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Trade Unionist


From feudalism and serfdom
The working man had to fight
For the very basics of life
Had to prove he had the right
To  exist and to be free
Have basic human needs
And from all their struggles
Were sown Trade union's seeds

Now I've been a Union man
All my working life
In both times of quiet
And of industrial strife,
I joined the union because
It was a working mans voice
For those who didn't join
It was by personal choice.

That's called democracy.
It's a way things are done.
An attempt to organise
The way things are run,
But I never met a scab
Honest enough to say
I didn't take any action so
I'll not take increased pay.

If I met such a person I'd
Shake his hand in all sincerity
Knowing for once at last
I'd met a person of integrity.
I took industrial action in
Support of my Union brothers
Not to benefit in any way
Those  black legging others.

A worker needs their Union
Even more these modern days
As they turn back the clocks
Towards those old Victorian ways
I'm a lifelong Union man for
Without their historic bravery
Many more would still be living in
Less than minimum wage slavery.

In this modern connected world
Of more concentrated wealth,
A nation divided by life expectancy
And provision for continuing health,
Fight for your Union
To keep all advances hard won
Because if you lose your union
Those advances will soon be gone.







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