Are labor strikes obsolete?

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SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL1990 19 "The balance has shifted," said Labor Law Action Center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, "Labor's trump card in a dispute, the strike, is no longer trump."

Robert Baptiste, a Washington, D.C., attorney for labor unions, said that in a strike "there was always a sense that people would eventually say, 'Enough, let's sit down and get serious." But he added, "Now, companies just want to get rid of unions."

"One reason that companies now think that goal is possible," reports Peter Kilborn in the March 13 New York Times, "is the lesson they drew from the illegal strike of 11,500 Federal air -traffic controllers [PATCO] in August 1981, seven months into Ronald Reagan's first term as President. After the striking controllers defied a back-to-work order, Mr. Reagan dismissed them, filled their ranks with permanent replacements and the union collapsed."

Reagan's success, Baptiste said, "made it respectable to bust unions."

Since the busting of PATCO, the employers, backed by the government and courts, have accelerated their attacks on organized labor. The number of strikes involving 1000 employees or more continues to decline. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the 1970s there was an average of 289 strikes a year involving 1000 or more workers. In the last five years the average is down to 52.

Since 1981 employers have openly challenged union power with scabs. The workers at Hormel, in Austin, Minn., lost their strike after the company brought in replacement workers and the International union refused to continue the fight.

Replacement workers broke strikes at International Paper Co., the Boise Cascade Corp., the Phelps Dodge Corp., and Continental Airlines. In the case of Trade-union membership continues to drop. Only 16.4 percent of the national work force are in unions.

And strikes that have occurred are in general met with fierce employer attack. In most cases the employers respond by hiring "replacement workers"-scabs.

Eastern Airline workers, for example, have been out on strike for more than 13 months. They were replaced by Frank Lorenzo's scabs as rapidly as he could hire them. With the exception of qualified mechanics, Eastern has hired a full load of scabs to fly its aircraft. But the strikers' boycott of the airline is making it difficult for Lorenzo to fly profitably.

Greyhound workers went on strike at the beginning of March. Immediately Greyhound's Lorenzo, Fred Curry, hired replacement workers to drive the buses. The workers there are standing firm against Curry's union-busting attempt.

Defeats fuel hesitation Continental the unions were routed.

These defeats and the failure of the top union leaderships to effectively respond to the combined anti-labor power of the employers and government is behind the hesitation of workers to go on strike.

In fact all the strikes cited were imposed on the workers by the employers. The workers only fought back after facing no choice —except to accept union-gutting contracts. Correctly, they decided to stand and fight in these defensive battles.

Where our strength lies But the response of the top union officials to this decade of setbacks and defeats is to continue the same old policies: push for a change in law, find friendly capitalist politicians, and "good" investment advisers or lawyers to Malik Miah "fight" the bosses. membership's potential chance.

Yet a mobilized membership is where the strength lies to break union-busting employers like Lorenzo and Curry. It is the only power to defend our unions and win strikes. Other tactics, including boycotts, can only complement the necessary picket lines to stop production. In the transportation industry, for example, it means grounding aircraft, buses, trains, and trucks.

For many workers who live the illusion that we can't be replaced because of our skills, the busting of unions of skilled mechanics, pilots, and paper workers shows otherwise. "If you can replace airtraffic controllers you can certainly replace bus drivers," said Gary Burtless, a labor economist at the Brookings Institute.

the presence of the wife. Women who cannot Use the power? No The challenge facing labor in the 1990s is to go back to the tactics that won our unions in the 1930s: unity of all of labor on the picket line to stop production. It is when the boss is unable to sell his product that the employer and his backers in Washington and in the courts will be forced to come to the negotiating table. That's what ultimately happened in the successful Pittston strike.

As the U.S. and world economies move toward an international recession, the employers will push their attacks even more. Workers who have been in battle will be an important reservoir of lessons wherever they may be working, and will be in the vanguard of fighting these attacks. The key lesson to draw from the current situation is that rank-and-file leadership will be key to advance and win coming battles.

Directed by Volker Schlondorff (Tin Drum, Lost Honor of Katarina Blum, Circle of Deceit), the chilling effect of the novel comes through by his use of the camera, the costumes, and the contrast between beautiful peaceful scenery and the film's grim reality.

Atwood, a Canadian, is a feminist and active in Canada's women's movement. When her novel was first published in 1986, she noted how her ideas came from extrapolating on current events and pushing them to their extreme.

For example, in Canada around 1986, legislation was pending that would authorize the husband or next male kin the sole right of granting women an abortion. Atwood also drew upon Romania's ban on abortion and contraceptives.

What makes the film's message especially chilling is Atwood's ability to make the present-day erosion of women's rights into a convincing nightmare. The film's message is a cautionary tale of what could happen if we do not continue to fight for our rights.

history."

Ms. Ernée Simpson, a multi-talented Black actress, makes the audience forget that the original Mary Harris Jones (Mother Jones) was a blue-eyed, blonde, white Irish woman, as she gets inside of the complex "Mother Jones" character. Simpson's work is believable and moving and marks the arrival of a vital mature artist.

Greenwood's Touring Artists Group (T.A.G.) premiered "Jones" on Jan. 1213, 1990, at the home of the Gospel Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles' Black community. Despite performing in a building with poor acoustics, no curtain, poor sight lines, and only fair lighting, the play was brought alive by the dynamic acting of Ms. Emée Simpson, an artist who will soon be heard from in communities around the nation because T.A.G. intends to perform "Jones" nationally.

The play is now available to groups and organizations by "The Theater that Comes to the Audience." Groups interested in booking "Jones" may call (213) 231-0038 or (213) 732-1754.