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The Unemployed Fight Evictions

By VVAW

Chants such as ?Jobs or Income--Not Eviction? rang through a Milwaukee neighborhood on April 29th as members of the Unemployed Workers Organizing Committee (UWOC), neighbors and supporters (including VVAW/WSO members) united to fight the eviction of an unemployed worker. The story is a familiar one and as unemployment continues to rise, it will become more and more familiar in communities across the country. In Milwaukee, an unemployed worker received an eviction order from the Sheriff because he was unable to pay his rent. It wasn't a case of not wanting to work; there are just no jobs to be found. He had talked with the president of the company who owned the building he lived in and offered his services to paint, care for lawns, or any other work on this company's properties which needed to be done until he could get a job and catch up on the rent. His offer was refused. The company didn't care if he had a place to live; all they wanted was his rent check at the first of every month.

People in the neighborhood were united by UWOC to fight this eviction through leafleting in the community and the understanding that the only way the eviction could be fought was if people struggled together. When the Sheriff and his movers arrived, people stood on the porch to stop the movers from getting the furniture loaded on the truck, and for their efforts, they were threatened with arrest. People fought to grab the furniture back while the Sheriff was frantically trying to get his truck loaded. Because of the united action of unemployed workers and neighbors, a victory was won in this eviction struggle. The Sheriff was finally forced back to back down from the plans to confiscate the furniture to pay the back rent.

The fight against this eviction came a few weeks prior to the announcement by the economic soothsayers in Washington claiming that the indicators show that there is a light at the end of the tunnel--that the recession is ?booming out.? All of their prognostications have a familiar smell, and that's the smell of bullshit. The politicians and that small handful of parasites who own all the factories, mines and just about everything else want people to believe that the economy is improving. If enough people believe them, maybe people will start buying all the massive stocks of merchandise sitting on shelves and in warehouses around the country. But they forgot something- -no matter how much a person wants to go out and spend money to buy the things he needs, it can't be done if there's no money to start with.

At the same time these economic experts claim that indicators point toward an improvement in the economy, they also say that unemployment is going to continue to rise. So, big deal that there's going to be a ?bottoming out? of the recession while workers are being thrown out of their homes, approaching starvation and finding it even harder to maintain a decent life. The official figure for unemployment today is 9.2% unemployed. Translated into real live people, that's 8.5 million people who want work and can't find it; that's 8.5 million people who could be--who want be--providing a decent living for themselves and their families; and it's 8.5 million people who could be producing those products which the American people need so badly. At the same time, we have to understand that government figures lie a whole lot. For example, the ecumenicists speak in horrified tones about 40% unemployment rate for Black teenagers. But under half of the potential workers in this group are even counted--the rest have not held jobs (and therefore aren't counted) or have given up even looking for work. The actual figure is much closer to 80%! And all the other figures which the government decides to put out are just as full of lies and distortions.

For Vietnam-era veterans, unemployment hits extra hard. Because of the time spent in the military, vets often lack the seniority of other workers who are the same age. So, when the layoffs come, vets are in real trouble. The government moans and groans about unemployment, pretending great concern; but to show this concern, Ford vetoes emergency employment, and programs around the country designed to employ vets all suffer from the general government cutbacks. Unemployment for Vietnam-era vets has consistently been around 15% by government figures, and the rate for Black vets has been consistently double that.

What's to be done? We don't want anymore of the government's predictions or empty promises. We can't eat predictions, and we can't wear promises or build a roof out of them. We need the unemployment checks, even though they cover only 60% of the unemployment rate an average $63 per week (which is $33 per week below the official government poverty level for a family of four). And we need these checks without having to wait for weeks while the government is keeping its books. More than that, we need jobs, and we need them now. The working people didn't cause the economic crisis in this country, and we're not the ones who are going to pay for it! Let the bosses do that!

The government's solution is to wait for the economy to pick up. In the meantime, they say we have to try to get along. One of their ?solutions? is to set up their military recruiters in unemployment offices in the hopes of getting unemployed workers to enlist and fight in their next war of aggression. To help the jobless in Illinois, they have just announced that 15,000 workers in the unemployment offices will go on a 4-day week. In New York City, the solution is to lay off 67,000 city workers, so that the garbage will pile up on the streets and the fires will just burn themselves out. In factories around the country, the solution is to try to force fewer workers to work faster (and less safely) and forced overtime is becoming more common as the bosses try to increase their profits at the expense of millions of workers laid off.

Our solution is different. Workers make the machines run; in fact. They make the machines in the first place. The factories owners contribute nothing; they just scarf up the profits. Workers can unite and fight layoffs. Most workers know they can be drawing unemployment tomorrow and are beginning to understand that the struggle is the same for employed and unemployed. At the same time, unemployment workers are uniting to demand JOBS OR INCOME FOR ALL! Around the country, groups of people are going to the unemployment offices and demanding that the check be paid--and they have been paid. And in places like Milwaukee, unemployed and employed workers are uniting to fight evictions of their fellow workers. With these kinds of actions, workers are saying that we've had enough. We're demanding JOBS OR INCOME, and we'll fight until we get them!