Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...

I was listening to my radio, a news report from Louisville
American Express thought they might build a factory
To make and track their credit cards
Two thousand jobs for honest and hard-workin' folks
Who'll never use the cards they make all day
But they wouldn't pick a city for their plans until they'd asked
A question I recall from way back when
To head off conflict and subversion, they asked every working person
"Are you now or have you ever been?"

Are you now or have you ever been a member of a union?
Are you now or have you ever been?
I never thought I'd see the day
I'd hear those words come 'round again
"Are you now or have you ever been?"

Hard at work, but soft on unions, that's the average Louisvillian
American Expressly stated in their press release
The site selection test committee recommends some other city
Where business rolls in profits and the unions rest in peace
And every day that question grows a little more familiar
As another union battle flag descends
Ask any airline traffic tracker
Copper miner, or meat packer
"Are you now or have you ever been?"

Are you now or have you ever been a member of a union?
Did your father, mother, sister, brother wear a union pin?
Well, I never thought I'd see the day
I'd hear those words come 'round again
"Are you now or have you ever been?"

Corporate planners dutifully bought the folks of Louisville
A one-way nowhere fare on the American Express
Will we leave the drivin' to the bosses
Make concessions, take the losses
This union's got the Disappearin' Railroad Blues unless
We dare to use the power we've been sittin' on for years
We are strong enough to call their bluff, my friends
And they can take their lousy plant and shove it
Yes, I'm Union, damn proud of it
I am now, and I have always been

Are you now or have you ever been a member of a union?
With your sisters and your brothers, will you struggle to be free?
When the question comes around, will you stand in solidarity
Say I am now, I will always be

Are you now or have you ever been a member of a union?
Are you now or have you ever been?