The generation my parents belonged to came into this world with nothing, and in many cases left with even less. They came to America in the early years of the last century in search of a better life than the one they had in the ghettos of Eastern Europe. Instead they were introduced to a life in the sweatshop. This generation is best described in a book written by Mike Gold called Jews Without Money. If nothing else, it shows the reader that not all Jews were related to the Rothchilds.
It was 100 years ago this month that a fire broke out in one of the largest sweatshops in the New York Area, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. 146 garment workers, mostly women, lost their lives in that fire. It is not a coincidence that International Women’s Day was founded that same year.
The above incident was truly a case of a people jumping from the fire pan into the fire. It sparked the growth of the Trade Union Movement …. a Movement that today is once again under fire in the state of Wisconsin where we are seeing the ‘fat cats’ trying to destroy the hopes and aspirations of the working people and do away with collective bargaining altogether.
As mentioned above, my parents generation came into this world with nothing and left with even less …. but the lessons they taught us are priceless. One of them being, never to give up! Never let ‘them’ take what is rightfully yours …. that being a good a decent life. For many years I represented the United Electrical Worker’s Union (UE) during contract talks with General Electric. Every year when I went into a negotiating session I wore the same T-shirt that simply said “Don’t let the bastards get you down”!
If I were to take a trip to Wisconsin today I’d wear that shirt 
If we give up today we give up forever! We owe it to those who died for us to keep on living.
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