Med anledning av att jag nyligen sett dokumentärer om den stora gruvstrejken i Sverige 1969-1970 och den stora gruvstrejken i Storbritannien 1984-85 blev jag intresserad av union songs. Det blir på engelska (den svenska gruvstrejken var ju vild).

Den här heter Union thru and thru:



They can’t cheat us
They won’t shake us
They can’t beat us
They won’t break us

They’ve tried it all before
With the tricks and legal wars
And there’s nothing they can do
Coz we’re union through and through

We’re proud and strong
We do no wrong
Keep the workers safe, outta harms way
We built this city for a fair days pay

We can take the knocks
We’re solid as a rock
We’re union through and through
We’re union through and through

We can take the knocks
We’re solid as a rock
We’re union through and through
We’re union through and through

We’re the CFMEU

We’re union through and through
We’re the CFMEU

CFMEU betyder Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, ett australiskt fackförbund.
Känner jag mig nostalgisk, det var tider då man trodde på arbetarnas kamp.

Billy Bragg sjunger There is power in a union, skriven av Joe Hill 1913 (men texten är mycket ändrad):




There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hands of a worker
But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand
There is power in a Union

Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers' blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud
War has always been the bosses' way, sir

The Union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands
There is power in a Union

Money speaks for money, the Devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone?
What a comfort to the widow, a light to the child
There is power in a Union

Which side are you on? med Pete Seeger:



Come all of you good workers
Good news to you I'll tell
Of how that good old union
Has come in here to dwell

Chorus
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on?

My daddy was a miner
And I'm a miner's son
And I'll stick with the union
Till every battle's won

Oh, workers can you stand it?
Oh, tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?

Joan Baez Live at Woodstock 1969 - Joe Hill


I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.

"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe", says I.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
Says Joe "I didn't die"

"In Salt Lake City, Joe," says I,
Him standing by my bed,
"They framed you on a murder charge,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead."

And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe "What they can never kill
went on to organize,
went on to organize"

From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
Where working men defend their rights,
it's there you'll find Joe Hill,
it's there you'll find Joe Hill!

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.

Joe Hill, född Joel Emmanuel Hägglund [...] född 7 oktober 1879 i Gävle,
avrättad 19 november 1915 i Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, var en fackföreningsman (syndikalist), diktare och sångare. [...] Joe Hill räknas som en av 1900-talets mest inflytelserika amerikanska protestsångare, och han nämns som inspirationskälla för musiker som Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, John Lennon och Joan Baez. Han skrev en rad aktuella arbetar- och protestsånger, och han använde särskilt humor och ironi i sina texter. [...]

Joe Hill lyckades bli en legend bland syndikalister och fackföreningsaktivister i USA och hans sånger gjorde honom känd bland den amerikanska arbetarklassen, immigranter och arbetslösa. Hill dömdes för mord efter en mycket omdiskuterad rättssak som väckte internationell uppmärksamhet, och med den påföljande avrättningen växte hans popularitet. Hans öde har sedan dess blivit ett vanligt ämne för filmer, sånger, böcker, talrika artiklar samt operor och teatrar.

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill