Union organizer at ‘Hands Off’ rally shares 3 ways to help Bigfoot strikers

Presenter: At the Hands Off! rally April 5, a union organizer says we can’t trust the politicians, we’ve got to do this ourselves. Francesca Edmonds is introduced by Debbie Williamson Smith:

[00:00:11] Debbie Williamson Smith: I want you to welcome a union organizer in Oregon for over a decade. She started as a worker leading and organizing 1,100 fellow ancillary PeaceHealth workers to unionize in 2015, and has worked as a union organizer ever since. She’s a shop steward in her own union fighting for an antiracist labor movement led by workers for workers. Please welcome Francesca Edmonds.

[00:00:40] Francesca Edmonds (Union organizer): Hey y’all, how you doing? Before I jump into things, I’m going to give a big shout-out to our comrades at Bigfoot Beverage. These workers have been [audience cheering] Yeah, these workers have been on strike for over six months now.

[00:01:08] And they have three asks for folks, that we can all do.

[00:01:12] One is participating in the boycott—you can find the list online, I promise. Make sure to spread the word and also confront local businesses that are still contracting with Bigfoot Beverage and push them to tell Bigfoot: Bring your workers back, protect their benefits their wages, we will not tolerate scabs!

[00:01:37] Two: Confront scabs when you see them. I’m not saying be violent. However, make it clear we support the union. These scabs are class traitors to the working class. We need to make them feel that. We need to make them feel that in their bones.

[00:02:10] Three: Boost the Bigfoot union and their Teamsters supporters on social media and in your day-to-day interactions and conversations.

[00:02:25] All right, on to bigger politics.

[00:02:30] So, obviously you may have noticed the Trump administration is attacking federal agencies, programs, workers, unions, and not just them, all programs, agencies, workers unions. It will not stop here, but it also did not start here.

[00:02:56] Workers fought bled and died for labor protections here and around the world. Workers continue to fight, bleed and die for labor protections, particularly black and brown workers in the global south, while we, the predominantly white majority in the so-called First World countries, benefit from exploiting and stealing their labor and resources.

[00:03:38] Workers’ rights are human rights, here and around the globe. We cannot rely on the benevolence of Democratic politicians.

[00:03:52] This week, Sen. Cory Booker was praised for spending 25 hours giving a speech promising to resist Trump’s agenda. He didn’t once mention Palestine in 25 hours of grandstanding and two days later voted to send nearly $9 billion more in arms to Israel to perpetuate the genocide.

[00:04:19] We must fight back. We must organize, not only for workers here, but for people around the world. There are no workers’ rights without human rights. We cannot let the Democrats co-opt our resistance movements like they did under Trump’s last term.

[00:04:38] Biden was praised as one of the most pro-labor presidents we’ve had in decades, just because he threw a few pretty good folks on the National Labor Relations Board and stood on a strike line. All the while he screwed over the railroad workers here in the U.S. and globally supported genocide in Palestine.

[00:05:06] Both major political parties support one class, the ruling class. Politicians will not save us. We as the global working class must organize. We must save ourselves. We must fight. We must not let any politicians stand in our way and we must not just keep voting blue no matter who because look where it’s gotten us. Thank you.

[00:05:42] Presenter: Union organizer Francesca Edmonds calls for workers to organize, and to support a boycott of Bigfoot products. Look for the list at BoycottBigfoot.now.

Field recordings by Todd Boyle for KEPW 97.3, Eugene PeaceWorks community radio.