Bob McKeo wn

Sam Fishman in front of the General Motors Building: "I get my kicks from relating to the labor movement."

movement, pretty consistently for
some time now has been arguing
against the crazy, insane trade
policies that this country practices.
It's the only nation that pretty much
has free trade — there are no bar-
riers coming into this country.
Meanwhile, we face a million and
one barriers in almost every other
country."
And like the character in the
movie Network, Fishman said labor
is mad as hell and not going to take
it anymore. And one way to express
that anger, he said, is by voting as a
bloc for those who will help serve
their needs. He said the AFL-CIO
commissioned a well-known pollster
to survey its membership on the
night of the presidential election in
1984. The results showed that 60
percent voted for labor's endorsed
candidate, Walter Mondale, the elec-
tion's loser.
Win or lose, Fishman was as de-
voted to the American political sys-
tem as he was to the movement
which he helped direct. "I think
every election in a democracy is im-
portant ... A democracy is the kind
of system that just doesn't exist like
oxygen in the air. Democracy is a
system that flourishes or is

weakened to the extent that people liency in this country and most other
countries in the world of adapting"
participate in it.
When people get alienated from to revolutionary changes.
the political process in a democratic
Instead of preparing death
society, that's very harmful to the notices for labor, Fishman said we
system. It means fewer people make should be asking a larger question.
decisions. And who gets elected, and
The more serious problem is,
the people who get elected, as a con- whither the United States? Whither
sequence, will get less support when the American economy if it goes bad,
it comes to dealing with the impor- as it has been." But Fishman was
tant problems of the day." In effect, also aware of the problems that face
he said, those who win under that his movement, and one of those
circumstance "are there by default."
problems is public perception of its
As far as his own political ambi- stability and strength.
tions, he said rather convincingly, "I
"To use a term that a lot of
never was interested in a political people have used, America is becom-
career outside of the labor move- ing deindustrialized, which is one
ment, because personally, I get my way of describing the economic
kicks from relating to the labor change, the drastic changes that
movement." He said he has always have been taking place. And in that
wanted to be active as a spokesman context, it affects the American
and a leader for the movement, but labor movement.
only • as a citizen and a part of the
In part, that is why after 12
labor movement, not as a politician.
years, Fishman left his position as
Fishman was very defensive --executive director of the 'UAW's
about the AFL-CIO and the labor political arm to take over the leader-
movement in general. In response to ship of the Michigan AFL-CIO, in an
the issue of -a labor movement election he won in 1983. As the old
weakened by millions of jobs perma- saying goes, there -is strength in
nently lost to imports, Fishman de- numbers, and when the UAW re-
clared, The labor movement ain't joined the AFL-CIO in 1982 after a
dying now, and it ain't going to die. 14-year split, it automatically be-
Organized labor has shown a resi- Continued on next page

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