Maine AFL-CIO Mourns Passing of Labor Champion Jesse Jackson

The Maine AFL-CIO mourns the passing of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. He was beloved by Maine workers, especially after he visited Jay, Maine in October, 1987 to offer his support and solidarity to 1,200 striking International Paper workers.

3500 people crammed into the Community Center in Jay, Maine to see the Rev. Jesse Jackson that evening. The hall was so packed that attendees had to raise their hands above their heads just to applaud. The atmosphere was electric. The crowd sang union songs and chanted “Scabs Out! Union In!” Jackson began his speech with a story about his trip to Cudahy, Wisconsin to support workers who had been locked out. 

They told Jackson, “But you must understand, uh, we’re white. In Cudahy, Wisconsin?’ I understand. I'm still coming.” Jackson continued, “They said, ‘but you really don't understand. Scabs are crossing our picket line.’ I said, 'I'm coming.’ ‘But you really don't understand. They brought the scabs down from Milwaukee, you see, and the scabs are black.’ (Laughter) I said, ‘but I'm still coming.’ (Cheers) I said, ‘I'm gonna meet with the scabs on the inside & the workers on the outside, because it's painful to me to see workers divided. I have a sense of profound pain for those trapped in poverty who lose their self-respect…’

“You do not determine scabs by race or sex, you determine scabs by function. The scab on your arm, what is its function? It does not matter the color of the scab, it functions to cover up pus and cancer. The function of a scab is to drive down wages. The function is to break union solidarity. A worker has a moral foundation. The Bible says a servant is worthy of his or her hire. A servant is worthy of getting paid for work. That's a moral foundation. The scab has no moral foundation. (Wild cheers) What the scabs must understand is about the weakness of scabbism. You take somebody's $10 an hour job for $8, there's a $6 crowd waiting for you!” (Cheers)

Jackson linked the workers' struggle to those of dairy farmers and meat cutters in the Midwest, civil rights workers in the South and anti-Apartheid struggles in South Africa. He compared the Jay strikers to the children of Israel facing the Red Sea. He urged them, “Do not give in.” 

The workers cheered & stomped their feet, chanted, ''Reagan out, Jesse in,'' & swayed to and fro to the refrain of ''We Shall Overcome.’' Jackson stood in the center with his arms around the children of strikers. Jackson’s appearance changed many of the workers’ political views.

"I was never a Jesse Jackson fan at all, but after he gave that speech, I was converted,” said Local 14 President Bill Meserve. “If he believes in what he says and he says what he believes, I agree with him 100 percent."

A woman striker told strike organizer Peter Kellman, "Yesterday I wouldn't think of voting for a Black man for president. Tonight I gave him a check for his campaign." 

With the support of Maine labor, Jackson finished a strong second at the Democratic caucuses in the overwhelmingly white state. Meserve became a Jackson delegate at the 1988 Democratic Convention. The experience of the strike inspired multiple Jay strikers to run for political office, winning seats on the Jay Select Board and being elected to the Maine Legislature. 

Rev. Jackson showed us that in a world where corporations grind down workers to extract every bit of wealth from us and politicians seek to divide us based on race, gender, religion, immigration status and sexual orientation, working class solidarity can unite us to fight for a better world for all working people. 

Rest in power, Brother Jackson. For your courage, compassion, and solidarity, you are an inspiration to us all.