Labour & Pop Culture: Links on the Chain

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture is “Links on the chain” by Phil Ochs. This song was originally released in 1965 and is a rebuke to trade unionists who failed to support the civil rights movements.

The song starts by noting that organized labour (which was a powerful force in the 1960s) had to fight for recognition against the forces of the state and employers. Yet, once accepted (more or less), powerful actors declined to support the civil rights movement.

Oh, the black man was a rising fast, racing from the shade
And your union took no stand and your union was betrayed

Ochs points out that civil rights activists used many of the same tactics as early labour activists to seek accommodation of their interests. Yet unionists did not act in solidarity, in part because they feared (or were told to fear) for the expansion of the labour pool that equality might bring.

And the man who tries to tell you that they'll take your job away
He's the same man who was scabbing hard just the other day
And your union's not a union till he's thrown out of the way

This is a very critical song (Ochs opens the song by condemning homophobia… in 1965!) that holds lessons for today’s trade unionists about the importance of solidarity across traditional divisions.



Come you ranks of labor, come you union core
And see if you remember the struggles of before
When you were standing helpless on the outside of the door
And you started building links
On the chain, on the chain
And you started building links
On the chain

When the police on the horses were waiting on demand
Riding through the strike with the pistols in their hands
Swinging at the skulls of many a union man
As you built one more link
On the chain, on the chain
As you built one more link
On the chain

Then the army of the fascists tried to put you on the run
But the army of the union, they did what could be done
Oh, the power of the factory was greater than the gun
As you built one more link
On the chain, on the chain
As you built one more link
On the chain

And then in 1954, decisions finally made
Oh, the black man was a rising fast, racing from the shade
And your union took no stand and your union was betrayed
As you lost yourself a link
On the chain, on the chain
As you lost yourself a link
On the chain

And then there came the boycotts and then the freedom rides
And forgetting what you stood for, you tried to block the tide
Oh, the automation bosses were laughing on the side
As they watched you lose your link
On the chain, on the chain
As they watched you lose your link
On the chain

You know when they block your trucks boys by laying on the road
All that they are doing is all that you have showed
That you gotta strike, you gotta fight to get what you are owed
When you're building all your links
On the chain, on the chain
When you're building all your links
On the chain

And the man who tries to tell you that they'll take your job away
He's the same man who was scabbing hard just the other day
And your union's not a union till he's thrown out of the way
And he's choking on your links
Of the chain, of the chai
And he's choking on your links
Of the chain

For now the times are telling you the times are rolling on
And you're fighting for the same thing, the jobs that will be gone
Now it's only fair to ask your boys, which side are you on?
As you're building all your links
On the chain, on the chain
As you're building all your links
On the chain

-- Bob Barnetson