The power of civil disobedience

By Fabrizio Sasso
Executive Director, Sacramento CLC

Recently, I was detained by the California Highway Patrol at the Capitol swing space, and I’m proud of it. Let me tell you why.

As you can read about on our front page, government workers represented by SEIU 1000 have been in a long contract fight with the state. At issue is what the government of California owes to those who keep it running every day. Right now, the wages many state workers are paid simply don’t cover their bills. Some state workers find themselves broke by the end of the month. Some can’t afford to pay for basics including rent and food. We have full-time employees of the state of California who are living in their cars or in tents.

That is wrong and state workers are not willing to accept another contract that tolerates that status quo of inequity. We in the Labor Movement in Sacramento and across the state stand with them, and as you can read about on our cover, our solidarity has helped to win a new contract.

And that’s what our picket at the Capitol was about. On a day with triple-digit temperatures, hundreds of union members and allies turned out at lunchtime for an action in front of the swing space on O Street. We marched in front of the doors as legislators and visitors gathered for the committee meetings that afternoon.

But after months of stalled contract negotiations, SEIU and its allies are clear that the state needs to understand how serious we are. So dozens of us took over the building. Some sat on the main staircase, politely shutting it down. I and others stood in front of the doors.

We weren’t angry. We weren’t hostile.

This action was part of the long tradition in Labor for peaceful civil disobedience. In the 1950’s, the civil rights movement adopted the principles of civil disobedience brought forward by Mahatma Gandhi in his fight against the English colonization of India. From Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat to Muhammad Ali’s rejection of the draft, civil disobedience has proven to be an effective and consequential tool to raise awareness and drive change.

It was in this spirit that we shut down the Capitol. The California Highway Patrol eventually detained eight people, including myself. Among my compatriots who were led away in handcuffs were Lorena Gonzalez, head of the California Labor Federation, and Sacramento City Council members Caity Maple and Katie Valenzuela.

And in case you question whether these tactics work, a few days later the state came back to the bargaining table. A few days after that, the deal was reached.

No one wants a strike. It brings hardship to the people who must go without a paycheck, to their families and to our communities.

But we are all hurt worse by accepting unfair working conditions and subpar wages that keep us scraping by week after week, year after year. Actions like the one at the Capitol actually keep us from striking by reminding employers, including the state, that we are committed to our fair treatment and will do what is needed to protect our futures.

On this Labor Day, I hold my citation for “disrupting state business” with pride, and I hope you all are proud to be part of this Labor Movement that isn’t afraid to stand up for what is right.

Together, we fight. Together, we win.