Anti-riot laws are anti-labor. Solidarity demands our united opposition.
by Douglas Williams
Mississippi Freedom Labor Union on strike in 1965. Source: SNCC Digital Gateway.
Last year, when the United States saw the biggest civil rights demonstrations since the days of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., there was a sense that there would be a strong reaction from the government at all levels. At the local level, police engaged in what could generously be called “police riots”: instances where peaceful protest was viciously cracked down upon by local police forces. At the national level, it was the rush to send in the National Guard to places like Portland and Minneapolis.
But with the uprisings in American cities occurring after most states had adjourned their legislative sessions for the year, there had not been as much of a response at that level in 2020. That has changed in a dramatic way this year. Across the country and mostly in states where Republicans have control over the executive and/or the legislative branches, a wave of legislation has been proposed that would go a long way towards criminalizing a large swath of political protest.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that would prevent protesters from making bail until their first court appearance. Given that many arrests occur during weekend protests at night, it would keep arrestees in jail for days at the very least. It also creates the crimes of “cyberintimidation by publication,” “rioting,” “aggressive rioting,” and “mob intimidation.” That last crime is defined as “two or more people...using the threat of force...to change someone’s viewpoint.”
In Kentucky, Republicans have put forth legislation that would make it a misdemeanor with the prospect of jail time to insult a police officer.
In Minnesota, an anti-riot bill would make those arrested ineligible for student financial aid.
As bad as this sounds, there has been an even darker side of these “anti-riot” bills: many of the bills that have been proposed indemnify drivers who drive their vehicles through a protest if there are protesters blocking traffic, protecting them from any civil or criminal penalties that would result from murdering and maiming protesters.
And all of this is very bad news for the labor movement.
The most powerful weapon that the working class has in its arsenal is the ability to lay down its tools and engage in strike action against a recalcitrant employer. But strikes are not simply affairs between labor and management. Strikes can also be instances where families, neighbors, and entire communities come together to support workers. Whether you are talking about the Toledo Auto-Lite Strike in 1934 or the recently concluded strike at Bath Iron Works in Maine, the most successful strikes are ones that manage to unite masses of people behind the demands set forth by those workers most affected by corporate attempts to squeeze more production out of fewer workers for less pay.
So let’s say you are a worker on strike in Florida. Florida is one of 27 states that have right-to-work laws on the books—in fact, it was the first state to pass such a law—meaning unions are barred from negotiating union security clauses that would make your employment based on whether you pay the cost of your union representation. Given that, it is not hard to see a scenario where a worker who does not pay dues crosses a picket line to go into work. What happens if two or more workers on the picket line try to convince someone not to cross a picket line, the worker crosses anyway, and then claims to have been afraid for their safety? Given the overbroad definition of “mob intimidation,” those striking workers could open themselves up to criminal charges that could see them thrown in jail.
Suppose you are on a picket line in Oklahoma (also a right-to-work state), and the strike committee makes the decision to physically block the entrance to a workplace. An anti-union worker decides that they are going to work, whether the union likes it or not. So after nudging his car forward does not cause the line to move, the worker guns it and runs over a striking worker, killing them in the process. Under the new law passed by the Oklahoma General Assembly and signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, that person could claim that they were fleeing from a riotous scene and get off without charges.
If these scenarios sound fanciful to you, perhaps you should ask a Communications Workers of America (CWA) member why they wear red on Thursdays.
“It was just two weeks into what would become a four-month-long strike. Edward ‘Gerry’ Horgan, chief steward of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1103, stood the picket line with his fellow workers. A cable splicer with New York Telephone, Horgan was striking for better conditions and against NYNEX’s effort to get workers to pay part of the cost of their health insurance premiums.
But on August 15, 1989, a scab—the daughter of a plant manager—drove across the picket line, killing Horgan. The details of exactly what happened are disputed. At the time, Horgan was just 34. He had a wife and two young daughters. Since then, CWA members wear red every Thursday to honor Horgan’s memory.”
Labor rights and civil rights have always been intertwined. When there is an assault on the rights of people to protest oppression and state murder, the labor movement must stand foursquare behind those seeking justice in our streets. Because they are our streets. They are ours far more than the billionaires and their bought and paid for subsidiaries in government. We should never think that the laws that would invite vehicular homicide on a Black Lives Matter protester will not be equally applied to a worker seeking better workplace conditions, benefits, or pay.
The history of both movements in the United States shows us just how much of a mistake that would be.
Douglas Williams is a third-generation organizer originally from Suffolk, VA. He is a PhD candidate at Wayne State University and works as a labor educator.