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Moe FonerMoe Foner
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Session:         Page of 592

signing with the union and with workers in the room talking about the conditions and why it's logical and right, a very moving thing that I got into trouble about.

Q:

We should come back to that.

Foner:

Yes.

Q:

Let's finish with the home care. In this 1987 campaign, there was the public relations piece and the alliance with the Cardinal and with Reverend Jackson, but home-care workers themselves were very active. There was a big rally, if I remember correctly [cross talk].

Foner:

Yes. You see, in '87 there was a rally. In '91 there was a one- day strike. Ten thousand people came out.

Q:

In '87 ten thousand people came to City Hall?

Foner:

Yes. Now, the point that should be made is that public relations by itself can't produce this. When you have organizers dedicated to get workers involved and animated about it, public relations adds a necessary thing to it, but it's not the thing. You can have the best public relations in the world, but if you're talking about an empty shell, like the old AFL-CIO, it doesn't matter. Nobody will pay you any mind. You can plant an article here and there, but nothing will change, employers won't react. So I want to make clear that PR is merely one part of a big project, a big activity, and that the key to it is organizing the workers and keeping them involved and together. Otherwise, the best PR in the world is useless.

Q:

So with those two things working, what was the outcome of that '87 campaign?

Foner:

The '87 campaign led to an increase in reimbursement to the nonprofit agencies through the city and the state that permitted them to increase wages. In 1991, the same kind of campaign resulted in another major -- for example, in '91, we won -- I have the figures here -- a 30-cent-an-hour increase, a pension fund, 4-million-dollar contribution, every weekend off, and by secret ballot there was one opposition, and we produced a video called Invisible No More in English and in Spanish.

Q:

Was that for internal consumption, the video?

Foner:

That was for internal consumption, but most of our videos are for internal. We find that after a while word gets out and organizations





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