The Labor Movement and Music
Music has always been one of the best forms of expression, especially when expressing important issues.
Long time Musician and Labor Activist Bill Collins decided to do exactly that by singing about the adversities
that Unions and the Working Class across the world face. Recently we got the opportunity to ask Bill a few
questions about his group, The Rabble Rousers, and their first album release, New Hard Times.
Local5287.com: Bill, first off thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us and
congratulations on the album.
Bill Collins: Thanks very much, Jeff
5287: So why did you decide to become involved in the Labor Movement and why through music?
Bill: When I met my wife Gwen, who’s an organizer for Unite Here, I saw the good things she was helping to accomplish for working class folks, and realized that these good ideas needed some help on the artistic front. I decided to merge all my previous musical styles to help give the International Labor Union movement some current sounding fight songs and adopt it as my own cause!
5287: Did you find the transition from your previous musical styles difficult when you were creating the songs?
Bill: Actually, not so much. My main style of music these days when I’m not playing Union Songs is Irish Folk music, which always had a strong theme of standing up and fighting for your rights. My musical career goes way back and includes Hardcore Punk in the 80′s and 90′s which also had strong political themes. Between the Punk and the Irish I played a bunch of American-based music like Rockabilly and Country and Rock and Roll and recorded a couple of albums in Nashville. The Old-School Country music is real working peoples’ music and talks about ordinary folks’ day to day lives. So…. I guess it just came naturally that when I decided to start writing Union songs I would combine the political themes, the struggle, the anger and the ownhomeness, (plus some Picket Line chants) to come up with some tunes that might appeal to the average working person.
5287: Recently the mediaʼs had a field day bashing the UAW because of the economic problems the Big Three Auto makers are facing, whatʼs your thoughts on that?
Bill: Well that’s a complicated one. I don’t pretend I’m an expert at all. I do know that when someone works for a company all their life, the company should be obligated to look out for that person later on in terms of decent heath care and retirement benefits! I also know that the figure that gets used for showing how overpaid US Union auto workers are takes into account that today’s workers are helping take care of (rightfully so) benefits for current and future retirees. Anti-Union people argue that the Japanese-based companies don’t pay as much in benefits, but conveniently leave out the crucial fact that a company likeToyota, for example, which has been in existence for a much shorter time, has less retirees it must take care of and therefore less overhead. This is no reason to shortchange our employees! One more issue is that the products the companies are producing are expensive “gas guzzlers” that people can’t afford to buy or drive. Why is this? I think management needs to rethink their products and not blame the workers.
For more info about Bill Collins and The Rabble Rousers visit his website: http://www.billcollinsguitar.com or The Rabble Rousers MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/therabblerousersband.
The entire interview which includes parts not included in this newsletter, can be found on the UAW Local 5287 website.