Kshama Sawant talking:
This is an absolutely historic moment not only for Seattle, but for working people all over the nation, and even globally. What we won here is the possibility for 100,000 workers, low-wage workers in Seattle, to be lifted out of poverty over the next 10 years. And it signifies a transfer of income of $3 billion from the richest in the city to the bottom-most workers, the workers who make the city run. I would urge everybody to see what a reversal of fortune this is because for the last several decades, it has been a systematic gushing out of income and wealth from the bottom to the top. And this is one of the first really big fight back against the status quo of income inequality and a race to the bottom for ordinary working people. It is also significant in the speed with which we achieved it. I took office as a Socialist, as a voice for the working class only on January 6. A week later, we had launched the 15 Now grassroots campaign, which has been part of the back own of the mass movement in Seattle that won this. It is also historically significant, and I think this is the most important thing people should take away from Seattle, is that the establishment, the politicians and the businesses, they are not going to be on your side. Working people have to build our own power, our own strength from below. And the reason we won this in Seattle is not because the establishment, politicians, or the Mayor were pushing for this. What happened was they were pressured to the point that they could not ignore it, and 15 became the top of the agenda. But, really, the push for this, the real life blood of this movement has been workers, the labor movement, Socialist alternative, 15 Now, and having a real fighting voice in City Hall.
It is very important to clarify that as a Socialist, as a fighter for the interests of the working class, I will fight every inch of the way. We should be doing that. We should be fighting until the last hour. But every gain that we can get has to be wrested, wrenched from the hands of the ruling elite, from the corporate politicians, and the businesses that they represent. And so, even a small raise in a standard of living is something worth fighting for and we should grab it as much as we can. And at the end of the day, the lesson that this shows — the fact that corporations were able to get their loopholes passed shows that we need to build an even more powerful mass movement everywhere around the nation so that we are strong enough to fight against corporate loopholes. The outcomes of social struggle are a function of the balance of forces. So, the moral of the story is not that, well, we can’t win. The moral of the story is we want a huge victory for the working class. But, if we want to fight against corporations, then the only way to do it is to build mass movements.
I just wanted to give you an example of what this means, what it means to build a mass movement and why is that necessary. The City Council, full of Democratic Party politicians, passed unanimously $15 an hour, which is fantastic and a huge step forward, but less than 24 hours later, the Council has been voting, and I’m holding up this headline from the Seattle Times this morning, which talks about how the highest-paid city employed executive who is the head of the publicly owned electricity company, who already is paid $245,000, according to a vote yesterday, is on his way to get more than $350,000. And it shows you that the fundamental shift that is happening is happening from the ground, from the Occupy Movement, from workers and from activists themselves rejecting income inequality, rejecting the corporate agenda of capitalism. And we have to keep doing this in a bigger way because the moment we take our eye off the ball, the same body — elected body — that passed 15 is brazenly going forward and talking about a huge pay increase for the person who is already the highest-paid executive. So, what we have to learn from this is that we cannot rely on the establishment. And we have to set our sights higher. How did Seattle win this? An important component was having a fighting voice for ourselves in City Hall through Socialist Alternative.
I think that this needs to be done in many other cities. The Chicago Teachers Union should run their own independent left candidate as a defiant challenge, as an insurgent, audacious challenge to Rahm Emanuel’s Democratic Party establishment in Chicago. We need to do more of these things. And I would urge anybody who is inspired by watching this, by what we have done in Seattle, please, go to 15now.org. First, make a financial contribution, because grassroots efforts need grassroots support,and then try to get involved. Maybe there is a 15 Now chapter that is being — that has sprung up in your city. See if there is a left organization that can build on our success. And ultimately, I think we need to raise our sights even higher, start talking about what the working class needs in terms of an independent political representation, an independent political party to represent our interests for the working class. We cannot rely on the Democrats and Republicans. The discussion that you had in the previous segment about war and what it is doing to our veterans is a really great example of how completely dysfunctional and rotten this two-party system is and why we need a break from it.
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/6/5/seattle_s_socialist_city_council_member
Kshama Sawant, is a newly elected socialist member of the Seattle City Council. She is a member of Socialist Alternative, a teacher and a union activist.