pass around a sign-up list. You are on your way.
Talk about the event and get some feedback. From there you can decide what plan of action and focus your new group wants to take. Some actions to consider are petitioning and hand- billing, planning a fund-raiser to support struggling workers, or constructing a forum on some labor issue. Your focus can be local, regional, national or international-it's all up to you. The SLAC meeting should not be a chore, so hang out.
A SLAC-net has been created to keep each other informed of actions going on at their campus and to coordinate nationwide actions in the spirit of solidarity. Join the net and haul ass.
In order to raise awareness, SLACers have tabled in student unions, in common areas, at concerts, etc. We got hundreds of signatures to pressure the targets of our corporate campaigns.
SLAC benefits with local bands have raised hundreds of dollars for the Staley workers. Get your friends who play in bands to donate the music, and go leaflet to spread the word. Remember- the size of your group doesn't limit the size you can write "SLAC" and poster it all over campus.
"Miller Dumps" and "Pepsi Dumps," where we pour the offending product on the pavement have attracted a lot of attention when done in heavy traffic areas of campus. By issuing press releases to local and student press, SLAC has gotten these corporate campaign events covered, and increased knowledge of labor struggles throughout the community. For example, SLAC and the Madison Free Burma Coalition held a rally that included a Pepsi dump (both groups dislike Pepsi for different reasons), and a march and leaflet to downtown Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants, both of which are owned by Pepsi. SLACers consider direct actions a core part of their work. We express our unhappiness with corporate greed without compromise and in visible ways. It is effective.
When you notice labor figures are going to be in town, call them beforehand and get them to speak to students sometime during their stay. Many are happy to speak to student activists, and those who attend will hear about SLAC.
Get yourselves and your information into classrooms when you can. Do SLAC presentations in classes, and encourage friends to explore labor issues In their research papers.
This is a tough one, but conferences can be one of the best educational events, for the organizers as well as for the participants. The spring SLAC conference in Ann Arbor used local labor activists and more experienced SLAC members to lead workshops. A conference helps show SLAC is a serious organization, with serious organizers. And, the commitment of going to the conference, combined with the excitement of seeing other great activists gets you hard core members.
These holidays celebrate workers and their struggles, and are excellent ways to make SLAC's presence known in the community. On campus, use political theater, hand out leaflets, and have speakers to tell students what labor is all about. Don't forget to join in the celebrations going on in the local labor community.
Against the Current
A bi-monthly journal sponsored by Solidarity, a
socialist/feminist organization.
7012 Michigan Avenue
Detroit, MI 48210
(313) 841-0160
Solidarity web site
"Temp Slave"
A hilarious zine prepared by Keffo out of Madison, WI, focusing
on the shitty work that ties ahead for many of us young folks.
The Best of Temp Slave
"An Injury to All"
By Kim Moody
A "Labor Notes" writer, Moody covers the historical decline of
democratic, activist, social unionism of the 1930s into the
business unionism we see today. Not easy reading, but carries
vital information. Available at bookstores and through "Labor
Notes."
"Rivethead"
By Ben Hamper
An interesting autobiography of an auto worker.
"Confessions of a Union Buster"
By Mike Leavitt
One of the country's finest union busting attorneys repents by
revealing the tactics that made his career so "successful." A
decent introduction to the work that faces union organizers.
"Hard-Pressed in the Heartland"
By Peter Rachleff
A history of the devastating mid-1980s Hormel strike.
"Salt of the Earth"
The United Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers Union produced this
history of Latino and white uranium mine workers struggling in
the Southwest. Many actors and other movie crew members were
banned from Hollywood for their radical ideas.
"Roger and Me"
By Michael Moore
A history of the exit of auto jobs from Flint, Michigan, and
effects on the community.
"Matewan"
By John Sayles
A deadly labor struggle between miners and a company town in the
early 20th century.