Mark Nelson died yesterday. He was a leader in the Good Fight for Good Jobs for All.
If you look around, you will see good people everywhere, tirelessly working to make that small corner of this troubled world as comfortable, as friendly, and as fun as they can. And Mark did all that and much more. He was an old Solidarity UAW guy as opposed to the new, supremely selfish, dog-eat-dog uaw.
Mark believed we are all entitled to good jobs. $32 an hour jobs, with real UNION work rules and benefits like democracy, equality, pensions, health care and respect and all the good humor so common to line workers. He had enough seniority to move off his upper control arm job at the beginning of the chassis frame line. But he didn’t want an easier, cleaner job. He wanted to stay with his friends. He believed that was where the Solidarity UAW still lived.
The new uaw however was at cross purposes with line workers, helping the corporations to eliminate our jobs and conceding the Solidarity UAW.
Mark never wanted to be a new uaw rep and he never wanted one of those clipboard appointments. He was not comfortable speaking at the new uaw’s meetings, which were all about favoritism and dog-eat-dog competition. He just wanted the honest Trade Union that the UAW once was.
So while the Big Dogs in our Local Union were pushing Toyota-ism, Lean Production, and Ford Production Systems with the fear that if we refused to sacrifice the jobs of our Sisters and Brothers they would close our plant, Mark stood for Solidarity and direct action to save all our jobs and plants.
In this new company-union scabbing culture, Mark stood up to Toyota-ism (lean manufacturing). The old saying states that “the nail that stands up gets pounded down”, but they never pounded Mark down.
Mark knew and understood the Priority of Labor over Capital. He knew that without labor, there is no production. We are all posed with respect for labor and love for the folks who do the work. We remember Jesus as a leader in Carpenters’ Local #1. We are all posed with the option for selfishness vs. solidarity. Our family, friends, community vs. the me, me, me mindset.
Mark always chose his family and friends and the Solidarity Union as his road to travel. He was such a Solidarity Spirit force for us at work. I had made a serious mistake in my last years at Ford to go back on the Local 879 bargaining committee, which should have been named the “Bargain Away Committee” because it was directly opposed to Solidarity Unionism.
So when I worked nights, I’d travel down to Mark’s job to discuss the Local’s latest betrayal of line workers and Mark would reassure me that I was not the crazy one. He kept me going. Kept a whole lot of us going. And you know, they made him pay for that. They penalized him again and again and he never gave up. Cheryl (Mark’s wife) had to be an Angel to support him through all of that.
Mark was at the Soul of the Union. In the midst of the new and fake uaw, Mark pumped Solidarity into our hearts from his job. He never asked anything for himself. He just asked that we stand up and help everyone so they could have a good job. If you just look around, you will see that Mark’s idea for good works solves just about every political and economic problem we face.
Mark always lifted us up because he loved the common man and woman just as Jesus asks.
Give our best to all your friends up there, Mark. We will try to be more like you!
In Solidarity,
Tom Laney
