ffi*W:; - Mariposa Folk Festival

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THE ON THE LINE MUSIC
COLLECTIVE BELIEVES
THAT PEOPLE'S MUSIC
AND LABOUR STRUGGLES
ARE NO STRANGERS.
There have been no great social
movements without music, nor will
there be any great movements in the
future without the songs of struggle
that help to bind us together in the
fight for change. The labour movement
has a rich history of music,
and songs like "solidarity Forever",
"Union "Which
Maid", Side Are You
On?" and "Bread and Roses", have
their place in our history forever. Talk
to any worker in their 50's or 60's,
and ask them about Joe Hill or Joe
Glazer, and you'll probably detect a
nostalgic smile as the memory of
picket line singing floods over
them. But encouraging union activism
through music is bY no means a
phenomenon that faded after the
1940's.
"Don't
scab for the bosses'
don't listen to their lies,
lJs poor folks ain't got a chance,
unless we organize.
Which side are You On?
Which side are You On?"
Florence Reece.
Today the labour movement is facing
one of its greatest battles' The
multi-national, in its complete disregard
for people's welfare evidenced
by the labour in some other Place'
presents an ever present threat. We
see labour rallying all across this
country in opposition to the Free
Trade Agreement with the United
States. The new technology which
is being rapidly thrust upon workers,
places us in even greater isolation
and threatens to diminish our voices.
"fur
twent1 Years l've worked in
this tactory
I thought that I had iob securW
But the robots have arrived and
the vDT's have thrived
And there isn't any room left here
for me."
Arlene Mantle
There is no questioning the imPact
of such activities as picket-line singing.
This is not something new, but
something we own and have not
been putting to full use. Perhaps in
the period of calm following the
bloody battles of our eady history
we let slip one of our most valuable
tools, our ability to sing'together.
While we honed uP our skills at
negotiating and bargaining table
strategizing, we stopped doing
something that pulls ustogether, inspires
us, attracts suPPort from
others and really threatens management,
we stopped singing!
"Oh you can't scare me, I'm
stickin' to the union"
WoodY Guthrie
The On The Line Music Collective is
a small non-profit group of cultural
workers and musicians committed
to using their talents for social
change. We Perform at concerts'
picket lines, demonstration, rallies,
and community tunctions. We conduct
collective songwriting sessions
with labour and community groups
and we Produce educational materials
using music.
In the spring of 1986, we went to
Cedar Glen Conference Centre in
Bolton and over the course of a (loo-ong)
day we recorded a taPe with
and for the members of the Canada
Employment and lmmigration Union,
a part of the Public Service Alliance
of Canada. We made this tape as a
gesture of solidaritywith the workers
prior to a vote that would decide
whether they would strike or accept
the (meagre) terms of a new contract
offer from the Treasury Board'
The Public Service Alliance as a
whole (95,000 members) chose to
accept the offer; the only component
that voted NO was the group
we made the taPe for' PerhaPs some
of the strength needed to take this
stand came from the songs on the
tape, allof which were written in collective
sessions. The "Public Sector
Blues" was written on the spot of the
day.
"Too
manY lies, enough is
enough,
Firstwe get wlse and then we get
tough,
Your otter is an insult we'll surelY
refuse
MulroneY Your baloneY,
Gjves us the Public Sector
Blues"
On the tape, workers give sPoken
introductions to the songs, noting
how they came to be written and the
specific issues and grievances they
address. The technical problems of
getting 50 workersto sing along with
pre-recorded band tracks Provide
some of the taPe's many moments
of humour!
September 1988 will see the release
of Arlene Mantle 'TOGETHER" an
album Produced for the Canadian
Autoworkers Union capping a working
relationship of many years with
this union. The albgm contains the
Union anthemn, traditional workers'
songs such as "Joe Hill", "Solidarity
Forever" and "Bread and Roses."
There is also a variety of newly created
music about labour issues and
social change: "No Free Trade",
"Retirees'Waltz" "Our
and World"'
The album is an ambitious Production
ranging in style from Rock 'n
Roll to CountryAVestern; from Maritime
Folk to Swing/Blues'
"Oh
what a tuture, oh what a fate
To be the biggesf and the
poorest of the 51 states,
Our country's on the line, our
neck's in the noose,
Watch the eagle COOKthe
Canada g/oose"
A. Mantle/R. Fielding
The Canadian Autoworkers is a
union that particularly recognizes
the role of the artist in labour struggles:they
have for some time used
music at Conferences and Conventions
and arranged to have us sing