Continuing our exploration of the lessons punk has for us all in the wider world, this week we’re looking at the trade union movement and the fight for labour rights. A fight that punk has been well up for over decades….
Punk has been singing about the ‘system’ (or multiple systems) since the beginning, and that includes the world of work. Punk and money- or lack thereof- are common themes found in the scene and it was the lack of funds that in part necessitated the DIY spirit, as John Lydon remarked when considering the early days of London punk fashion- “the arse of your pants falls out, you use safety pins because you can’t afford to buy new ones”. A metaphor for the whole scene methinks.
I’ve written before about the alienating and soul-destroying nature of work being documented pretty clearly by bands throughout successive waves of punk- from ‘Clampdown’ by The Clash (1977) to ‘This Aint No Picnic’ by The Minutemen (1984); from ‘Do They Owe Us A Living?’ by Crass (1978) to ‘Stupid Jobs’ by The Dirty Nil (2023). There’s a pretty extensive list of bands singing about the ‘mainstream’ world of work being a drag- boring, exploitative and repetitive with tyrannical bosses, low pay and shit conditions.
Of course, you don’t have to be into punk to be aware of the impact of negative labour relationships on the health and wellbeing of the population at large. And trade unions exist to continue the fight to ensure that workers get treated fairly and unjust working practices don’t become the norm, and we all benefit from those fights regardless of our personal union activity. As you can imagine, the two worlds- punk and organised labour- overlap, with the former very much in support of the latter.
When I was thinking of punk songs to mention for this post, the first band that came to mind was the Dropkick Murphys. It made me reminisce about being a teen shouting along to their 2001 album ‘Sing Loud, Sing Proud’ in my bedroom, throwing my fist in the air at their working class anthems and being infused with the spirit of a 40-something working man somewhere in Boston (even though I was a 15 year old doing her GCSEs in Portsmouth and still watching Rugrats). But I digress….DMs are well known for supporting working class and union causes including being affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations which is a large federation of unions in the US, having their t shirts made in the US by union repped workers and donating money to support the Workers Rights Emergency Response Fund. They’ve also come out in support of worker’s unions such as the Communications Workers of America, and our own Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union in the UK.
The band have laid their working-class solidarity credentials bare across their vast discography including tracks like ‘Which Side Are You On’ and their cover of Ed Pickford’s ‘The Worker’s Song’ (originally recorded by Dick Gaughan). In the former, the band make it clear that solidarity and mutually supported action is how the fight is won- that on one side are workers and their families, and on the other are lying bosses getting rich off the back of the working class. It’s simple- you have to pick a side. And there’s ire and scorn for those who cross the picket line, the song doesn’t mince words:
“Will You Be A Lousy Scab/ Or Will You Be A Man?”
Around that same time, I was also listening to a band from the other side of the world- The Living End. The Australian rockabilly punk trio released their fantastic album ‘Roll On’ in 2000 and the lead single of the same name told a story of industrial strife at the docks, inspired by the real-life Waterfront Dispute of 1998. A whole workforce was threatened with dismissal after a restructuring of the Patrick Corporation- a move the company made in cahoots with the Howard government in order to weaken union power in the country. Patrick Corp secretly trained a non-unionised workforce abroad and then set up a new company with a new name, sacked the workers from the old one and ushered in the new workers whilst simultaneously locking out the incumbents and evading legal scrutiny by exploiting legal loopholes. An unprecedented amount of direct action subsequently occurred with huge picket lines and public pressure once the whole sorry affair was exposed. The Maritime Union of Australia played a blinder in the effort to save their member’s jobs- on May 6th 1998, 80 000 marched through the streets of Melbourne in solidarity and protest. The company were forced back to the negotiating table.
‘Roll On’ and ‘Which Side Are You On’ talk of the impact on workers of being pitted against their employers, fighting for their livelihoods, the impact on their families precarious. In both songs, the strength of the fightback comes with the numbers, the united front that trade unions deliver:
“Us poor folks haven’t got a chance unless we organise”
But punk and unions didn’t start there. Folk punk hero Billy Bragg has also been vocal about the necessity of union membership consistently throughout his career, but let’s start with his 1986 track ‘There is Power in a Union’ from his album ‘Talking With the Taxman About Poetry’. The track has become somewhat of an unofficial anthem of the trade union movement (as you can imagine with that title). The lyrics link the sacrifices working class people make in war to that made in labour- always demanded and overseen by an uncaring and ruthless ruling class. There is power in the worker (as there is in the soldier) but it can only really be fully realised in collective action:
“There’s power in a factory/Power in the land
Power in the hand of the worker
But it all amounts to nothing if together we don’t stand
There is power in a union”
Folk punk is a pretty fruitful genre when looking for trade union anthems, just look at The Men They Couldn’t Hang. Formed in the early 1980s, the band lived through the Thatcher government and many of their songs reflected the political turbulence and working class struggles of the era, including on their debut album ‘Night of a Thousand Candles’ and in particular the single ‘Ironmasters’ which sings of the economic ransacking of a community by leaders and church alike, the working class always bled dry. The lyrics reference the attempts to organise and fight against exploitative powers, and ultimately for freedom: “It’s No Sin to Fight To Be Free”. The final line of the song “and oh those Ironmasters, they always get their way” originally referenced Margaret Thatcher (known as the Iron Lady you see) but was changed for the recording so as not to be backlisted from radio play. But if you trawl through YouTube for some live renditions of the song, you can still hear that original intention to name the masters responsible for destroying industry in Wales and beyond.
Anarcho-punk bands like Chumbawamba have unsurprisingly performed extensively in support of union power and worker solidarity, and a full album of protest songs ‘English Rebel Songs’ was released in 1988. The band were fully involved in supporting the Miner’s Strike of 1984-85 and they wrote the song ‘Fitzwilliam’ about the events they witnessed as striking workers were brutalised by police and demonised by the government and wings of the press. The song was named after a village that saw rioting occur just 3 weeks after one of the worst incidents of police oppression over striking workers in modern history- the Battle of Orgreave.
And like Chumbawamba, The Redskins are all over the topic of unionisation- tracks like ‘Unionise’, ‘Keep On Keeping On’ and ‘I Can’t Stand the Boss’ are all anthems of working-class anger and organisation.
And the list continues….Bristol queer punk faves Menstrual Cramps track ‘Class War’ urges us to “support the strikers” and “go and join a union” and namechecks organisations that will be familiar to those following industrial relations in the UK “RMT, Aslef, Unison, Unite, Royal College of Nursing….” All groups of workers that have taken strike action over the last few years and have been bashed in the press as a result.
Even bands that haven’t traditionally been considered overtly political such as Rancid have dipped their toe in the water with tracks like ‘Harry Bridges’ taken from their 1994 album ‘Let’s Go’. Bridges was a bombastic union organiser who led the 1934 San Francisco Waterfront strike that morphed into one of the major strikes of the 1930s and contributed to the passing of the Wagner Act that expanded union power.
US punks Street Dogs are in favour of having a “vote in your workplace” in their 2010 track ‘Up The Union’ from their self-titled fifth album; The Criminals spent no more than 34 seconds on their track ‘Union Yes’ but still managed to squeeze in a convincing argument for organising your labour:
“Together We Have Power/Alone We Have None”
And punks have been on picket lines and playing benefit shows, putting their time and presence where their mouths and songs are. Even back in the 70s, the Sex Pistols played 2 benefit shows for striking firefighters who had been on strike for 9 weeks. As well as playing the show, they provided cake and gifts for the children of the striking workers, a clear statement of where their politics lay. The Fire Brigades Union have also benefited from the support of another legendary punk band when The Clash played a benefit show for them in 2002 (Strummer and Jones specifically)- Joe Strummer’s last gig before he passed away.
Organisations such as ‘No Sweat’ has brough together bands and fans to rid the music scene of sweatshop-produced merch and back initiatives that encourage workers co-op made tshirts and fund garment worker’s unions. Punks Against Sweatshops state it is modern day slavery and unite orgs like No Sweat and Punk Ethics to highlight ethical choices for music bands and fans.
It makes sense that when it comes to workers VS bosses, punk would stand firmly with the workers- punk is at its core a genre for the underdog and for the oppressed. But what is perhaps surprising is the extent at which punk has been pretty consistently singing about- and proactively aligning with- union matters whether it is immortalising specific real-life struggles (as is the case with ‘Harry Bridges’, ‘Roll On’ and ‘Fitzwilliam’) or more generally extolling the merits of organising groups of workers to officially advocate for your rights and that of your co-workers. Certainly, being exposed to these ideas a punk fan has made me more likely to be part of a union and to be alert to the erosion of protections of workers. It has also made me aware of the need to support each other’s struggles and for all workers to unite. And the fact these tracks straddle 40+ years of the genre and from different corners of the world indicates that the battle is nowhere near won. So as The Redskins said…..Keep On Keeping On!
And here’s a list of songs you might be interested in (thank you to the good people of Twitter for contributing to this) so you can create a playlist on the format of your choice!
- The Redskins- Keep on Keeping On
- The Clash- Clampdown
- Chumbawamba- Fitzwilliam
- Billy Bragg- There’s Power in the Union
- The Men They Couldn’t Hang- Ironmasters
- Crass- Do They Owe Us A Living?
- The Three Johns- Do Not Cross the Line
- D.O.A- General Strike
- Rancid- Harry Bridges
- Menstrual Cramps- Class War
- Street Dogs- Up the Union
- The Criminals- Union Yes
- Wall of Voodoo- Long Arm
- The Apostles- Worker’s Autonomy
- The Living End- Roll On
- Dropkick Murphys- Which Side Are You On?
- Refused- The Deadly Rhythm
