Organize!

It pleases me hugely to see the American Labor movement reborn since the pandemic. In solidarity with the ongoing strike of the Writers Guild of America, and with the re-emergence of labor unions across America, I'm posting a speech from the movie The Organizer, set during the early years of organized labor in which a labor leader orchestrates a strike at a textile factory in Northern Italy. The strike is the usual confrontation of irresistible forces and immovable objects. The factory owners refuse to concede to the workers slightest demands, like perhaps working 13 hours every day rather than 14. After 30 days on strike most of the workers have had enough and a meeting is called to conduct a vote to end the strike. Hearing about the meeting, the labor organizer - played by Marcello Mastroianni -  rushes in and the following dialogue unfolds.

Forgive me. In my rush I forgot my glasses. But even if I can't see you clearly, I know all the same who voted to keep up the fight. Barbero? 

  - Yes, Professor. Today and always!

  - Good. I knew it. Gallesio!

  - I won't back down!

  - Bardella. Isn't Bardella here?

  - (quietly) I'm right here. 

  - So you've joined the others too. 

  - (Woman's voice) Bunch of lily-livers! 

  - Please, friends. No, they're not a bunch of lily-livers. They're the majority, and the majority is the voice of wisdom. You're the crazy ones - you, Barbero, and you! You who think 13 hours a day on the job is enough. You who'd like a few extra pennies. You who'd like to avoid the hospital or the poorhouse. The majority are the wise ones. They feel their salary is enough. The proof: No one has actually died of starvation yet. And statistics show that only 20% of you are maimed in accidents. How many are here? Five hundred? Then only 100 of you will end up crippled. You, Bonetto, or you, Occhipinti, or your daughter Gasperina. Mondino, where are you? 

  (An arm without a hand is raised.) - Right here. 

  - Show them! That's what the majority wants!

  - No! We've starved for 30 days now. We've lost. Can't you see?

  - Who says so? 

  - Everyone! 

  - Friends, it's not true. We haven't lost. This is the crucial moment. The side holding out just one hour longer wins! The bosses are even worse off! 

  - How do you know? 

  - I know! You must believe me!

  - No more blind faith! 

  - Our cupboards are empty! And our stomachs too! 

  - Your stomachs will stay empty. And your children's too, if you give up this fight now! The bosses will always win, and your misery will continue to enrich them! 

  - It's not our factory! 

  - Not yours? Who works there 14 hours a day their whole life? Whosr sweat keeps the machines going? 

  - Ours!

  - Then take it! The factory is yours! Show them it means more to you than your own homes! Make the bosses, the city, and the government see that it's your life and death! Go, my friends!