Supporting Democrats won't win strikes

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rest of the labor movement. Using this stop the scabs by themselves. DemoralGreyhound workers on strike in San Francisco in December 1983 «This union force could provide the nucleus to fight for workers and their allies."

OAKLAND, Calif.—Can 47 striking foundry workers in Oakland beat an employer bent on breaking their union and replacing union workers with scabs? Labor's recent track record would lead many unionists to say "no"" The leadership of the union disagrees.

Ignacio De La Fuente heads the 2000-member International Molders and Allied Workers Union, Local 164, in Oakland. Last year, profit-hungry employers forced strikes in 20 of the 27 units he represents. The results? No concessions.

The Molders union in the Bay Area, ATU AMALGAMATED COUNCI a GREYHOUND Loca -58 AGAINST GREYHOUND UNES however, like the steelworkers and machinists, usually goes to the bargaining table with a contract proposal which specifies that for the first six months or year of the new contract there will be no changes in the basic wage and fringebenefit package.

In effect, the contract is extended and a "reopener" clause inserted that provides for future salary and fringe benefit negotiations. Employers who refuse such a deal face à determined union, capable of maintaining militant picket lines, keeping scabs out of struck plants, and seeking the support of the Socialist Action/ May May Gong rest of the labor movement. Using this approach, the molders have, until now, avoided major concessions and made some very modest gains.

A few weeks ago the molders were faced with a new challenge that threatens to do grave harm to their union. Following the expiration of the sixmonth contract "extension, the Basic Tool and Supply Co. refused to negotiate an increase in wages or benefits. Despite increased production and the addition of new hires, the company insisted they had no money. As in the past, Local 164 prepared for a strike.

But this time, on the first day of the strike, Oakland police escorted company scabs into the plant, breaching the union lines for the first time in decades. Strikers who attempted to defend their jobs were arrested. A few days later reinforcements from local unions in the Alameda County Central Labor Council, including council Secretary-treasurer Richard Groulx, beefed up the picket lines to include more than 200 workers. Nevertheless, Oakland cops proceeded to arrest everyone in sight. The clubswinging strikebreakers smashed the picket line and the scabs, who are paid $5 an hour, went to work.

Officials on the spot This strike poses a number of special problems for the labor officialdom in the Bay Area. The scab company is located some 50 yards from the headquarters of the Alameda County Central Labor Council, which represents some 62,000 workers in 132 local unions. If the strike is broken, it will happen directly under the nose of the top leadership of the Bay Area labor This embarassing possibility has not been overlooked by the labor tops. On May 15 Groulx; Jimmy Herman, president of the International Longshorestop the scabs by themselves. Demoralization begins to set in. Perhaps another big rally is held; sometimes a third and fourth. The rallies are more for show than anything else. Eventually the strike ends. More often than not, the union is severely weakened. In some cases, as in the recent Oakland Grove Valve strike, the union is all but smashed.

The strike at Basic Tool and Supply Co., however, is still at the beginning stage. The leadership of the Molders union has indicated it will not take part in a rerun of past defeats. They have put out a call to the whole labor movement to join the picket lines and come to their aid. The local leadership has won wide respect in the Bay Area for its consistent solidarity with many of the key strikes in recent years.

Labor can win

There is no doubt that the labor movement has the capacity to win this small battle in Oakland. But more than one-hour picket lines once a week of a few hundred people is required. There are 2000 molders, 10,000 longshoremen, 70,000 teamsters, and 62,000 AFL-CIO members organized in the Bay Area. This constitutes a mighty force that could guarantee that a small number of striking molders do not have to be isolated and defeated.

This union force could also provide the nucleus for a new political party in the Bay Area, a labor party based on the unions; a party whose only interest is to fight for the working class and its allies.

The current leaders of the labor movement don't see things this way. In the Bay Area and elsewhere they are mobilizing their full energies, not to fight against the mounting employer offensive, but to back the Democratic Party candidate for president.

The strikebreaking role of the Democrats in Oakland and elsewhere is conveniently forgotten. The cuts in social services engineered by the Democrats are forgotten. The war policies of the Democrats are forgotten. The Democratic-supported budget cuts are forgotten. They only remember to repeat the words to the "new" song, "Dump Reagan?"

The molders are not just facing a small-time company intent on squeezing out a few more dollars in profit. Basic Tool and Supply Co. has hired the topgun law firm in the area to break the union. Together with the cops, and with the support of other corporations in the area, the company will fight to make its point loud and clear: 'Labor cannot win""

The molders are challenging this view. They are relying on their own strength and seeking to mobilize their allies in struggle. They have the power and numbers to win. "We will not rely on the courts or the politicans, says Ignacio De La Fuente. "We will rely on the workers. We make no concessions.' The fighting spirit evident among the molders is becoming more and more common as workers begin to understand that only the mobilization of their own power can bring victory. Out of these initial battles will emerge a new generation of fighters capable of taking on the bosses and their political parties.

And as this process unfolds, workers in the millions will see that protecting the bosses' profits runs counter to maintaining and improving their own standard of living. They will see that production for human needs and not profits is in the best interests of all workers.