By BERRY CRAIG
Alliance for Retired Americans
United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts turned part of his speech at the Kentucky State AFL-CIO convention into a master class on how to fire up a union crowd.
He demonstrated the old call-and-response technique familiar to more than a few churchgoers. But the lesson was secular; his aim was boosting union pride. To that end, Roberts asked a series of questions, rapid-fire. "The answer to every question is 'my union," he began. "If you really care about your union, you want to build your union, and you love the union, the answer is what?"
"My union!" came the crowd's rafter-ringing response. Obviously pleased, Roberts grabbed a portable microphone, stepped off the stage and waded into the crowd, as he often has in previous appearances at state AFL-CIO conventions.
You are getting higher pay because of...
My union!
You've got health care because of...
My union!
You've got a pension because of...
My union!
You've got equal rights on the job because of...
My union!
You have a right to protest because of...
My union!
You fight for Social Security because of...
My union!
You fight for Medicare because of...
My union!
You have democracy because of...
My union!
You have a better America because of...
My union!
We have a better United States of America where we're are included because of...
My union!
With that final call-and-response, Roberts, a 77-year-old West Virginia native and sixth generation coal miner, returned to the stage and delivered a speech that proved--to nobody's surprise--that he's exactly what the UMWA website says he is: "one of the labor movement’s most stirring and sought-after orators."
I suspect Roberts wouldn't have minded if a delegate, a local union president or business manager, say, tried out his call-and-response technique back home.
"One of the problems we have in the labor movement is a lack of participation," the "teacher" said before started his "class." Be proud of "your union," he urged. "I don't care if you're a Steelworker, Auto Worker, Teamster, Coal Miner. I don't care if you're a Machinist. Be proud of your union."