During the bleakest moments of the American Revolution when the Americans were teetering on the brink of defeat, Thomas Paine the author of "Common Sense," -the political pamphlet that laid out the arguments and built support for American colonists struggling to articulate their case for independence from England - wrote the famous first line of his next pamphlet "The Crisis":
“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
Those words ring true today. While the Labor Movement is not yet on the brink of defeat the war against unions, since Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s, has taken its toll. Corporate America and the Trump administration are doubling down now because they have put the pieces in place with appointments and judges friendly to their agenda.
We don’t need summer soldiers or sunshine union members who shrink from their responsibility to fight to protect our union and the values for which we stand. We need trade unionists committed to the fight, to stand together like the brave Americans who fought for the country we love and for the freedoms we enjoy today.
