Business as usual ain't gonna cut it
This just in from Working Life: "In case you've wondered what's up at Northwest since the strike by mechanics, the situation has gotten even grimmer. Now the airline is going back to court to try to use the bankruptcy code to get rid of its union contracts."
Prop 75, Northwest, Delphi, SoCal supermarkets, public employees in Indiana and Missouri. The list goes on and on. How long will it take for everyone to realize that business as usual ain't gonna cut it?
Despite the shortcomings of automatic dues deduction (sometimes used as a crutch in lieu of creating real worker organization), I hesitate to find a silver lining in the coming starvation of the California labor movement's political program. Nor can we put a positive spin on the devastation of thousands and thousands of union members' livelihoods.
But whether we win or lose the present battles, I hope they snap us out of our denial. An advertising blitz (funded by dues checkoff) may save our asses this time. And some of our strikes (such as Boeing) may stave off concessions, proving that militancy still has no substitute. But unless we organize the unorganized, here and abroad, we're gonna lose the next battle if we don't lose this one. Before long, unions like the IAM, UAW, and USWA may simply cease to exist. Let's not wait for that to happen before we decide to do something different.
P.S. There is obviously no consensus that Change to Win represents "something different," or at least something that's different in the right way. Some people think it has mostly to do with money or egos. But I firmly believe that Change to Win is about more than saving money on per-caps. I believe it represents a (still too small) segment of the leadership of our movement that really is hearing the wake-up call. My belief is backed up by my experience with SEIU and UNITE-HERE. We'll have to reserve judgement on how committed the UFCW, Teamsters, and Carpenters are. But we gotta have faith. And I intend to spend the rest of my life making that faith real.
posted by submarino @ 11:41 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Excellent blog...we must continue organizing, no doubt. But what kind of world are we going for, and how are our every day efforts linked to that vision? Always a question I like to chew on. Another one is, is there an alternative to capitalism, what can we learn from the socialist revolutions of the past century, and what relevance does this have for workers, oppressed people and humanity in general now in 2005?
Check out Raymond Lotta, Maoist political economist and author who has lectured widely in the US and the third world on globalization and imperialism, next thursday October 20th at UCLA. See this link for details.
http://rwor.org/a/016/set-record-straight-tour.htm
Feel free to cross link with UAW rank-n-file blog at: www.futureoftheunion.com regarding The UAW and The Delphi Bankruptcy.
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