Anne Feeney is none of the following: meek, subtle or willing to negotiate what she believes is right. But you can figure that out by reading the song titles of her new album "Dump the Bosses off Your Back."

Her newest collection of labor and protest songs includes, along with the title track, "Goonies" (described as "A bastard cousin to the scab and the management consultant" in the liner notes), "We Fought Back," "Sago," "Ya Basta!," and "How Much for the Life of a Miner?," among others. Six of the 15 tracks are Feeney originals.

So if you own a large business and farm jobs overseas in order to create a higher profit margin for yourself, "Dump the Bosses off Your Back" is not the CD for you.

Feeney, 56 and a Swissvale native, has been protesting against The Man since her college days at Pitt. During a student sit-in in what's now David Lawrence Hall, some administrator, in an attempt to convince her to leave, told her she seemed "like a wholesome young girl" and that "Nelson Mandela was a terrorist who was going to die in prison." Neither comment compelled Feeney to knock it off.

Instead, she has made a living sounding off against oppression and anti-labor issues, fighting for the blue-collar worker. Feeney has spent the past two decades touring the country, spreading her gospel of labor love. "Dump the Bosses off Your Back" is par for the course -- Feeney not only preaching to but rousing the choir.

Lyrics such as those in "Goonies" ("Now when workers are tossed out on the street, you'll find goonies/You come swarmin' like maggots on putrid meat, goonies/Kin to jackels, hyenas, leaches and skunks/Go back to dog kickin', wife beatin' and rollin' drunks") won't do much to further the cause of a living wage and keeping jobs in America. Nor do they examine the complex problems of unemployed blue-collar workers in old mill or factory towns.

But perhaps this was never Feeney's intention, because she is well pleased with the results.

"I don't think I've ever had so many songs on one album that I feel so strongly about," she said.

She paused to consider which song currently had her the most worked up. "The story of Santiago Cruz," she continued, referring to a song she wrote about the organizer for farm labor found beaten to death last April. "I think that if people understood how difficult it is to get decent work and conditions for immigrants and how vital they are. ... We've depended on immigrant work ever since we abolished slavery. But the hostility and animosity [toward immigrants] just sickens me."

In addition to Feeney's voice and guitar, the album also features Commander Cody, the Austin Lounge Lizards, Pat Humphries, Sandy O, and Bob Banerjee, of Corn Beef & Curry fame, lending his fiddling prowess. Feeney was especially excited about Commander Cody playing piano for "Preacher and the Slave."

"I'm a great admirer of his work and always have been. He's got one of the best left hands in the business," Feeney said.

Feeney shifts from pleased to irritated like a speed racer -- happy with the musical talent garnered for her CD one minute, demanding more R.E.S.P.E.C.T. for local music scene the next.

"One of the things that have always baffled me is why the Pittsburgh music scene is not regarded more seriously nationally. Most of the talent on this CD are local friends of mine. I've worked in Nashville and New York and I don't think you're going to find better musicians than right here in Pittsburgh," she said, adding, "Bob Crafton is incredible and so is Bob Banerjee."

"Dump the Bosses off Your Back" was written by John Brill in 1916. The CD features two more golden oldies, "Preacher and the Slave," written in 1911, and "Business News/Hallelujah, I'm a Bum," written in 1897. These three songs are relics of the Industrial Workers of the World.

"I think one of the most exciting things was being able to breathe such wonderful new life into these songs that have been sung for a hundred years," Feeney said. "I think music is a fantastic way of empowering people and giving them strength and energy. I've spent a good part of my life trying to find and write music that will empower people to resist and stand up for what's right."

We hope those aren't just the people who would have resisted to begin with.