NYU workers end strike

Scan page 5

Subscribe today and get a free pamphlet or book!

SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1988 5

BELLE KENNEDY

NEW YORK-Clerical and technical workers at New York University (NYU)

began to return to work on Sept. 19 after waging a militant three-week strike for pay equity and an agency shop.

In a mass meeting, union members voted by a large majority to approve the proposed three-year contract. The settlement provides for a 5.5 percent across-the-board pay raise this year, which is close to the university's original offer. But it also offers additional compensation to workers at the lower end of the pay scale.

"We feel we won," said Peter Filardo, treasurer of Local 3882 of the United Staff Association, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers. "Our focus has been to address the issue of equity, and this moves us in that direction."

The membership of Local 3882 is 70 percent women and 50 percent Black and Latino. These lowest-paid workers sought pay equity with the mostly male workers who work on comparable jobs-such as elevator operators, security guards, and porters-and who earn about $2000 more per year.

Unfortunately, the union failed to gain an agency shop in the settlement. An percent in the second. Although they did not get their demand for an agency shop (all professors would pay dues to the union or if they didn't like the union, would contribute to a fund for students), the professors felt they received at least a decent compromise.

The professors' bargaining committee had a policy of openness to the membership from the beginning and had no trouble presenting a tentative agreement to its members in a realistic way. However, this did not hold true for Local 2071. Out of 908 workers, only about 500 stayed off the job me following free one-year sub only) 'Assault on Nicaragua' 'The Hidden History of Zionism' six-month sub) •Poland: Fight for Workers Democracy' 'Lessons of the P-9 strike' Other: agency shop would have meant that all workers who benefit from the union have to pay union dues or their equivalent.

USA was formed in 1978. After a strong organizing drive last spring, the union has over 920 members. The vote to strike was almost unanimous.

Students and faculty formed strikesupport committees. Some faculty members held classes off campus; many donated a day's worth of pay to Local 3882's hardship fund. Several other unions-the Teamsters and those of UPS, AT&T, and Bell Telephone-refused to go through the picket lines.

Inside the university, though, things were more difficult. There are five separate bargaining units at NYU, and the other four crossed the picket lines. The fight in the future will be for a single campus-wide union; as it is now, the university administration pits working people on the campus against each other.

It's been a hard fight for Local 3882, but the union has taken an important step forward. The campus and residents of the Lower Manhattan community (for many of whom NYU is the landlord) are now well aware of the union's existence. And the experience the NYU workers have gained will be put to use in all future struggles.

throughout the strike. The rest continued working or stayed home.

In a confused and emotional meeting of 379 members of Local 2071, the agreement was turned down 221-158. Those who voted "no" did so for mixed reasons. There was a sharp feeling that the union leadership has not been honest with the membership. Thus, the vote was more a vote of "no confidence" than a realistic assessment of the strategy and tactics of the strike. A thorough-going evaluation of tactics and strategy is sorely needed now.

That's right! If you buy a one-year subscription, we will send you a copy of "Assault on Nicaragua: The Untold Story of the U.S. Secret War' (Walnut Publishing Co., 115 pp., $4.95 cover price) or any other one of our 17 Socialist Action cover price).

A six-month subscription entitles you to any one of the other 16 S.A. pamphlets listed on page 6.

Send to: 3435 Army St., Rm. 308, San Francisco, CA 94110. the democratic and open meetings of the IEB were simply suspended, a meeting of the Reuther caucus took place and the IEB was reconvened-with the decisions already made.

In the immediate post-war period, Reuther and his associates could still present themselves as progressives, and win real, but limited, gains for the UAW membership. With the ending of the boom in the 1970s, this situation has ended.

Since 1978, the administration caucus has presided over the wave of concessions and layoffs that have severely weakened the UAW and caused immense damage to its members. "New Directions" arose in response to these last 10 years.

restless membership"

In its September 1986 "New Directions Movement Report," the origin of the opposition is expressed: "A number of elected local union leaders had begun to feel a personal sense of frustration, and rising pressure from a restless, dissatisfied membership."

On this basis, Jerry Tucker was selected to run against Worley for the regional director's post. But at the 1986 convention of the UAW, Tucker lost by a mere 16/100 of a vote-after a whole series of dirty tricks and sordid maneuvers, including racist attacks, by the official UAW leadership.

These tactics were so obvious that "New Directions" went to court, after exhausting UAW channels, and got the new election ordered.

"New Directions" has tapped into a groundswell of anger and militancy. Tucker talks about his family connections with the American Railway Union of Eugene Debs and with the revolutionary Industrial Workers of the World. At the same time, he adds cautiously: "We seek to humanize (capitalism). We seek to make it a little more benevolent."

There is no question that autoworkers, and many other unionists besides, are eagerly seeking new directions. The question isand our experiences in the struggle will determine the answer-whether this movement can provide a true and steady compass for the future.

Scan page 6

... Dukakis's 'miracle' - For whom?

Order your Socialist Action pamphlets today! 6 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1988 aaa page of at least some job waiting for thein they needed it.

One economist, James Howell, has gone off the deep end to call the state's economic experience "a dramatic revitalization that was the second most significant step in market capitalism" (the first being the English Industrial Revolution).

But unemployment in Massachusetts has not been driven down by the policies of Dukakis. This has been the result of a combination of factors:

• the presence of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and its spawning of thousands of new high-tech companies which employ ex-industrial workers from higher-paying jobs;

• a 1980 ballot initiative that slashed property taxes, creating an alleged favorable "business climate;"

• and the outrageous cost of housing.

(Massachusetts consistently ranks first or second in housing costs in the United States, with the average home costing around $170,000, and apartments-when they can be found-priced hundreds of dollars per month above most other cities).

In fact, housing costs are a major deterrent to those thinking about moving into the state to take advantage of the "miracle." As Barbara Anderson, head of the Citizens for Limited Taxation, said, "It's not hard to keep unemployment down when population growth is near zero and nobody is moving into the state."

Putting welfare mothers to work One of the Duke's great "successes" has been the Employment and TrainingChoices (E.T.) program, which forces mothers on welfare into the workforce. This "model program" is supposed to compassionately fix the nation's welfare mess. Capitalist politicians, business leaders, and even some social reformers think it's great.

Teresa Arnott, a University of Massachusetts economist, looks at it differently. Last year in The Nation magazine, she said of E.T.: "Welfare mothers are used like immigrants used to be, as cheap workers in a short labor market... The program takes welfare recipients and serves them up to the business community on a silver platter." No wonder the capitalists are backing it.

E.T., Arnott continued, , "accepts the marketplace and all the values that go along with it—the racism, the sexism, the differential wages for women, all the inequalities."

About 40 percent of the women in E.T. end up back on welfare. The rest are given jobs with wages way below what's needed to raise a family in Massachusetts. More than half of the E.T. "graduates"-even those with jobs—live below the so-called poverty line.

Plant closings law

Another Dukakis "innovation" is his plant-closings law. He likes to talk about how the law protects workers and their communities, but this "consensusbuilding" law, like many of the Duke's laws, lacks any enforcement mechanisms.

The law is supposed to resolve issues through a consultative process. Business likes it because it brings stability and predictability, supposedly cutting down on wildcat strikes, boycotts, and general labor unrest.

Despite the Dukakis campaign literature, the Massachusetts Mature Industries Act never gave workers in plants that were closing "the right to 90-days notice." The act relies on voluntary compliance. And the number of workers who received no Brooklyn, NY 11240-4830 IMPACI Post Office Box 404830 ISUALS 2-966-9619 Alfordable photos, cartoons, caricatures and lustrations for the movement and the progressive press DUKE 7SDI NEVER MAYBE notice of plant closings has risen in the state, up to 75 percent.

The number receiving 13 or more weeks of severance pay from their employer remained at 1 percent, while those receiving no severance pay has risen to 86 percent. Tom Gallagher of the New England Equity Institute puts it this way: "There is less to the law than meets the eye. It provides no sanctions against employers who willfully ignore the law and fail to provide benefits mandated by the state."

Defense and foreign policy One mustn't ignore the most hypocritical factor in the economic miracle: defense contracts. The latest massive arms buildup, which began under Jimmy Carter, drove the Massachusetts economy to new highs. To this day the state's prosperity is propped up by research into and the manufacture and sale of the weapons of war.

The Duke's recent turnaround in favor of funding research on Star Wars shows that he's no dummy. MIT and businesses here provide the backbone of that research, and the Duke can ill afford to alienate those in his own backyard on their bread-and-butter issue.

When he was only a governor it was easy to pay liberal lip service to the call for a halt to SDI, but now that he's a real presidential candidate the requirement to stake out a clearer position on "defense" issues puts him on the spot. He's even gone so far as to state that he would, "of course," deploy SDI if it were called for.

The Dukakis defense policy calls for building up conventional forces-those forces most likely to be called upon for escapades like the invasion of Grenada and Send order and money (include 65 for postage) cents MYCAMPAIGN ON THE DEFENAVE...

WHATEVER GAVE YOU THAT IDEA?

BY POWELL FOR THE HEWS AND OBSERVEF the Persian Gulf fiasco. At a recent news conference he articulated his turnaround on the nuclear freeze, a position he once spoke out strongly for in Massachusetts. He wants to "take on the leadership of the Soviet Union."

Dukakis continued, "We are united in our commitment to a strong, effective and credible nuclear deterrent, strong, wellequipped and well-trained conventional forces, and to a strong America that ... is No. 1."

Dukakis speaks out of both sides of his mouth as he promises to balance the budget and reduce the deficit, and as he makes it clear that we can expect our tax dollars to go for building more weapons for use in U.S. adventures around the globe, including Central America.

While Dukakis once called the contra war "illegal and immoral," he has had nothing to say about recent attempts by Senate Democrats to provide more aid to the Nicaraguan counterrevolution. He wants to derail Republican attempts to manipulate the "differences" between himself and his running mate, Lloyd Bentsen, on contra aid.

The Duke and sexual politics Dukakis has had one encounter with "sexual politics," and it's been a disaster for him ever since. Back a few years ago, The Boston Globe reported that two exemplary foster parents, a gay male couple in Boston, were housing two homeless children.

Before the day was out Dukakis ordered the children removed from the home, and then issued a new foster-care policy: TwoDemocracy in America: Fact and Fiction by Paul Siegel ($.75)

Dynamics of the Nicaraguan Revolution by Alan Benjamin and Jeff Mackler ($1.50) How Can Labor Fight Back? A Strategy for Today by Nat Weinstein and Carl Finamore ($1.25)

South Africa: The Black Unions Go Forward by Michael Schreiber ($1.25)

Toward a Socialist America:

What Socialist Action Stands For edited by Asher Harer ($.75)

The Meaning of Gorbachev's Reforms by Alan Benjamin ($.75)

Poland: Solidarnosc and the Fight for Workers' Democracy By Zbigniew Kowalewski ($1.50)

The Hidden History of Zionism by Ralph Schoenman ($3.00)

Marxism's Lessons for Today by Ann Robertson ($1.00)

Army. St. Rm. 308, parent, married, heterosexual families were to be the priority recipients of foster children.

Gays were, and are, outraged. And so are many feminists and liberals who supported Dukakis in the past. The new policy illegitimizes unmarried couples, whether gay or straight. Gays and their supporters have challenged Dukakis frequently on the campaign trail on this issue.

The Duke and organized labor On Aug. 24 the AFL-CIO leadership endorsed Dukakis, once again turning to a Democratic "friend of labor" who will, they hope, help it win strikes, organize, stem the tide of contract concessions, and enforce safety on the job.

Many of these labor misleaders believe that the union retreats of this decade have been a byproduct of Republican rule. But how much do they really believe it?

Ten years ago Lane Kirkland, AFL-CIO president, said: "When the Republicans are in, business wins because it owns the party. When the Democrats are in, business wins because it extracts the price of 'business confidence.' That price usually includes the sacrifice of the main elements of ... labor's program." Is it any different Democrats began backing off from "labor's program" before the endorsement. In the one Dukakis position paper on labor issues released so far, there is no mention of the union leaders' major concern: labor law reform. The AFL-CIO wants to penalize unfair labor practices more severely, accelerate union election procedures, and permit certification based on signed authorization cards.

But in the Dukakis position paper, the candidate stresses "quality of worklife" and other "employee participation" efforts that promote increased productivity and product quality—with or without the existence of a union. And this year's Democratic platform is the first one in 40 years that doesn't call for repeal of the Taft-Hartley "right-towork" laws that bust unions in more than 20 states.

What road for labor?

As usual, the Democrats clearly pose workers with a critical choice: Continue to vote for the so-called "friends" who really represent the bosses, or break with the twin parties of capitalism and form a labor party. A labor party, based on the unions, would stand independent of the bosses, speak for all the oppressed, and work to establish a government of the workers where human needs come before profits.

George Bush is right when he characterizes Michael Dukakis as just another Democrat cut from the same cloth. George Bush should know, because he's really no different. They both represent the capitalists, and they both represent a dead-end road for the U.S. working class.

Lessons of the P-9 by Jake Cooper ($1.50)

Philippines: Reform or Revolution?

by Roberto Pumarada ($1.00)

Everyday Life in Capitalist America by Hayden Perry ($1.25)

Student Activism in the 1980g by Adam Wood and Suzanne Forsyth ($1.00)

Lessons of Working Class Defeats An Analysis of the Popular Fronts i Spain, Chile and Peru by Bill Wilner, Jeff Mackler, Alan Benjamin, David Kirschner, Leon Trotsky reprint ($1.50)

Is the 'Rainbow' a Real Alternative?: A Response by Shirley Pasholk, Joe Pyan, and Kwame M.A. Somburu ($1.00)

Stock Market Crash: Its Meaning for Working People by Emest Mandel, Nat Weinstein, and Lynn Henderson ($1.50)

The Legacy of Malcolm X by Joe Ryan, Nat Weinstein, and Kwame M.A. Somburu ($1.25)

CA

----- pull-quotes -----

pamphlets, including "The Hidden History of Zionism" (104 pp., $3

The hidden- hustory of Ziovism

South Africa: The Black Unions Go Forward