Song of the Day 9/5: Billy Bragg, “There Is Power in a Union”

Mainstream media loves to cite the low percentage of unionized US workers but rarely details the lengths companies go to in their union-busting. That’s improved somewhat in recent months as Amazon and Starbucks have waged vicious campaigns against unionization efforts — and seen workers succeed in both certification votes and court rulings despite it all.

Billy Bragg has carried the banner for the left in general and unions specifically for decades. This song appeared on his 1986 album “Talking With the Taxman About Poetry,” the first one that gave his melodic tunes more instrumentation than just his acoustic guitar. For this one he borrowed the title of a song by union martyr Joe Hill and set it to the melody from “The Battle Cry of Freedom.”