Written by ron humphries   

I will try here to give a brief representation of things concerning unions, as I know them a bit. I will context this as fiction, This fiction starts here:

This is specific to New Mexico, but I would venture to say this same approximation of things, it occured to very many cities, back in the day. NYC, Chicago LA….I'd bet all had some similiar thing. All sorts of tough tough peoples abounded in those days. I suspect they still do. Teachers even teachers in NYC, they were tough and fought things hard….I guess you would have to be tough to be a teacher back in the day of rough and tumble NYC…but I digress…..there were bunches of tough tough peoples….


No one tells you our roots, and certainly it is not written in books, mainly they tell only the bad and the defeats, and mainly they do not tell you what it takes to win these fights.
To be clear I am not advocating for violence of any sort. I abhore violence. I just want to briefly tell you the sort of things that won things for us….we common people. These common people they make fun of in song and other means.

Back in the day.

Firefighters blue coller workers, they were in New Mexico in the only town that meant a thing really of any size, Albuquerque…were the purview of the hispanics. Police, the electiric company, and others, anglo.
Peoples, hispanics perhaps... would return perhaps from war, attempt some of the prefered options of employment, such as police..., they were told no. This is your place not that. Not officially, not personally, it just was not accepted. On the other side... anglos, if you tried to enter a hispanic place of emloyment, unless your spouse was hispanic, you would soon be forced out by various means, usually related to the physical. Nothing personal it just was tit for tat.

So most did go there to places they had to go. Those that bucked the tide, some did so by name change, which would stop you from being automatically removed from consideration.

:Let me briefly describe there.

Returning vets from a circumstance, the military, which was pretty up front and equal..this is what he found. I will use select examples but others with some variance for the specific this is as it was everywhere, totally corrupt. Anglo and hispanic. Blacks natives, natives were pretty much completely eliminated from City employment. Those that were not, generally they were lumped in on the hispanic side. Blacks were considered hispanic for all intents and purposes, and some did rise to high positions on the hispanic side of things.

There was no union. In blue coller, refuse, you get a route. To get a good route, you paid off the foreman. If you did not play ball they put you on a route, you could not complete. That is it was so long everyone else would be out and done by 3 or 4 and you would be out till 8 at night. With no overtime, it was your route you had to complete it.

Fire, well they had what they called the green chili captains. To get promotions the saying goes you had to make green chili stew always for the chief. The chief had the most well repaired, well maintained, house in New Mexico. Overtime, anything related to money, really..well... it was who you knew, which usually was what were you willing to pay in return.

Sheriffs. The sheriff was a elected position. Back in the day there was no real certification of police officers. A new sheriff was elected, all the officers January 1, they would be fired and all the political supporters of the new one hired. Though that was county government not city.

County government was hispanic run… city, anglo run. Women, generally they suffered the same delineation of race, but were unfortunately only allowed the traditional back in the day….secretary, office worker, that sort of thing. Occasionally a woman would be allowed to rise up in position but it was only to a position allowing her to be above other women.
County officer worker.. hispanic woman city office worker... anglo woman.

So that was a little bit it. A description of how it was... no union and all.

Eventually unions arose, All were not recognized by city governments. They were officailly outlawed. One councillor back in the day... was a bit of a right wing stalwart, who went on to make a name for himself, in the Senate. But this, back in the day…. he was just a city councilor. They, the powers that were... would not only refuse to negotiate seriously, they would not even admit to unions being allowed to exist in city government.

But the unions arose.
Things were bad, no recognition, no pay, every things corrupted, in one way or another…workers were pretty desperate, and were ready for just about anything.
So this happened, first unionization, and then eventually…strike.

Blue coller and Fire. It was a bit peaceful in the beginning. Fire even had a voluntary rescue to help, as there were no regular rescues anymore.
Well things got down and dirty eventually. Strong arm this and that, went from bad to worse. The press of course, was all government, no union side mentioned at all.

So things got down and dirty.

The union took two guys. One guy was a physical marvel, Gigantic and well proportioned, A sure NFL guy if hispanics in that day and place could do such things, which they could not.
The other guy, a small guy contrasting to the other, who was about 7 feet tall, a pretty good ex pro fighter... who about hated all on two legs. You could tell just by meeting him, he had that look.
They would visit the homes of all who broke the strike. They never did a thing, just showed up, stood there and then left, that was enough. So that took care of the scabs.

Filled the ranks fo the union with regular folk... with ex soldiers, peoples like that, they knew a bit.
How was the strike to be repressed..., police of course. Well how do police get around and about,... in their cars of course. Who then has to own the city yards…. where police and any scabs who run fire or refuse, fuel up, the union of course.

So they did, Police cars were overturned, gates smashed and on and on. How could you run a police force without gas anyway???

Fires, I just a kid at the time.. remember. Outside Albuquerque, looking at the sky, seeing large buildings glowing in fire, abandoned or empty ones... these flames hundreds of feet high. Saying to myself... just a kid…what the heck is going on. Is this Armagedon what is this?

In any event….the city council recognized the unions. The city sat down to the table and thngs then changed.

New Mexico….has probably the best city/state government pension in the nation. Health right up there. Pay, pretty good, considering it is one of the poorest in the nation this state.

All those who broke the strike….they were told in no uncertain terms, the price of their deviance. Accidents refuse, fire, they happen all the time. They almost all ended up leaving.

Bunches of other city unions, local small place, small town unions, sprang up….they all were from this. Pension benefits good pay, the end to the old boys network, it all gradually happened. It happed from this fight.

Weak the other unions were and are, sure some of them. Locally teachers, they never did really get it and their pension per example.. they suck.
But they never did F*&^ with the ones who were tough, never again.

It waa no far left leaning weaping heart liberal, who made those pension and benefits, and it was not a government really who said unions could exist at all…it was push come to shove and tough tough peoples.. who were spoiling for a fight. Any fight would do…but this was best. They did not give a f*&^.

National guard, if they were brought in and actually used…it would clearly have gone to the streets, This was not some group of students... who could be shot at without retribution. There would have been open warfare, a civil war of sorts, if that push came to shove. It would have gotten ugly real ugly.

Police later on tried the same tact. Peoples began to murder the scabs who continued to work. Bad peoples who were just waiting for this type of thing. They broke that strike, as by my guess police, just could not allow seeing their own murdered by low lifes, even scabs. National guard I think did play a bit of a part in that.
To whit…for many many years they did not have a real union... but a association, though they call it a union and it is for most intents and purposes.

In any event i describe this here. This is in response of a sort. Peoples see things happening in Wisconsin, other places and think, we.. on the right we can take these things, no problem.
They and even those on the left, they do not know what caused these things. Other union places with less tough circumstances and less tough peoples, yes... you may, and publicize it greatly.

Have no fear my friends, peoples in these other places, have not forgotten these things. From father to son from mother to daughter, the history though not written.. does remain. It is told and retained as I mention it here.
These things of pension pay….no lillly white right winger is going... with some stoke of a pen remove these things by the act of his or their politician.
It could happen for a little while but it would eventually be at great great cost.

Here in Albuquerque virtually out of nowhere came riots, and the taking over of the city council chambers... just this last summer, due to police shooting. The entire press visually is right wing. None locally in media, pushed for this.. it actually was organzied by anonymous. They were the trigger to that already lite fuse. But it is a lesson…law abiding Albuquerque... even here it is that close to the edge.

Pensions benefits….they came not by votes really they came from force. I saw a comment on one board here, mentioning pensions, benefits of government workers,. As they took with the stroke of a pen in the days of Reagan. with federal workers and I'd guess what is happening in Wisconsin.

Federal workers were not the peoples going to the streets and fighting and turning over police cars and lighting fires about all over. They followed these really into unionism. Not the actual thing of union, formally, necessarily ..but unions with power and force, able to do things and shake the foundations. Unions of that sort were forced, they were not allowed. In this specific…it was do this or your city much as we love it….it burns to the ground and there is no city left to govern.

So I thought this bares stating. We and they.. forget our roots. It is not a story of losses it is a story of victories…it is just they have deluded us to think all are…. as perhaps that place of Wisconsin is( no offense to those who fight the fight there). Or the fed unions are.

They are sleeping,they are not dead. Do not mistake the two. If you do... you threaten great great hazard. You do not know the beast which you may awaken.
Be reasonable or reason it will surely be lost. More vulnerable is this place now than that place then. I advocate for no bad thing, certainly no thing of violence, and recount just how peoples are and tend to be.

so my fictional account is now ended…:)
Pay it no mind, or great mind. I thought some may be interested to know it is not ideology or war with words that causes such things. AS I display it may be bad things threats of violence and other things, I certainly abhor…but it as peoples are.
No force of violence in opposition will squelch such things…in the end, if that push goes to shove…. get great bad things on both sides will result.
And none can really fathom the outcome.

Thank you for your time in reading my little fictional story and fictional suggestions.