Freedom Ride

By: Mick DumkeIn January, when seasonal concessions workers at the United Center were up for a new contract, Tawanda Murray made sure she didn’t miss a negotiating meeting or a chance to talk about the issue with fellow employees. Her dedication impressed organizers for her union, Local 1 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. The day the workers approved a new deal, union leaders asked Murray to train to become a shop steward, one of the union’s workplace representatives.

She accepted, and finished the training in April. “I solve issues before they get out of control between workers and management,” said Murray, 28. “I’m just there pretty much to make sure the company speaks to the workers with respect.”

During one of her training sessions, she heard organizers describe plans for the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, a campaign for immigration reform sponsored by the Hotel and Restaurant Employees union and several other labor groups.

Over a week starting in late September, buses full of immigrants and other union members will travel from Chicago and nine other cities to Washington, D.C., and New York. Along the way, they’ll hold rallies calling for undocumented workers to gain citizenship and family reunification rights. The campaign is modeled on the Freedom Rides of the early 1960s, which took integrated groups of bus passengers through the South to challenge Jim Crow laws.

Murray signed up immediately—even though she’s not an immigrant, and she’ll have to take an unpaid leave of absence from her job and arrange for family members to take care of her two daughters, ages 9 and 3. In her view, she has to go on the ride.

She believes it’s one way to participate in an ongoing effort to win workers’ rights and battle discrimination.

Murray recently spoke with The Chicago Reporter about the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride and her labor activism.

Why did you decide to become a shop steward?
So that workers could be treated fair. I wanted to get involved. I like to help people. I’m pretty much there to answer questions and give assistance. I like to get people to come together. I don’t like division. If you have a strong union behind you, you can get a lot of things accomplished at the workplace. … Our union had a site representative, and, when we were having some problems on the job, instead of going through a grievance process, we were able to go into an office with management and resolve it.

What have you done with the union lately?
I was out at the Congress [Plaza Hotel & Convention Center, where about 130 members of Murray’s union had walked off their jobs to demand the hotel reverse a recent pay cut and improve health benefits]. I went to show support for my fellow union members. Unity is how we accomplish things.

We sang songs. We all played on the bullhorn. I made a little chant: ‘What do we want? A contract! When do we want it? Now!’ I’ve never walked the picket line [before]. People’s facial expressions were like, ‘Wow!’ as they were checking in [at the hotel]. The Congress workers said they think they’ll get a [new] contract. It may take awhile, but they’re not going to stop.

What were your initial thoughts about the Freedom Ride?
My mindset was, ‘How can I help to make a difference? How can I help our future generation not to have to deal with [the denial of citizenship rights to undocumented workers]?’ I come from a multicultural background. I’m African American. I have nieces and nephews who are Mexican and Puerto Rican. I have an aunt who’s Korean. I have family from all races, and friends of all races.

I’m participating because I want my children to grow up in a society where everyone is treated equally, and laws don’t put boundaries up—don’t say, ‘You’re limited to do this. You can’t go here. You can’t go there. You can’t mingle with these people.’

One of my friends experienced being separated from her husband [an undocumented immigrant from Belize]. It was devastating to her daughter. When all this new immigration stuff came about [in a crackdown after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks] it just destroyed her because her dad was forced to leave. Our government always focuses on family, family, family, and now it’s steady designing laws that break up families.

But some argue that these workers are here illegally.
If people come here and work, be good citizens, you should not continue to make laws to kick them out. [The government takes] their money. If their money is good, why aren’t they any good?

You come here, you’ve worked, you’ve paid taxes, you’ve paid to the state, Medicare, Social Security—[and then the government tells you,] ‘You’ve got to go.’ You’ve been here 20, 30 years—‘You’ve got to go.’

Do you worry that the campaign will just anger people?
No, because I’ve always felt that a closed mouth never gets fed. You don’t know what to expect until you get out there.

Everything’s possible. Something might come out of our mouth to Congress that will make someone think, ‘Hey now, looking back, my best friend went through that.’ Or, ‘My grand-baby’s going through that.’ Something might touch home when we go out there.