Union Members, Union Patriotism

by James Parks, Jul 4, 2008

This July 4, there will be lots of speeches about freedom and patriotism. Politicians will talk about the nation’s struggle for independence and how we must fight to defend what we have achieved. But especially since the terrorist attacks in 2001, such talk has defined patriotism as fighting terrorism and standing up for the flag—yet it goes no further.

But it should.

Among those in the country embodying patriotism are the women and men who make up our nation’s unions.

Union members demonstrate their patriotism by taking on the most fundamental of roles: Defending our nation. Thousands of union members have joined the National Guard and the military. Union members—firefighters, police, medical technicians—were the first to respond on Sept. 11, and hundreds more risked their lives to help recover bodies from the rubble. These union members put their lives on the line on Sept. 11—as they do every day. 

The patriotism of union members also encompasses what author Eric Liu describes as the principles of true patriotism—putting country above self, taking part in responsible stewardship, fighting for equality, shared sacrifice and service. In The True Patriot, Liu says such characteristics are inherently progressive. 

The union movement works to defend those principles every day. Union members challenge injustice and demand the country live up to its ideals by providing good jobs, affordable health care, freedom from discrimination, a good education and freedom to choose to join a union. That’s why unions are mobilizing to elect leaders at every level who will support changes that protect working people and not favor large corporations.    

As Bernie Horn, at the Campaign for America’s Future, points out, progressives, including union members, are the true patriots:

We hate injustice in America. We are eager to make our country better, and fast. By wanting to fix our nation’s problems, we show that we love America. There’s nothing more patriotic than standing up for our democracy. There’s nothing more patriotic than defending our Constitution.

• When we support unions because they strengthen the American economy, that’s patriotic.
• When we work to provide health care for all, because that makes Americans more secure, that’s patriotic.
• When we fight to turn our nation into a true land of opportunity and struggle to make the American Dream a reality for millions of Americans, that’s patriotic. 

In an early Fourth of July speech this week, Sen. Barack Obama described patriotism as “always more than just loyalty to a place on a map or a certain kind of people.” It also is   

loyalty to America’s ideals—ideals for which anyone can sacrifice, or defend, or give their last full measure of devotion.

When we pile up mountains of debt for the next generation to absorb…we are placing our short-term interests ahead of the nation’s long-term well-being. When we fail to educate effectively millions of our children so that they might compete in a global economy, or we fail to invest in the basic scientific research that has driven innovation in this country, we risk leaving behind an America that has fallen in the ranks of the world.

In June 2005, the AFL-CIO Executive Council laid out how the values union members share lie at the heart of what America should stand for: 

We are a movement built upon values—and a movement that fights for what we value. 

Some of our values are intrinsic to the American condition, as natural to us as breathing. Democracy. Liberty. Faith. Patriotism. Blessed as we are to live in a nation that confers these values as birthrights, we take none of them for granted—and bow to no one in our determination to protect them. We are fierce patriots. We love our country. We fight for our country. And we expect our country to fight for us.

We also fight for the values that shape economic security and opportunity for America’s working families. 

We value work and respect for workers….We value opportunity….We value equality….

These values are not empty rhetoric:  They are core to who we are.  They are the building blocks for strong families, strong communities and a stronger America. We all have a stake in protecting the institutions, programs and policies that give voice to these values and that seek to realize them in the everyday lives of ordinary Americans. 

These values are who we are and what we must fight to create and preserve.

So, this July 4, enjoy the picnics and celebrations. And remember union members are fighting every day to make the American Dream a reality for all of us.

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