For me it goes back to the Labor Day storm in ’98. We’d gone out on strike – nobody saw that coming, but we did what we had to do – and the storm – tornadoes really brutal – came up out of nowhere – wind shear took the roof off of buildings – windows out of BP complex– trees down – electricity out – major damage everywhere. And SEIU 200 had just signed a temporary agreement with SU. Legally we hadn’t settled the strike – the vote to ratify was still ahead – but we all came in – at 1AM, 2 AM, 3AM – we all showed up and pitched in to put the campus back together for the students. SU was surprised – since we legally didn’t have to come it. But that’s the point – we’re all in this together. We’ve got to hang together or sure as sure is – we’re all going to hang alone.
Doug McClure
Local 200, SEIU
A performance about the lives and work of 8 members of Local 200, Service Employees International Union at Syracuse University performed by the members themselves.
Working with the custodians, food service and maintenance workers, gave a forty minute performance about their lives and work. The project was so well received that many of the union participants continue to meet to develop their stories into another performance.
The original performance is now a part of First Year Student Orientation Week at Syracuse. After viewing excerpts of the performance at a Labor & Arts Symposium, Chancellor Nancy Cantor reversed a long-standing policy of hiring non-union construction companies, a policy the union had been fighting to win for years.
Who We Are received coverage from the Syracuse Daily News and The Post-Standard.
You can read the script for Who We Are by clicking here.
