From the Ashes – The Phoenix is Rising
Submitted by Mark Kuechler
With Act 10, Scott Walker and his allies both inside and outside of government attempted to destroy unions in Wisconsin, starting with public ones. In effect he laid our unions on the funeral pyre and set it ablaze. He should have paid more attention in school. If he had he’d have remembered the legend of the phoenix. A phoenix finds new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. Perhaps he never paid attention when watching (or reading) the more contemporary “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” where a phoenix named Fawkes figured prominently…”remarkable creatures phoenixes, reborn from their own ashes, can lift heavy burdens and their tears have healing powers.”
We all remember the historic uprising, yes uprising that occurred at the capitol in response to the attack on unions. Over a hundred thousand people crowded the square: union members, non-union members, farmers, firefighters, police officers, tradespeople and teachers. All were united together in solidarity against this attack on the rights of workers.
These attacks are nothing new. For centuries small mean men have attacked the true source of wealth, the worker, in search of higher and higher profit to themselves and their masters.
We must celebrate the rebirth of our newsletter; it signifies rebirth of our union. Unions have been lifting the standard of living of the working class for decades and the assault on unions is nothing less than an attack on the working class’s chance to do better, regardless of his claims to the contrary.
I don’t know if the tears we shed have any magical powers; it does show that we have the gift of compassion - something men and women we are dealing with now simply do not understand. We cannot rely on hundreds of thousands again magically reappearing to aid us in our fight; they are now busy fighting other battles on their own fronts. There may come a time when we are rallying in crowds like we had, I hope so. For now, we ourselves need, phoenix-like, to rise from the ashes and perhaps not rebuild our union as it was but remake it into something new to carry on the fight now and into the future.
Right now we might be as small and wrinkly like that newly reborn phoenix in the movie but with hard work and heart we will shine like that bird of fire.