April 4th: Labor, Faith & Civil Rights Communities Stand Together in Greenville, NC for We Are One National Day of Action

by Zach Robinson
A Greenville teachin was organized by the Down East H.O.P.E. Committee for Collective Bargaining Rights, a chapter of the statewide Hear Our Public Employees coalition working for the repeal of North Carolina's Jim Crowera ban on public employee collective bargaining. Combined, the lunchtime and evening sessions of the teachin brought together over 60 people.
Led by their pastor, Rev. Ann Marie Alderman, members of Greenville's Unitarian Universalist congregation marched from the Pitt County Courthouse to the noontime teachin. Their signs read, “I Am A Human, I Deserve Basic Rights,” and “Collective Bargaining for the Workers, Not Tax Breaks for the Wealthy.”
Shafeah M'Balia, Greenville letter carrier and member of Black Workers for Justice, led off the discussion. “April 4 is not only the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis,” she reminded participants, “but it is also the 44th anniversary of the speech he delivered at Riverside Church, Beyond Vietnam–A Time to Break Silence, in which he urged us to conquer the interrelated triple evils of racism, economic exploitation and war.”
One of the goals of the teachin was to raise community awareness of the concept of collective bargaining, its fundamental role in democracy and as a basic human right. Organizers presented a video of Michael Moore's America Is Not Broke speech to the March 5 rally at the Madison Statehouse, and the awardwinning film At The River I Stand, which documented Dr. King's 1968 stand with Memphis Sanitation Workers. Organizers also conducted an educational presentation on the basics of collective bargaining.
Another goal of the teachin was to make space for strategizing on how to counter the present attack on working people. Greenville's Alysa Stanton, the first AfricanAmerican woman to be an ordained rabbi, said that the fear of standing alone and of losing one's job often keeps people from seeking union representation or becoming involved in controversial causes. A powerful sense of commitment to furthering the local coalition of labor, faith and civil rights groups that were represented at the event emerged from the discussion.
Participants proposed convening a Greenville People's Assembly in August, as part of the statewide Historic Thousands on Jones Street movement.
AAUP member Zach Robinson chairs the Down East HOPE Committee.