It would be impossible to list accomplishments more important in the everyday lives of working people than the 8-hour day, weekends, overtime pay, parental leave, Social Security, employer-paid health care, safety regulations, and democracy in the workplace (just to name a few). These are benefits brought to us by the courage and tenacity of our union forebears who faced violence and financial retribution to organize in unions. Workers’ rights are civil rights.
Sadly, under the federal education policies known as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, history and civics took a backseat to test-driven instruction. The enormous contributions of the labor movement in bettering the lives of working people in New Mexico and the United States became a footnote in most history texts written in this century. In a state that was both the real and fictional setting of the Empire Zinc strike commemorated in the film Salt of the Earth, it is imperative that students understand the positive impact on their everyday lives that union membership and working under a negotiated agreement can have. Our future workforce must know that they have the right to due process in the workplace, collective bargaining, and the benefits of a contract. The way they will achieve these goals is through union membership.
It is our duty as educators to teach the real history of the United States. We know that the vast majority of Americans are the workers who keep our country running; to use the parlance of our times: essential workers. Yet, American history texts, for the most part, teach a top-down narrative of our past. We must make the commitment to teach the history and current reality of the people, not the oligarchs.
We must make the commitment to teach the history and current reality of the people, not the oligarchs.
In the 2020 NM Legislative Session, the ATF Executive Council and Fed Rep Council sponsored a motion supporting the creation of a Memorial to declare September as Labor History Month across our state. This memorial was carried by our union sister, Representative Christine Trujillo, but sadly did not come to a vote on the House Floor.
The memorial was conceived in the belief that schools and school districts across the state should be encouraged to commemorate the month of September (which hosts United States’ Labor Day) with appropriate educational exercises teach all students the role the labor movement has played in shaping New Mexico and the United States, and the importance of collective bargaining to our students’ futures. It would also proclaim that New Mexico labor history, from the Spanish colonial period to the present day, be considered in the adoption of instructional materials to be used within our history/social science curriculum framework.
We know that education is key to improving the lives of our students. The importance of understanding their rights in the workplace cannot be overstated nor can their need to understand how those rights were won.
ATF’s Proposed MEMORIAL TO ESTABLISH SEPTEMBER AS LABOR HISTORY MONTH IN NEW MEXICO
SECTION 1.
The month of September is hereby deemed to be Labor History Month throughout the New Mexico public schools, and school districts are encouraged to commemorate this month with appropriate educational exercises that make pupils aware of the role the labor movement has played in shaping New Mexico and the United States and the importance of collective bargaining and due process rights in bettering their future careers.
SECTION 2.
It is the intent of the Legislature that New Mexico labor history, from the Spanish colonial period to the present day, be considered in the next cycle in which the history/social science curriculum framework and its accompanying instructional materials are adopted.
