UAW Lessons of 'Douglas' strike

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The frustration of American labor has grown with the setback to the workers at McDonnell-Douglas in Long Beach, Calif. The workers in rubber, Wilson foods, and Greyhound-to mention a few examples—had been forced to give up hard-earned gains. But the McDonnell-Douglas workers, under the leadership of President Bob Berghoff, decided they could not and would not tolerate "takebacks" by the profit-laden corporation, which had just reported a 28 percent increase in profits for 1983.

The company's single adamant offer with no negotiations was a direct challenge to union organization and strength. It incorporated a two-tier system, which lowered the wages of starting workers, most of them in lower labor grades. Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) was eliminated. Health insurance contributions by the company were frozen at 1982 levels. Workers could be moved from one job classification to another at the company's discretion. At the same time, the company was ignoring arbitration settlements favoring union workers. And these settlements are still waiting court action.

A militant union with a determined leadership struck McDonnell-Douglas in Long Beach. Unions from all over the United States and Canada called to help or ask for information. U.A. W. locals across the country called to support Local 148. Unions throughout the Long Beach and Los Angeles area expressed their support when contacted by a Union Solidarity Committee. With such support, why did the union suffer a setback?

International against strike The most important reason was the lack of support from the U.A. W. International, represented by President Bieber and Vice-President Majerus. Despite the fact that the workers had voted overwhelmingly to reject the initial offer of the company, the International forced a By DON HARMON and KAREN SHIEVE The great labor struggles of the 1930s remind us that the lessons of those victories can and should be applied to the employer's challenges of the 1980sunion-busting, run-away shops, and contract takeaways.

Today companies declare that times are hard and workers must accept lower wages and worse working conditions or face permanent layoffs and plant closings. But most trade union officials, emphasizing labor's "partnership" with the company, only add fuel to the employers fire by agreeing to concessions in return for weak promises that no layoffs or plant closings will be carried out. "What is good for the company is good International Viewpoint Box 80B 2520 N. Lincoln Ave.

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10 Socialist Action March 1984 second vote and at a critical juncture forced a third vote. Although the union rejected the offer by 72 percent, the workers knew the International had turned against them.

The International armchair generals have no stomach for a fight. They act as brokers between the union and the company. Instead of depending on the militancy of the U.A. W. membership, they are busy trying to become "labor statesmen," a sure prescription for defeat. This disease-lack of solidarity with the workers-has infected labor leaders from coast to coast.

WE STRUC WESTUS KABS Mare Rich/Socialist Action for the worker," they reasun, as company profits go up and the hard-fought gains of past struggles are taken away.

The workers involved in the great strikes of fifty years ago knew that their interests were in direct conflict with the interests of the company. There could be no partnership. The leaders of strikes like those in Toledo, Minneapolis, and San Francisco in 1934 knew that by mobilizing the workers they could challenge the boss from a position of strength. The way those strikes were carried out inspired confidence and promoted the idea that the workers had the power to win their demands.

Today labor officials prefer a demobilized and passive membership. They fear and mistrust the rank and file. The average union member, as a result, is left out of the decision-making process and is given no responsiblity in the functioning of the union. The union member, in turn, feels separated from the official union leadership and looks upon the union as just another bill collector.

The gulf between the rank and file only serves the employers, who exploit every opportunity to weaken the union. But when union members are encouraged to participate and given real responsibilities the ranks grow more self-confident, and support for the union is strengthened.

Because the union officials distrust the members, the importance of direct action by the members to achieve their demands and answer the employers" offensive is downplayed. Instead, emphasis is placed in the legal arena.

At the very time the company started to run ads threatening to replace striking workers, the International withdrew its share of the double strike benefits. Furthermore, they announced the forced third vote to the press without even consulting the local leadership. The combined pressure from the company and the abandonment by the International weakened the solidarity of the union, and many members crossed the picket lines to return to work.

On Friday, Feb. 10, under the combined pressure from Majerus, the International, and the company, Local 148 voted to go back to work, ending a militant struggle by an honest though inexperienced leadership and a courageous membership.

Historic strike lessons

Lessons can be learned from the setback at the McDonnell-Douglas plant. The need to mobilize the local membership is one. The need to mobilize the outside labor movement to support the strike is another, and especially the need to prepare for this support before the actual strike. In 1934, in the General Driver's Strike in Minneapolis, months of preparation made every union aware of the issues in the upcoming labor dispute. The Central Labor Union was lined up to support the truckers. The union press wrote articles about the problems of the truckers. The mobilization of Minneapolis labor before the strike prepared the way for victory.

In the Local 148 struggle, this process of mobilization of outside support started only during the strike. Then the leadership saw the necessity of union support and started a solidarity commitFREMONT G1983 RUSTLE When serious contract violations occur the present day grievance procedure leads inexorably to arbitration by a "neutral" third party. Arbitration usually takes months or years and is a costly drain on the union treasury. Arbitration can be an effective tactic, but only if it is one part of an overall strategy that emphasizes direct action by the members.

The most damaging aspect of relying on arbitration is that it encourages the workers to think that someone else can fight their battles for them. The direct action of the 1930s meant work slowdowns, sit-down strikes, marches, mass demonstrations, and rallies. In other words, the full creative energy of the workers was brought to bear against the boss.

Direct action in the 1930s also meant defiance of any law or injunction that restricted the workers" ability to fight the company. All of us have seen how injunctions have been used to destroy mass picket lines by limiting them to two or three pickets. The leaders of the Toledo Auto-Lite strike, by contrast, consciously defied a court injunction limiting picketing and built picket lines involving thousands of workers. That's the way to win a strike.

We must return to the theme of labor solidarity. "A victory for one is a victory for all" should be our rallying cry. The tee that brought many other locals to support the strike. As Berghoff stated, "This was this leadership's first strike, tim we will prepare the union for nexi Another lesson from the Minneapoli strike is that scabs must be confronted You cannot permit the courts with their injunctions or the police to keep the union from using its most effective power-to withhold its labor. Rallies and mass picket lines showed that the workrs of Local 148 were ready tor a con contaking unions locky ce make use of Striking unions today can make use of another strategy of the Minneapolis truckers. The trucker's union put out a bulletin everyday. If the bosses had a letter in the workers' hands one day, the union had their answer in the workers' hands the following day. Sometimes a threat from the company was answered within hours. The workers' morale was kept at a high pitch everyday by their strike bulletin.

When elections come up in March, Local 148's leadership will be under full attack from the anti-union right wing within the union as well as the company. The leadership must develop a fighting program to rebuild its ranks and prepare or new struggles with this giant cor glomerate.

To avoid a replay of this setback, the ranks must be involved in the decisionnaking processes of the union at á quali tatively higher level. The tremendous power of a determinec membership could serve as a rallying point for other workers eager to turn the tide on concessions. Only this and the mobilized strength of a unified trade union movement can defeat a giant like McDonnellDouglas.

STEELE READY? only effective way to resist the companies" offensive is to employ the full force of the working class and our friends in other arenas of struggle-Blacks, Latinos, women, and the unemployed. Turning the labor movement into a fighting social movement that takes up the cause of all our natural allies will aid all of us in our fight against our common opponent-the capitalist class.

One important lesson learned by many persistent fighters in the 1930s is that it is not enought to be a militant trade unionist. Typical trade unionism is founded upon the premise that workers need corporations and their owners. Corporations, after all, "provide jobs." That kind of thinking, whether conscious or not, promotes the status-quo. It gives the green light to an economic system that pits union workers against non-union workers, employed against unemployed, Black against white, men against women, and American worker against foreign worker.

As socialists we reject the divide-andrule tactics of the corporations. Only the corporations profit by dividing the working class into so-called "special interests." Our goal is to break down those artifical barriers and work toward reconstructing a new society where decisions are based on human welfare and not profit.

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El Salvador NO MORE VIETNAMS!

milin: ties. The defeat just suffered in Grenada is a tragic reminder of the disastrous consequences of resorting to violence within the workers' movement.

We are including excerpts from the FMLN and FPL statements of December 1983. The complete versions of these documents can be found in Issues No. 46 and 47 of International Viewpoint. (For further information concerning the political platform of the FMLN/FDR see the "Proposal for the Formation and Platmade public, it appears that the debate involves the historic question of class alliances; the character and aims of negotiations; and the question of the anti-imperialist united front and the building of the revolutionary party.

We do not necessarily agree with the points made by either wing of the dispute. Unfortunately, we have not yet seen clear expressions of the different sides in the current controversy among the Salvadoran revolutionists. We do,

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