“They thought they was gonna play with these amigos, and they said, ‘aw yeah, we rise together, homie.’ And they leaving! And they not bullshitting!”
On July 31, over a non-union hundred workers, led by Latino workers, walked off the job at an Indiana UPS superhub. The workers, mostly contractors (millwrights, welders, conveyor installers and others), shut down construction on the superhub in protest against a racist boss who had been harassing the Latino workers and seeking any justification to fire them.
The incredible walkout is caught on film by an exuberant welder Antoine Dangerfield, whose commentary from behind his camera has helped make the video a viral sensation with millions of views across Youtube and social media.
The racist safety coordinator got fired, but so did Dangerfield who was approached by UPS to pull down the video but refused after it had gone viral. A GoFundMe has been set up for Dangerfield.
In a wonderful interview at Jacobin Magazine, Dangerfield concludes:
“It was life-changing to me to see that happen. Because it was like, dang, they really came together. And that’s why I’m not mad about the video, about getting fired. Because it’s five million people who saw that. And it might change their view on things. Empowering people.
“So me losing a job is nothing compared to the big picture. If we can get it in our heads that we are the people, and if we make our numbers count, we can change anything.”