John Tirpak: 'We're striking for our community'

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SOCIALIST ACTION SEPTEMBER 1985 9 The following is an interview with John Tirpak, vice-president of United Steelworkers of America Local 1223, which represents workers currently on strike at the Wheeling-Pittsburgh works in Yorkville, Ohio.

The interview was conducted by Shirley Pasholk at the Aug. 10 anti-concessions meeting in Gary, Ind. Tirpak was one of the speakers at this meeting.

Socialist Action: Could you go into some of the issues involved in the Wheeling-Pittsburgh strike?

John Tirpak: Well, first and foremost is the monetary issue. There's an approximately 32-percent pay cut. Aside from that, following the abrogation of the contract by a federal bankruptcy court judge on July 17, we have several non-monetary issues.

These concern the company's desire to unilaterally install their own grievance procedure, the extremely ambiguous language regarding seniority, and contracting out. Then there's a clause in the cover letter of the proposal—it's not even a contract-which gives the company a unilateral right to interpret, change, or modify any part of that proposal on a whim.

S.A.: This isn't the first time you've been asked to make concessions. You've taken concessions several times before with the understanding that it was to keep the company afloat. Do you feel that these concessions did any good?

Tirpak: No, they didn't. The first set of concessions were more or less passed because of the mode set by the autoworkers. But it became obvious that concessions were not the answer. I think we've now reached the point where people have their backs to the wall. Even the most ardent conservative steelworkers are not prepared to work under the Wheeling-Pittsburgh proposal.

S.A.: You're at a meeting right now which has been called to plan a larger conference against concessions. What do you see as the prospects for such a conference?

Tirpak: Well, it's certainly a necessity. I don't know if conferences of this nature will bear fruit or not. If this one doesn't, perhaps the next one will—or in some other part of the country a movement will start.

But it's just human nature to revolt against the type of tyrannical events that have taken place the last couple of years as far as industrial workers are concerned in this country.

There is going to be civil disorder and social upheaval in this country if something isn't done, regardless of how many conferences you have. It's just human nature, and that's what's going

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'We have to be blatantly political' Ed Ott:

The following Ott, vice presider Local 8-149, Oil, Workers Union. ducted by Alan 1985. = FORUM E is an interview with Ed it of the New York area , Chemical and Atomic The interview was conBenjamin on Aug. 15, Socialist Action: How do you view the employers' current concessions offensive and what will be needed to fight back and win?

Ed Ott: I characterize concessions as a symptom of an overall disease. They are a small part of a general, across-the-board attack by large sections of capital against organized sectors of the labor There's the call for redoing work rules and many of the contractual protections that workers have won, for example. There are also all kinds of demands for out-and-out rollback of wages, two-tier wage systems, employeeparticipation schemes, stock-option plans, etc.

So how do we fight concessions?

I don't think we can isolate out the concessions fight because what is really happening is that basic power relationships are changing. Capital clearly has the upper hand at this point. In many instances they seem to be totally intolerant of even weak labor organizations. So they're out to destroy the organizations.

Their need to accumulate capital at the expense of workers has resulted in a strategy that is effectively reducing the standard of living of workers. So this attack has got to be seen in the broadest context. Otherwise we'll never develop a strategy that will be of an offensive nature.

My major problem in the short term with the no-concessions demand is that it is totally defensive. It doesn't have any appeal to those sections of workers who were once organized but are now either out of union jobs or unemployed. It doesn't have any appeal to the poor, and it doesn't have any appeal to those who work but who've never been organized. people who are under attack.

S.A.: Many union activists would argue that you first need a generalized fightback on the economic level before the question of independent politics can be posed as an action proposal.

Ott: I think that local unions and individuals will fight concessions as they are presented. They will fight two-tier where they have the ability to do soalthough most unions at this point seem to be accepting one of several variations of two-tier wage systems.

But the problem with just fighting concessions in the short term is that there'll be no tomorrow.

It's been clear in case after case that the employers' strategy of concessions, once it's got a toehold in a particular industry, spreads throughout it and then it spreads to other industries.

The thing that we have to understand is that it wouldn't have been possible to launch an economic attack against organized workers if the unions themselves had not been so isolated. I mean isolated within the context of the general working class, and isolated as a political institution within the general society.

Concessions and two-tier are symptomatic weaknesses of a general rot inside organized labor. We've had a labor movement that had a policy of cooperation with capital in the whole postWorld War II period. But now that the capitalists have decided that they don't want to cooperate, we have a labor movement that is unable or unwillingor both-to fight back.

Those who say we can only fight first on the economic issues are really talking about unions at a time when they had some real power and were primarily organizations of economic defense.

I think what we've seen in the last period—particularly in the last two years-is that unions are not able to carry out their traditional role as a means of economic defense for workers. What do we say to workers when the issue is plant shutdowns?

LOCAL909 HAW ONE CONCESSiON Leads Another What we need at this point is a broad discussion and a broad program in an attempt to revitalize the labor movement. Unionists are going to have to broaden out their conception of the labor movement.

We're going to have to become blatantly political-because without that we are not going to appeal to other sectors of society, gain some allies, pick up some real political strength, and begin to move forward.

If we fight what's going on now on a union-by-union basis, we'll never develop the organic ties to other sectors of society who are also under the heel.

S.A.: One of the principal roadblocks for working people has been the labor officialdom's strategy of reliance on the Democratic Party. How do you see the labor movement breaking out of the Democratic Party straitjacket?

Ott: At this point, for labor peopleparticularly for those who describe themselves as left or progressive-to say that they want to put energy into the Democratic Party and "reform" it is a fatal mistake.

It is wrong, I think, to place any faith in a political party that is really adopting the notion of a "convergence of ideas" within the framework of U.S. capital.

If you think about it, after the Mondale defeat, substantial portions of the Democratic Party leadership have decided to step to the right. They want to attempt to play politics within a set agenda that has already been laid out by the Republican Party and large portions of U.S. capital.

I think that a break with the Democratic Party is possible. I think that at this point we have to develop a network of our own—what we like to call independent political clubs-that can work toward independent political action. By we, I mean the people of the Workers Policy Project with whom I work.

I believe that in any Congressional district where we can get local unions and community organizations together and commit 500 people to the building of a new organization, a new type of politics, we should even begin to consider running candidates for local office.

I think it's time for the labor movement to take the short-term losses and cut its ties to the Democratic Party. I think it's possible to do this. It's the only way we're going to capture the imagination of people and, quite frankly, I think it's going to be the only way that we, as a labor movement, are going to be able to build strong organic ties to community, women's, and minority organizations. I don't believe they're going to find justice in the Democratic Party either. They too are going to be getting out.

on to the common bond that binds us

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