16 November 2013

October and November Songs



First Lou Reed,
Then Jack "Fucking" Munro.
Good thing they sang
Their "September Song"s

While they had the chance.

Both men were with
Me my whole life.
Both men I knew and
Admired from a distance.

Lifestyles of the rich
And famous is not something
This Beerdrinker and Hellraiser
Has ever experienced.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I met the man a few times at IWA conventions, back when sawmill workers actually had a union that was more than just a dues collection agency.

Mr. Beer N. Hockey said...

I do not believe the union that presently represents industrial woodworkers across Canada is a mere dues collection agency, for the record. I do believe the union presently representing us is doing so better than the old IWA ever did and the IWA did a very good job representing us, except, in my opinion, when it came to accepting there were some pretty big watersheds that needed protection from the saw about a generation ago.

Jack would have disliked rolling his old woodworkers' union into bed with another, bigger, union if he had been leader but he was a practical fucker and would have done so because of the upside of returning his members to a more powerful place in the class struggle. A place where we belong.

Anonymous said...

Ok, fair enough. Just my observation up here a few hours north of you by road, that the former IWA did a much better job of representing us in the former IWA local 417 than the current steel worker reps do. Fuck, if the Forman even thought about violating the master agreement, we walked........that doesn't happen anymore, management pushes everything to the max and the union is afraid to fight back, fuck I'm old school militant and this new union pacifism pisses me off.

Mr. Beer N. Hockey said...

Fellow worker, our union is democratic: if the reps aren't doing their fucking job organize to replace them. Even if you do not succeed in doing so, they'll get the fucking message. I hear you about the lack of militancy in our union and our class. I am however seeing a little more militancy as working people keep getting squeezed more and more by bosses and governments who do not have the good sense to give a shit about us. People are starting to speak up. When they get sick of not being listened to maybe we will have a little action to participate in.

For instance, homelessness has been unaddressed in my city ever since the Liberals created the problem over a decade ago. Community support for the homeless is now at an all time high. There is so much support the fucking police have not dared to bust up the Occupation of a downtown park. The Occupation is going to get its victory some time soon - a temporary solution to homelessness. Hopefully there are bigger victories on the horizon. My sense is there will be. Action, as ever, speaks louder than words.