This page is referenced by:

• 1 media/common-ground-charles-luna.jpg 2021-02-14T14:26:59-08:00 What refusal can we take up? 30 A Cosmic Gift image_header 2021-04-20T15:39:10-07:00 Refusal resonates with everyone. This video below of Notre Dame's undergraduates accompanying Todd Rundgren on "I Dont Want to Work" illustrates how, across generations, careers, and backgrounds, we all want do the things we love, and ignore the rest. Rundgren describes I Don’t Want to Work as "the most lucrative song I have ever written..." explaining how "...it got adopted by a lot of sports fans… then it got picked up for various commercials and movie promo—things like that. And then Carnival Cruise decided they wanted it to be their entire identity. For several years, they were paying me ridiculous money to use it. And then they started sinking a lot of ships. So they decided they should change their image *laughs*… I don’t make as much money currently off of it as I used to, but it’s available *laughs*…But, I like to say it was some kind of cosmic gift I was given" (Nolasco 2019). 
  
  

  
  A cosmic gift indeed! From Bartleby's "I prefer not to" on down through the years to Rundgren's "I don't want to work" money-making song, narratives of workplace refusal are an inheritance, a gift we discuss and build upon. Developing fluency in singing, hearing and saying "No" can be a practice, a celebration, a song, or even the ultimate form of collective refusal--a workers' strike.
  
  A librarians' strike is our profession's ultimate form of collective refusal, but there are many other ways union participation benefits those who have such representation. Collective protections are powerful motivators. Kelly McElroy is paraphrased by ALA as saying: "concerns about working conditions, quality of life, and higher education funding brought many of her colleagues together" (Smith 2018). NPR Planet Money co-hosts Sarah Gonzalez and Solnari Glinto describe the benefit of collective action and representation for those in feminized professions :

  GONZALEZ 9to5, the organization [founded in 1973], starts spreading across the country, more and more chapters. And it leads to a local union in Boston, SEIU Local 925 [in 1975]. Get it - nine, two, five. Pretty soon, Karen and the 9to5 women are demanding and getting higher pay at big institutions. They helped pass the Pregnancy Discrimination Act [1978]. And a big priority for Karen was to have fun with all of their campaigns. One of the very first things 9to5 instituted was the Pettiest Office Procedure Contest and the Bad Boss Contest. (Gonzalez & Glinton 2021)

  The momentum of 9to5 was amplified by the Nine to Five film in 1980 and actor/singer/songwriter Dolly Parton's hit 9 to 5 song featured on the film's soundtrack:

  GONZALEZ: After the movie, the number of 9to5 chapters doubles, and the union expands. Both groups are still active today.
  GLINTON: And both lobbied to pass marquee employment protection laws, like the Family Medical Leave Act and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
  (Gonzalez & Glinton 2021)

  
  These achievements and the benefit of collective representation are just as relevant today. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic situation, in Pittsburgh, librarians and other professionals at the Carnegie Library worked with their recently-organized union, affiliated with the United Steelworkers, to successfully demand that library employees should not be required to report to library facilities and should be paid regardless of their ability to work from home (DPE 2020).