Union Songs

One Big Union

A Song by Matthew Grimm©Matthew Grimm 2011

- [play]

When the paycheck just ain’t stretchin like it might’ve once before
Cause the good jobs all are gone and left you in some bigbox store
Between food and rent and medicine, the suits just rate a whole lot more

When the bosses cut that last corner and you walk out those doors
When the truckers hauling sweatshop stuff don’t stop there anymore
When folks won’t cross your pickets cause their boat’s the same as yours
That is one big union

When the nickled and the dimed have had enough of being screwed
When they walk out of the sweatshops and the cops refuse to shoot
When the puppet regimes fall, when the World Bank gets the boot
That is one big union

They call it a labor surplus
Market-value poverty
But what if that which ye do to the least of my brethren
So you do unto me

We built the tanks and ships that
Saved a world in darkest throes
Back when young men fought for the rights of mankind
Not just some CEOs

When a simple, decent living is a right that we all share
When the suits see us as people not just assets to be pared
When they can’t just ship your job off cause it’s happening everywhere
That is one big union

When the volume of this chorus grows till they can’t help but hear
When our leaders serve the people, not just banks and profiteers
When the food and labor of the earth feed everyone here
That is one big union

That will be one big union
Come join our one big union

Notes

Many thanks to Matthew Grimm for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection

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