Union ranks debate concessions fight

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SOCIALIST ACTION JANUARY 1986 CHICAGO-Some 450 union activists from across the country participated in the founding conference of the National Rank-and-File Against Concessions (NRFAC) held here Dec. 6-8.

The new organization, according to conference organizers, hopes to build a national network of union locals committed to a "no-concessions" policy.

The major goal of NRFAC is to overcome the problems caused when union locals are left on their own to fight against the current epidemic of employer demands for concessions. The statement of purpose approved at the conference calls for NRFAC to "provide direct, immediate aid to those unions who have chosen to fight concessions."

Initial steps toward building a national anti-concessions network began earlier this year in Minnesota after a number of local labor leaders came together to organize support for the Local P-9 packinghouse workers' struggle against Hormel.

This and other strikes waged in other parts of the country by steelworkers at Wheeling-Pittsburgh and shipbuilders at Bath, Maine, convinced a core group of 35 local union leaders to issue a call in June for a planning meeting which then provided the impetus for the formation of NRFAC.

Protest (continued from page ference in no way made the world safer. Reagan came home and immediately took steps to build the new first-strike weapon system called "Star Wars." The U.S. military budget has soared to record heights.

Union-busting and demands for concessions from working people are the watchwords for U.S corporations. The government, at the federal, state, and municipal level continues to gut essential social services.

Labor ready to act Already, large international unions such as the United Steel Workers of America, the United Food and Commercial Workers, and the International Association of Machinists have shown their readiness to oppose the warmakers by endorsing the April 20, 1985, demonstration for peace, jobs and justice in Washington, D.C.

In San Francisco, the labor movement actively participated in the planning of the local demonstration. All eight Bay Area central labor councils endorsed the march and sent representatives to the planning committee. John Henning, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, co-chaired the rally. Large spirited labor contingents marched.

Delegates to the recent AFL-CIO convention challenged that organization's traditional all-out support for U.S. foreign policy.

Yet, despite the urgent need for visible and unified antiwar protests and evidence of widespread support for the four demands of last April's demonstrations, the antiwar movement nationally is in a state of disarray.

Many of the coalitions in various cities that organized participation in the April 20 actions have disbanded. In most areas, fall antiwar activities were quite modest. Some notable exceptions were union-led demonstrations and rallies against apar -theid in Newark, Detroit, and elsewhere.

Also, in San Francisco a successful conference was held Nov. 2 [see December 1985 Socialist Action]. The San Francisco Mobilization for Peace, Jobs and Justice brought together labor, civil rights, peace, and religious organizations in support of A major theme running throughout the conference was the question of uniting the labor movement to provide solidarity for local unions struggling in isolation against concessions demands.

In keeping with this, keynote speaker David Patterson, director of USWA District 6 in Ontario, Canada, and vice president of the Canadian Labor Congress (CLC), urged conference participants to follow the coalition-building strategy of the CLC and to force union leaders to join together in carrying out the fight against concessions.

The need for aggressive union leadership was the focus of the main panel discussion. Speakers on the panel included Ron Weisen, president of USWA Local 1397; Pete Kelly, president of UAW Local 160; Jim Guyette, president of UFCW Local P-9 (currently on strike in Austin, Minn.); James Coakley, president of UAW Local 1200; and Greg Arnette, member of the executive board of USWA 1293.

The remainder of the conference was devoted mainly to informative workshops on such topics as strike strategies against concessions; building local coalitions; and the struggles in the steel, auto, and shipbuilding industries.

Unfortunately, it is NRFAC will be able jectives.

With U.S.

supplied planes to massacre civilians from the AIR...

DUARTE its four demands.

The decision last June of the national April Actions' steering committee not to initiate any fall actions was largely responsible for this lull in antiwar activity. At the same steering committee meeting, a motion was passed to plan a national demonstration for April 26, 1986.

Such a demonstration is sorely needed to help counter the U.S. government's assault on workers at home and abroad. It would have the potential to actively involve the labor unions and to bring thousands into the streets in support of jobs, peace, and justice.

A serious setback Unfortunately, the April Actions' Administrative Committee met in November and decided not to go ahead with an April 26 demonstration. It said it lacked the necessary organization and not clear that to meet its ob - ... we've finally solved We'll our HUMAN simply RIGHTS sweep PROBLEM. it... to the practical aspects of how NRFAC will go about achieving its goals. Beyond approving a set of by-laws establishing an organizational structure for NRFAC and electing an executive board, the issue of what specific course of action NRFAC will pursue in the coming months was not addressed.

Important questions, such as how NRFAC plans to reach out to the labor movement to recruit new affiliates to its solidarity network and how NRFAC intends to raise and distribute aid to unions involved in anti-concessions fights, were unanswered.

Another unfortunate limitation of the conference was the bureaucratic way the floor debate was controlled.

For a rank-and-file organization, the time permitted for discussion from the floor was extremely limited. Less than an hour was set aside during the entire two-day conference for participants to take part in the conference decision-making process.

In addition, the discussion of NRFAC's proposed by-laws was abruptly cut off after an amendment was presented from the floor. Another sour note was sounded at the close of the conference when a bitter dispute broke out over the fairness of the election of the two regional directors from the Chicago-Gary area to NRFAC's executive board.

If NRFAC is to fulfill its promise as a vehicle for waging a fightback campaign against concessions, it is clear that larger forces must be drawn in and more democratic procedures adopted so that the problems of the founding conference can be overcome.

...under the CARPETBOMBING! the American people.

Millions of people in this country support the right of the people of Central America to govern themselves, free from U.S. intervention. Millions oppose U.S. support to apartheid. Millions oppose the nuclear arms race. Labor's demands for jobs and social justice at home are vital issues for all working people.

These four interrelated issues have the potential of broadening participation in the antiwar movement. The four demands make it easier to get official labor participation since most labor unions are on record against apartheid and for the nuclear freeze.

Explaining the negative impact of U.S. military policy on jobs is essential for increasing the active participation of STOP BELLY Workers at Beverly Manor convalescent hospital in San Francisco protest company attempts to decertify their union. Beverly is part of the largest convalescent chain in the world, with over 900 homes.

The chain, which earned $46.9 million in profit in 1 984, starts its employees at $3.95 an hour.

working people. These four issues are the most effective demands for mobilizing the widespread sentiment for peace, jobs, and justice.

Mass actions needed

One argument being raised against organizing a national spring mobilization is the need to focus attention on the electoral arena with the project of trying to defeat the most outspoken pro-war candidates.

The policy of war abroad and austerity at home, however, is a bipartisan one. Replacing one Democrat or Republican with another won't result in any real change. Instead, it will divert attention from building an independent protest movement that can effect positive change. Such an approach also ignores the fact that the attractiveness of the four demands extends beyond supporters of any particular party or candidate.

The decision of the April Actions' steering committee, reached by a handful of leaders of solidarity and peace groups in New York, points to the need for a broader national coalition-a coalition that includes representatives of labor, local coalitions, student groups, religious organizations, civil rights and women's groups. The potential for building such a coalition clearly exists.

The decision of the San Francisco coalition to call for an April mobilization in the Bay Area is a positive one that needs to be repeated in other parts of the country. There is still time for the April Actions' Administrative Committee to reverse its November decision and issue a call for nationally coordinated de -monstrations in April 1986.

was preceded by a highly successful Nov.

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