Labor movement driven by guts

Amaha Kassa's journey into organized labor took him from Ethiopia to Birmingham, Ala. Along the way, he was knee deep in campus politics, organizing strikes and chicken guts.

Kassa, who moved from Ethiopia to the United States when he was a child, attended Brown University, where he was involved with labor studies, financial aid programs and issues affecting lesbian, gay and bisexual students.

Currently a recruiter and organizer with the Organizing Institute, a recruiting offshoot of the AFL-CIO, Kassa will be at SF State on Monday as part of a teach-in concerning labor issues in the '90s.

The teach-in, which will take place in room B116 of the Cesar Chavez Student Center, will address topics such as affirmative action, immigration, women's issues and the environment. In addition, it will provide students with information about internships.

Another person involved with Monday's teach-in, Chistine Jaspers, said SF State was a natural choice to hold a teach-in, due to its "progressive reputation" and knowledge of "labor issues."

"At most universities, the labor department is really a stepping stone to a corporate job. This school's labor department really has deep roots in the labor community," Jaspers said.

Kassa also pointed out that many SF State students work, so "there is a natural interest in labor issues."

Jaspers said some of the qualities recruiters look for in students who are interested in the program include the ability to listen to people, a strong personality and a "passion about injustice."

"You can't teach anyone to be pissed off about the stuff going on in the world," she said.

Kassa, who organized a chicken factory in Birmingham, Ala. said he learned a lot about people and organizing from the experience.

"I found that a lot of the stereotypes about the South and southerners really wasn't true. I expected rednecks and people with guns strapped to them, but I didn't see that," Kassa said.

"What I did find was an environment that wasn't familiar with the labor culture," he said. "And that was a challenge, but it wasn't difficult to deal with, because of the poor working conditions."

Kassa said the poor working conditions included low wages, high rates of work-related injuries and chicken innards strewn around everywhere.

"The working environment was disgusting," Kassa said. "But we were able to make changes in both health and wage standards."

Both Kassa and Jaspers said one of the crucial issues the teach-in will deal with is the "bad rap" labor has taken in the past few decades.

"When most people think of labor unions, they think of Jimmy Hoffa, of corruption, and of labor strife," Jaspers said. "Those certainly do exist, but that's the only image people have, primarily because the corporate-owned media downplay the other facts."

Jaspers said 99 percent of all contract issues between labor and management are settled quickly and without incident.

Kassa added that for the first time since the heyday of labor unions in the 1950s, membership is growing rapidly.

"It's definitely a new era in the labor movement," Kassa said. "It's an exciting time to get involved, and we're hoping to demonstrate that at Monday's event."

[ Golden Gater Online December 7, 1995 ]

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