USAS Working Class Caucus

here are some questions that can be used to facilitate meetings with those who identify as working class, as well as those who consider themselves allies of the working class. this is by no means complete, and in fact it is pathetically short. please feel free to extend this list of questions far beyond its current state. thanks

Questions for Caucus Members

1.)    How do you balance work and activism? Is it possible to combine the two?

2.)    What is the hardest part of being “working class?”

3.)    What is the best part of being “working class?”

4.)    Does your economic status have an effect on your political ideology?

5.)    Do you feel that your allies within and outside of USAS appreciate and/or understand your situation as a worker?

6.)    Does USAS focus enough time on recruiting working students? (from community colleges, poor high schools, or “alternative” schools).

7.)    How can this caucus help USAS to better incorporate working class issues into its organizational structure?

8.)    What can our allies do to make USAS more anti-oppressive and responsive to the needs of working class members?

9.)    Does our caucus sufficiently consider the racial and gender aspects of the working class (ex. A disproportionate amount of the working poor are womyn and people of color).

10.) should USAS openly advocate for alternative economic systems?

Questions for Allies

(have you engaged in, or witnessed others engaging in, this type of behavior?)

1.) when communicating with people from a working class background, or a non-college educated person, do you, or members of your group, ever use elitist language? or, on the flipside, do you insult a person’s intelligence by oversimplifying everything?

2.)  does your group ever overlook a persons needs when organizing campaigns or events, such as how much time someone is able to spend on a certain task?

3.) does your group organize in a way that is alienating to full-time workers? (scheduling meetings during normal work hours, participating in acts that jeopordize working people, not speaking with workers before an action, etc.)

4.)  do you ever try to hide someone’s economic status when in the company of middle or upper class activists or people?

5.)  does your group romanticize the working class, or assume that workers know everything about the subject of workers’ rights?

6.) does your group give equal space and time to workers’ who participate in your group? do the middle class activists in your group usually assume the more important roles, or tokenize more oppressed members of the group?

7.) does your group focus more on education than organizing, or more on tasks than on people?

8.) do you consult workers before a campaign? (for example, there was a Living Wage Campaign in my town, which would provide much higher pay for about 50 city workers, yet not one of those workers was in any way involved in the campaign)

*most of these questions were adapted from www.ClassMatters.org

it might have been a bad idea to give me a chance to blog, since i like to talk alotttt. but hopefully we can get some good discussions going and i can get a chance to tell all of you loyal readers what the working people are up to here in Northern California, and you can tell me what workers are up to in your particular area of the world.

first of all, just so you know a little bit about me…my name is carlos, i live just north of San Francisco. i work two jobs (a coffee shop and a movie theater) making just above minimum wage. i attend the community college, and maintain a full-time level of political organizing. work sucks, as many of you know. i recently had a chance to give a speech in front of City Council to talk about what life is like for low-wage young workers. the speech was in the context of the Living Wage campaign which is currently being waged in my town; they are currently seeking to implement a living wage for city workers, thus they turned out about 100 folks to the last city council meeting to show support for their campaign. i told the council why many young workers support the living wage campaign. i will try to sum up my speech (which was improvised) as briefly as possible.

first, i said that i support the campaign because i feel that ALL workers deserve a living wage, as well as respect and representation in the workplace. i told the council that, as a worker, i am treated as little more than an indentured servant; i spend most of my time working to make a few people incredibly rich while i still barely can make rent and afford food. and forget about health care or money to buy other basic necessities. i said that this system that exploits workers has got to go, and that the living wage campaign is but a modest step that will hopefully lead to much more expansive rights for workers.

i said that what happens to workers on a daily basis is nothing short of robbery. our labor is stolen from us to proliferate the luxurious lifestyles of our corporate masters. this is a grave crime, and one that will not go unnoticed by the workers of this country. i said that the living wage campaign is but the beginning of a movement for workers liberation that will drag us out of modern day slavery, and build a world of equity and collectivity. i praised those on the council who support a living wage, and i warned those who opposed it by telling them that our day will soon come. that we will win this struggle because our lives depend on it. we will not resign ourselves to living as servants for much longer.our most radical demand is that we be treated as humans, and that all of us live WITH each other, and not for or against each other.

so, you can pretty much guess i ruffled a few feathers. but after i spoke, almost everyone in the room came up to me, shook my hand, and some muttered “power to the people”. applause rang through the hall (applause, by the way, is not allowed at city council meetings). i left with the feeling that i had many allies, and that as isolated as i feel spending most of my time at a crap job that does not benefit me in any way, i know that many people have my back, and that many people suffer the same indignities. i know that we will see a day where are not slaves, but people. and i believe that day will come sooner than you think.

(in case you didnt put it together, this blog will be full of lofty idealism. get used to it, and please contribute some of your own).

in short,  WELCOME TO THE WORKING CLASS BLOG

SOLIDARITY FOREVER!

Carlos

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