Lessons of protracted battles at Eastern & Greyhound: Union-busting won't be defeated with labor leaders' no-win strategy

Scan page 17

Greyhound workers on picket duty at Pittsburgh, Pa., bus terminal. They have been out for over five months.

"Employers! We want fair contracts." This is a central demand raised by workers at solidarity rallies and picketlines across the country.

The bosses today are not only seeking to impose concessionary contracts, but also when possible, to destroy the unions. As working people realize the high stakes involved in labor conflicts (whether they are directly affected or not), union-to-union and worker-to-worker solidarity becomes more common.

A typical example of the type of solidarity developing among working people occurred in San Francisco July 19. A spirited picket of several hundred marched in front of the Greyhound Terminal, where members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) have been on a national strike since March 2, 1990.

Workers from more than a dozen unions joined the picketline. They included departrent store workers organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, janitors organized by the Service Employees International Union, longshoremen, Teamsters, typographical workers, teachers, electrical workers, ironworkers, and machinists.

Marching from Greyhound to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper building and then to the Emporium and Macy's department stores, demonstrators showed solidarity for workers facing union-wakening contract proposals by their managements.

While the participants were clearly determined to stand up to union-busting, many also realized that the labor battles of today are very tough. Workers at Eastern Airlines, for example, have been on strike 17 months. Those at Greyhound, for five months. In both cases scabs have been brought in to replace strikers, and thus a loud chant began outside Greyhound: "Scabs Got To Go!"

At both Eastern and Greyhound, the rank and file have been firm and are the backbone of the strikes. Few of them have become scabs. Their determination to expose the union-busting tactics of the owners of these two companies now in bankruptcy is why many working people refuse to fly Eastern or ride Greyhound buses.

At the same time, the top leaderships of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) are undermining the membership's ability to win. The top officials believe it is impossible to win a strike through mass picket actions that close a company tight. Their strategy relies on pro-labor lawyers, investment bankers, and "friends" in Congress to get the employer to negotiate.

The ATU leadership has even floated the idea of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) as a solution-although Greyhound's owners reject it out of hand.

The IAM officials likewise see ESOPs as the most viable way to "save" the airline industry from corporate raiders like Eastern's Frank Lorenzo. The IAM officials are currently leading a buyout effort at United Airlines. They would do the same at Eastern, if they thought it could be arranged.

The state of Eastern «Worse in the near term, better in the long term," is the financial forecast for Eastern Airlines. That's what Martin Shugrue, the court-appointed trustee who replaced Eastern boss Frank Lorenzo in April, told a mid-July news conference. Eastern, he said, expects to lose $500 million in 1990. In 1989, Eastern lost a record $852 million. That's more than $2 million a day.

Eastern, however, expects to continue flying this year and next with the aid of creditors' money in an escrow account. Shugrue has told scab replacement workers that they 16 SOCIALIST ACTION GREYHOUND are the key to Eastern's recovery. At the same time, Shugrue is in secret negotiations with the IAM leadership about ending their Eastern managers are also seeking a pact with the pilots who honored the IAM's picket line until last November when they called off their strike. Few of the union 'The bosses are willing to use all means to replacement workers pilots, have been Eastern.

Currently, the majority of the Eastern pilots are scabs. They are now in a 30-day cooling-off period that began July 10. Afterwards, they can go on strike, but it's doubtful they will considering they were hired as strike-breakers.

The attempt by Eastern managers to bolster traffic while claiming to "negotiate" with the unions is winning back some travelers. But the rank-and-file campaign of "no peace" until there is a contract, is making it difficult for Eastern to become profitable.

Shugrue is also talking with Northwest Airlines about a buyout of Eastern. Northwest wants Eastern's most lucrative routes, gates, and a maintenance facility without taking back strikers. So far, with the exception of Trump Shuttle, all asset sales by Eastern has excluded retention of former Eastern workers.

Meanwhile, on July 25, a federal grand jury in New York indicted Eastern and nine of its managers for violating safety guideAUGUST 1990

GREYNOUND

lines by falsilying logbooks on alleged maintenance work done before the strike began. This is the first time an airline has ever faced criminal charges.

Can Greyhound survive?

Greyhound strikers are in a similar situation. The determination of the ranks forced Greyhound into bankruptcy and forced the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to declare that Greyhound engaged in and is engaging in unfair labor practices affecting commerce." Yet Greyhound managers have been able to replace most strikers with scabs. Load factors are still unprofitable but are climbing.

According to a recent financial study on Greyhound after it filed for bankruptcy, by the end of June the load factor was slightly above 70 percent—similar to a year ago. It has cut unprofitable routes, mainly to rural areas.

Yet Greyhound's debt remains too high to service and operate the carrier profitably. As at Eastern under Lorenzo, most of Greyhound's tickets are being sold at a sharp discount. Thus the high load factors are not generally adequate to cover operating costs.

Can Greyhound survive? The longer it is able to reorganize and win back travelers with fewer buses and routes, that may be possible.

The creditors are not too concerned about the strike except as it affects profits. They will give Greyhound's Fred Currey as much time as they can before pushing for liquidation, in which they would receive very little of their money back.

The NLRB ruling against Greyhound, moreover, will be heard by an administrative judge in mid-September. As is "normal" in NLRB cases, it will likely take months before a final decision is made. The outcome of the strike will be determined way before then.

Lessons of the struggle The rank and file at Eastern and Greyhound are discovering what many workers learn when they do battle to protect their jobs today: The bosses are willing to use all means ON SIN ::231ARS5 A?3:*30

ED COUNCIL

HOUND UNIONS L-CIO •TAMINAL LACE: OFFICE MOYEES ON RIKE MINST to break a strike, including immediately bringing in replacement workers and using the courts and cops to limit pickets and enforce injunctions. The so-called friendly Democrats are also quick to back the unjust laws.

In addition, many strikers are learning how the policies of the top officials of the unions tie their hands behind their backs. The strategy of the labor tops is one of no-win. It begins with respecting all antilabor laws even if it means the employer can keep up production.

Once workers are prevented from stopping production (in the case of transportation, grounding the aircraft and buses), they are less able to force a boss to negotiate and accept a decent contract. The rank and file are then put in the position of using a much weaker tactic-organizing a consumer boycott.

Boycott tactics are generally used by labor as an auxiliary to effective picketlines aimed at stopping production. But when boycotts become the strategy to win, workers generally end up in a prolonged tug of war with the employer: a test of which side can outlast the other or win the most public support.

The problem is that this strategy allows the employers time to regroup and attempt to break the strike by scab labor. And if that fails, it gives them time to sell some assets and limit their losses. Lorenzo, for example, suffered the humiliation of losing Eastern to a trustee but nevertheless was able to hold onto his nonunion Continental Airlines.

The Eastern and Greyhound strikers are determined to make their bosses pay a high price if they don't negotiate a contract. Their battle is our battle. The more than 400 people who rallied in San Francisco in July did so knowing that unless workers fight and support others fighting there is no hope of turning back the employers' offensive.

To stand up and battle the bosses' attacks is the first step to winning. It is only then that working people will begin to learn who their friends are and begin to create a new leadership in the trade unions based on class-struggle methods.

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

break a strike; including immediately bringing in

and using the courts and cops to limit pickets and enforce injunctions'

ON UNES. **: Piet van Lier/Impact Visuals