1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,000 Pull up a chair and tell me your memory. 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:15,000 Why does it matter to you? 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:21,000 I want to hear your story, your point of view. 4 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,000 Tell me what happened to you. 5 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:32,000 Hi and welcome back to Tell Me What Happened with the podcast that teaches folks from all walks of life 6 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:41,000 telling us one true childhood experience and how that event, that moment in time, impacted who they are today. 7 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:48,000 I'm your host, Jay Rehak, and like you, I've had my share of childhood experiences. 8 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:53,000 Some of them beautiful and memorable and some of them actually quite painful. 9 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:59,000 But I'd like to think that everything that's ever happened to me has made me a better person. 10 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:06,000 I know a lot of you probably think that's probably not true and you're probably right, but I'd like to think in any way. 11 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:13,000 Anyway, Tell Me What Happened is sponsored by Sidelining Publishing, publishers of quality books, 12 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:22,000 including Susan Salinor's classic children's books, I've Got Peace in My Fingers, and One Little Act of Kindness. 13 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Alright, today I have as my guest a friend of mine, Bonda Brunstein. 14 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,000 Bonda is a long time labor and community organizer. 15 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:38,000 She now works at the Center for Labor and Adjust Economy at Harvard Law School. 16 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,000 Welcome to Tell Me What Happened, Bonda. 17 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:42,000 Hi, Jay. 18 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Bonda, great to have you on the show. 19 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,000 Really appreciate you taking the time. 20 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,000 Are you ready to tell your story? 21 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:50,000 Sure. 22 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:55,000 Alright, listen, Bonda, I'm going to get out of the way and at the end I'm going to ask you absolutely one question, 23 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:00,000 and that one question is this, how do you think what you told me impacted who you are as an adult? 24 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 So take it away, Bonda. 25 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,000 Well, thanks for having me, Jay. 26 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:11,000 So my story, I was about eight years old and my uncle had an accident at work. 27 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,000 So I grew up in West Michigan and he worked in a factory. 28 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,000 I think it was a factory that made furniture. 29 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:26,000 And on the day of the accident, he had worn regular shoes, not the steel toe work boots that I think probably he wore most often, 30 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,000 and it was an inspection day. 31 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,000 So that was the reason for it. 32 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:36,000 And during that day, he stepped into some molten metal and it incinerated part of his foot. 33 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,000 A horrible, horrible accident. 34 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:49,000 And what I remember is after it all happened, a discussion at the dinner table at my house, the adults were talking, 35 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:59,000 you know, I was a kid listening in, and I remember them talking about the fact that my uncle had been demoted to a desk job and discussing it. 36 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,000 And I felt like that wasn't fair. 37 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,000 I didn't really understand what had happened to him. 38 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,000 I think by that point, he had already had surgery on his foot. 39 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:17,000 But the adults, you know, their explanation was that it was God's will and that we needed to leave it in God's hands. 40 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,000 And I didn't really, that didn't make any sense to me. 41 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,000 I was raised in a very religious community in West Michigan. 42 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,000 Church was really the center of our lives. 43 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,000 And, you know, I still couldn't make sense of it. 44 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:35,000 My uncle is in his 80s now and he's really, he's an incredible, incredible man. 45 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:39,000 He still volunteers with his church. 46 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,000 He's been working his entire life. 47 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:46,000 The accident has not really destroyed his joy of living or his ability to work. 48 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:53,000 I remember for his 50th birthday, I think he went bungee jumping and for his 80th or his 70th birthday, he went in a hot air balloon. 49 00:03:53,000 --> 00:04:00,000 So he's this man that's full of life and, you know, still up until a couple of years ago worked on an assembly line, assembly light fixtures. 50 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:06,000 And so I find this incredibly remarkable person in my life. 51 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:13,000 I'm full of admiration for him. And yet the story from my childhood, this moment when I'm sitting at the dinner table with my family, 52 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:21,000 trying to make sense of what happened to him at work and how the company could just, in my mind at least, demote him and disrespect him. 53 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,000 And the fact that we had to just leave it up to God. 54 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:25,000 I've always struggled with. 55 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,000 So Jay, that's my story. 56 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:35,000 I found that hurts me. My foot hurts thinking about that poor man went through and then he's got a lifetime of that. 57 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:36,000 Yeah. 58 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:48,000 And I know because I've known you for many years that you have a lot of positive energy towards, I think unions, but I'm not going to speak for you. 59 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,000 But let me ask you the question. 60 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:57,000 How do you think you hearing that story as a young girl. 61 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:06,000 And having your uncle, you know, remain highly religious and believing that what happened to him was God's will. 62 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:12,000 How do you think that impacted you as an adult. 63 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:22,000 Well, you know, this is, I don't know, I guess a million dollar question, because all of our childhood experiences I think impact us in some way. 64 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:30,000 I think that there's a couple of really direct things that happened to me. I was really lucky to go to college and move to Chicago. 65 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:39,000 And I did what I knew best, which was, you know, get involved in a church. And so I joined first Presbyterian Church of Woodlawn. 66 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:51,000 And it turns out that that congregation was one of the founding members of the Woodlawn organization in the 60s, which was one of the saw Alinsky organizations saw Alinsky being, you know, the grandfather of community 67 00:05:51,000 --> 00:06:04,000 and so I got to experience a different way of people coming together on a shared set of beliefs but also acting in the community around something that they believed in how to build power to make change. 68 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:14,000 And so I feel like that was an incredibly fortunate thing that happened to me and then eventually, yes, as you said, I have been part of labor unions. 69 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:28,000 I worked for SCIU the service employees international union for over 15 years and really got a chance to fight alongside of working people for better pay and working conditions and recognition of the hard work that they do. 70 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:37,000 So I feel like that seed that was in me at eight years old of frustration and dissatisfaction. 71 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:50,000 I have been able to turn that into something I've been able to turn it into an incredible set of experiences as a community organizer I did end up working for the industrial areas foundation which was the saw Alinsky group. 72 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:54,000 I did that for years in Chicago and New York and in Boston. 73 00:06:54,000 --> 00:07:07,000 And then I went to go work for the service employees union and have been able to, you know, try to fight on behalf of myself and other working people and the people that I grew up with and really people all over the country. 74 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:16,000 So I think that there's a direct connection, you know, my family, interestingly enough, or ironically, is not very supportive of unions. 75 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:36,000 My parents are very supportive of me and don't understand what I do for a living. My father years ago said something to me when we were watching a show and commercial for Walmart came on and he said, Oh, there's a good company because they don't support unions. 76 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:54,000 And that was pretty hard to hear he apologized, but that sentiment in West Michigan. I just, you know, again, it just, it's fueled me, I think, and I've been able to take it and turn it around. 77 00:07:54,000 --> 00:08:08,000 I'm hoping that you still have a relationship with your folks but I, that was, you know, you're working so hard for the working people. And somebody would say that and your dad would say that in front of me or whatever. 78 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:35,000 Yeah, no, it's, it's, it's I have, I have a wonderful family. And my uncle too, you know, he's really he and my dad, the whole family, large family, eight kids. It's in their family. They're really wonderful people and hard workers like I said before, I've taken that into my life, I think and, and I am really pleased to say that the rate of union membership in West Michigan 79 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:41,000 and in Michigan overall is increasing, not decreasing like other parts of the country. 80 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:59,000 And I think the sweet, there's new Gallup pulls out that I don't remember what the percentages maybe 67% of Americans are supportive of unions and people to join a union and have collective bargaining and especially I think that that's increasing among young people. 81 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:16,000 So that gives me a lot of hope that we can, you know, fight for the things that we believe in. And I really feel like the social change campaigns and organizing efforts I've been part of both through really wonderful organizations, you know, communities of faith and other community 82 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:26,000 groups, as well as labor is contributing to that. So here we are, however many years later, I won't tell you how old I am but it's been a very exciting journey to be on. 83 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:44,000 So I want to thank you on behalf of the working people of the world for your work on this because I've known you for a long time and I know your commitment to, you know, helping people working people and, you know, I still, it hurts me I guess and to think of your poor uncle losing part of his foot and sort of getting 84 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,000 to motive rather than a large settlement and the, you know, 85 00:09:49,000 --> 00:10:03,000 Well, if you met him, Jay, you wouldn't feel sorry for him at all because he's, you know, while he's had, you know, surgeries on his foot and it's, you know, he was also in other accidents on the farm so he's, you know, some people would look at him and say oh my gosh wow he's 86 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:09,000 really struggled physically, but the man has never let that stop him from really living a full life. 87 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:24,000 And has really been an inspiration for me when I hear from my dad these stories about how he's choosing to celebrate his birthday, you know, he's really, I think a testament to like, you know, the, I have to say the salt of the earth people that I grew up with. 88 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:36,000 Love it. Love it. Well, thank you for coming on the show. I really appreciate the story. Shout out to your family for raising such a wonderful daughter and niece, I guess. 89 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:50,000 And I hope you continue your great work, but in any case, I do respect the fact that you respect your family the way you do and it's great to reconnect with you after a while. 90 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,000 So thank you very much for coming on the show. 91 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,000 Like wise Jay, continue the good work. 92 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,000 All right. 93 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:04,000 All right, well that's our show. I like to thank Vonda Bronston again for coming on our show, telling us a story. 94 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,000 I like to thank our sponsors, Sight Lending Publishing. 95 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:37,000 So until next time, this is Jay Rehak asking you all to please stay safe out there and try not to hurt anybody.