Labor and the fight against 'replacement workers'

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For forums, classes and other activities, contact the Socialist Action Dennis Sweetenham 1941—1991 RA BETROLD JOBS NOT WAR!

SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL 1991 15 The top leadership of the labor movement has decided that their number-one political campaign in 1991 is the adoption of anti-scab legislation by the U.S. Congress. From Lane Kirkland, the head of the AFL-CIO, to every president of major unions, the call is out for the political action committees to mobilize the rank and file to lobby their congressmen and women to get a veto-proof bill passed.

H.R. 5, introduced by Democratic Congressman Bill Clay in the House of Representatives, and its companion bill, S. 55, introduced by Senator Howard Metzenbaum in the Senate, will amend the 1935 National Labor Relations Act (also known as the Wagner Act) "to prevent discrimination based on participation in labor disputes."

The 1935 law recognized the right of workers to organize trade unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to strike when negotiations failed. That law, like most labor laws, was adopted by Congress after workers began to stand up to the antilabor policies of the employers backed by the city, state, and federal governments and their courts, cops, and hired thugs.

It is not surprising that in 1934 three major strike victories shook the country and led to the massive battles that eventually created the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).

The Wagner Act was not passed by Congress because they believed workers had the right to form unions. It was legislated to curtail and control a fighting labor movement that had forced the bosses to the bargaining table.

As soon as the employers and their servants in government and the courts could weaken gains won by labor, they did so. That's the significance of the 1938 Supreme Court case known as the "MackayRadio Decision." It ruled that even though workers had the right to strike, employers could permanentDennis Sweetenham, a member Cleveland branch of Socialist Action, away on Monday, Feb. 28.

Dennis was born April 7, 1941, in Detroit. Deeply affected by the emerging civil rights movement, he began to develop a social consciousness in high school. Dennis did so well in high school that he won a four-year scholarship from the Ford Foundation to the college of his choice. A high school teacher pointed him towards Oberlin College.

Dennis loved Oberlin and had many fond recollections of his years there. He studied physics and became a socialist. His dedication to the socialist cause was a driving force for the rest of his life. He was part of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee and the civil rights movement.

Upon graduating from Oberlin in 1962, Dennis moved to Cleveland, where he joined the Young Socialist Alliance and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). As a branch leader, he took on many assignments throughout the 1960s. He also participated in the movement against the Vietnam War.

In 1969, Dennis moved to Berkeley. He later lived in Toledo and Columbus, Ohio, before returning to Cleveland.

Within the SWP, Dennis argued against the party leadership's abandonment of key portions of their revolutionary program. For this, he was undemocratically expelled in January 1984. He immediately joined Socialist Action.

Dennis's love for the outdoors as an avid bicycler, birder, and cross-country skier led him to develop a particular interest in environmental issues.

As the first US troops began to arrive in the Persian Gulf last summer, Dennis began ly replace them if they struck.

Despite that antilabor ruling, workers continued to strike and made some gains. By the end of the war and the outbreak of a massive strike wave, labor was at one of its strongest points in American history. Unfortunately, at the same time, the labor bureaucracy was also consolidated in the new CIO along the same business unionist lines of the older AFL. The two federations merged in the 1950s.

Decline of the unions From the 1940s to today, the organized labor movement has declined in both numbers and influence. Its top leaders are tied more and more into the Democratic and Republican parties-parties representing the interests of big business. The rank and file has little say on how the unions are run. There is a facade of internal democracy.

The employers have seen the decline, and have sought blood to raise their profits. The 1980s can accurately be called a decade of union-weakening and union-busting attacks.

The Reagan administration led the national assault with its firing of the air traffic controllers in 1981.

But employer after employer in industries from meatpacking to the airlines have stepped up their drive against labor with two and three-tier contracts, hiring of part-time employees, fewer benefits, and forcing workers to pay more for their own healthcare (if they receive any at all).

When workers go on strike, "replacement workers" (i.e., scabs) are immediately brought into the plants. With few exceptions, the unions have lost every battle.

This "antilabor climate" is the argument used by labor officials to push for anti-scab legislation. None of the labor federation presidents believe the rank and file can stop scabbing. Since they've never relied of the passed Photo courtesy of Sweetenham family to play an active role in the new antiwar movement. He was a leader of the Cleveland Campaign for Peace in the Middle East, serving on its steering committee and chairing its finance committee.

Dennis also worked with the defense committee for the Oberlin students who were arrested last April 13 when the cops attacked a peaceful demonstration for accessible education and against racism on campus. It's fitting that Dennis' last public speech was at a Feb. 3 antiwar rally in Finney Chapel at Oberlin College.

A meeting to celebrate Dennis Sweeten.ham's life will be held in Cleveland on Sunday, April 14, 2:30 p.m., at the Unitarian Society of Cleveland, 2728 Lancanshire Road, Cleveland Heights.

For more information, call (216) 4292167. Those friends who are unable to attend may send a message to the meeting. Send it to: S.A., P.O. Box 6151, Cleveland, OH 44101.

Malik Mi on the membership before, that's not a surprise.

Labor's flawed strategy On the face of it, pushing Congress to adopt anti-scab legislation sounds like a good response to union-busting. Unfortunately, the labor leaders view political lobbying as key to their overall strategy. There are two major flaws in this policy.

First, as I've already briefly explained, labor laws in general are antilabor. They are on the books as a way to control labor—to tie us up in red tape to weaken our ability to settle differences "one-on-one" with the employer. The laws are aimed at keeping production going at all costs; not to provide us a living wage and a fair deal.

That's what the NLRB and the "amendable" contracts for rail and airline workers under the Railway Labor Act (adopted in 1926) are all about. Any positive features of these antilabor laws are byproducts of labor's victories won when the unions were on the rise. But once the unions stopped fighting back, the government and courts began to take away and grind down those gains.

Second, the anti-scab legislation strategy miseducates workers about who our friends are. Our allies are Name Adddress City. co-workers in strikes and struggles for a better life-here and abroad. Labor solidarity is how strikes and other battles for social justice are won.

Congress is made up of the two parties of the rich, even if a few Democrats claim to be "pro-labor." The labor movement has no independent voice in congress. We need a union-based labor party to fight for our interests in WashingBaltimore P.O. Box 16005 Baltimore, MD 21218 Boston P.O. Box 1046 GMF Boston, MA 02205 (617) 497-0230 Chicago P.O. Box 578428 Chicago, IL 60657 (312) 327-5752 Cincinnati P.O. Box 21015 Cincinnati, OH 45219 (513) 272-2596 Cleveland P.O. Box 6151 Cleveland, OH 44101 (216) 429-2167 308, San State branch in your area!

Detroit P.O. Box 32546 Detroit, MI 48232 Kansas City P.O. Box 32543 Westport Station, Kansas City, MO 64111 Los Angeles P.O. Box 862014 Los Angeles, CA 90086 (213) 660-2891 For information about other areas, contact the national office of Socialist Action at (415)821-0458.

SOCIALISTACTIO ton.

What the AFL-CIO unions should do is use our resources to campaign for active solidarity, so when workers go on strike, employers think twice before using scabs to cross our picket lines. When there is no production, and profits dry up, that's when employers sit down and talk. It's the only winning strategy to defeat the employers' use of scabs.

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