Union Song

For the fired auto workers

who were twisted, tricked and robbed

to the peasant in Guatemala

in a sweatshop, got your job

And she can’t feed her family

on the pennies that she makes

Meanwhile, the crime rate’s rising

up and down the Great Lake states

Like vegetables left in the field,

the signatures smell rotten

on the contracts and the deeds

that push the race down to the bottom

As they load the rubber bullets,

as they fire another round,

I’m heading into the tear gas,

dig in man, hold your ground

For Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez

who fought in their own time

For our brothers and our sisters

up and down that picket line

For the unnamed and unnumbered

who struggle brave and long

For the union men and women,

standing up and standing strong

Si nos quedemos

Juntos vamos a ganar? Si

Hit em where it hurts

and bite the hand that feeds

You might get one to three

or probation and a fine

But I know where I’m gonna be

I’m gonna be right on that front line

For Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez

who fought in their own time

For our brothers and our sisters

up and down that picket line

For the unnamed and unnumbered

who struggle brave and long

For the union men and women,

standing up and standing strong

Now dirty scabs will cross the line

while others stand aside and look

But ain’t nobody never got nothin’

that didn’t raise their voice and push

Like the steel worker in Ohio,

the miner in West Virginia,

the teacher in Chicago,

janitor in Mississippi

From the sweatshops of L.A.

to the fields of Mission Flats,

there’s a thunder cloud exploding

and I’m free at last

Like Joe Hill and Caesar Chavez

who fought in their own time

Like our brothers and our sisters,

up and down that picket line

Like the unnamed and unnumbered

who struggle brave and long

Like the union men and women

standing up and standing strong