Aunt Molly Jackson, who was, I believe Florence Reese's sister-in-law (?), had her own radical song to the same tune. Its title is "I AM A UNION WOMAN":

I am a union woman
Just as Brave as I can be
I do not like the bosses
And the bosses don't like me.

Join the CIO, Join the CIO

I was raised in Old Kentucky
Kentucky born and bred,
But when I joined the union,
They called me a Russian Red.

Join the CIO...

This is the worst time on earth
That I have ever saw,
To get killed out by gun thugs
And framed up by the law.

Join the CIO...

If you want to join a union,
As strong as one can be
Join the dear old CIO
And come along with me.

Join the CIO...

We are many thousand strong,
And I am glad to say
We are getting stronger
And stronger every day.

Join the CIO...

The bosses ride fine horses
While we walk in the mud,
Their banner is the dollar sign,
Ours is striped with blood.

Join the CIO...

Those lyrics come from "Carry It On," a fine songbook of working people's songs edited by Pete Seeger and others.

As I recollect the version that appears on Aunt Molly Jackson's Library of Congress Recordings (Rounder LP in my collection, I don't know if its on CD), the refrain is "Join the NMU" instead of CIO. I believe that stands for the National Miners Union, which may have been a communist-led union.

As I heard the story, there was quite a bit of family rivalry between Aunt Molly Jackson and Florence Reese about which one of them really deserved the credit for turning this particular hymn tune into a union organizing song. History seems to have awarded the prize to Reese. It was quite a musical family. If I'm not mistaken, Jim Garland, another fine singer and composer of radical songs, was also part of the family (Aunt Molly's brother?)

Whoever had this particular idea first, I have to say that I enjoy Aunt Molly Jackson's singing and fighting lyrics. It is really a pity that she is all but forgotten today. She wrote and sang some of the most powerful labor songs ever composed in the US and she also knew how to sing traditional songs and ballads with the best.

I am pretty much writing from dim memory here, although I did refer to a personal songbook I have handy for the lyrics above. If someone knows something about Aunt Molly and her kin, I would certainly appreciate their sharing it here. Including any checks on the accuracy of what little I have written here.