Labor Quilt

A new "labor quilt" in the Ives Hall faculty office building can be seen from as far away as Garden Avenue.

Thirty-four colorful panels of union symbols and slogans on a deep blue background represent unions for steelworkers, machinists, service employees, musicians, teachers, longshoremen and many other unions.

The quilt was hung several weeks ago in the Collective Bargaining Department's third-floor Ives conference room.  Large windows on the room's north and east sides make the tapestry particularly noticeable at night.

"Union Yes," "An Injury to One Is an Injury to All," and "Con Unión Se Vive Mejor" ("Life is Better With a Union") are some of the messages reflected in the 49-square-foot quilt.

The quilt is a project of the Seattle Labor Chorus, a volunteer singing group that performs at labor conferences, rallies and picket lines in the Pacific Northwest (see http://www.seattlelaborchorus.org/).

Susan R. Gordon of the chorus group labor created the quilt, won in a raffle by Lance Compa of the Collective Bargaining Department's labor law group.

Gordon created the quilt with T-shirts gathered by members of the Seattle Labor Chorus.

Gordon said the struggle for a living wage, peace and civil rights has taken the chorus to union halls and concert stages, picket lines and lecture halls, protest rallies and festival tents – "anywhere its unique power is needed."