An upturn in U.S. labor struggles

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The following is an edited excerpt of a report by Bill Onasch on trade-union work presented to a recent meeting of the Socialist Action National Committee. O mostly negative. The warm embrace of verall, the state of American unions is still UAW president Dennis Williams with Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne, celebrating a tentative deal at Chrysler, graphically illustrates that class collaboration remains entrenched in the most important industrial union. Dennis even prom­ ised his new amico help in trying to merge with General Motors.

But, in my opinion, there are also a lot more positive and promising exceptions than we have seen in quite some time. Within a diverse, broadly defined labor movement there are, of course, many permutations and local varia­ tions. But I think we can identify three distinct, though sometimes overlapping, camps.

The biggest mainstream includes most of the industrial, transportation, construction, and public-sector national unions. Nearly all are highly bureaucratized top-down. Worse yet, they are mostly dedicated to partnership with the employers and practice give-back bargaining in the forlorn desire to maintain their dues-paying base.

But even in this regimented sector we have seen some stirring. The 30,000-member refinery division in the Steelworkers—a remnant of the old Oil, Chemi­ cal & Atomic Workers—used selective strikes, backed by public appeals to communities, which even won some support from environmentalists, to win solid gains in their national contract.

There is a smaller but significant camp of more ad­ versarial national and local unions, issue groups, and internal opposition forces fighting the mainstream bureaucracy. Traditional mavericks like National Nurses United and the United Electrical, Radio & Ma­ Socialist Action: Where we stand is driving down living standards and threatens all life on this planet.

us in the struggle to make the world a better place!

on the trade unions.

SOCIALIST ACTION Closing news date: Sept. 30, 2015 Editor: Michael Schreiber Canada Editor: Barry Weisleder designed, and laid out entirely by volunteer labor.

Name Address City State Phone E-mail chine Workers (UE) are being augmented by such no­ table examples as the Chicago Teachers Union.

The CTU’s rank-and-file mobilization, exemplary strike, and alliances in the communities have inspired fight-backs in Los Angeles, Seattle, St. Paul, and other local areas in both the AFT and NEA. Now the CTU is again battling City Hall, the school administration, and a right-wing governor for a new contract.

Likewise, the new leadership of the Amalgamated Transit Union has been training thousands of rank-and-file members to mobilize community support against privatization and austerity attacks.

The Labor Network for Sustainability is having some success in winning political and material support in unions for climate action, around a perspective of Just effectiveness of mass action.

Zip the establishment of a workers’ government, and the fight for socialism. • Buffalo, NY: (website in construction) • Chicago: P.O. Box 578428 Chicago, IL 60657, [email protected] • Connecticut: (860) 478-5300 • Duluth, Minn.: [email protected]. www.thenorthernworker.blogspot. com • Kansas City: [email protected] (816) 221-3638 • LOUISVILLE, KY: redlotus51@yahoo. com, (502) 451-2193 • Madison, Wis.:

[email protected] • Minneapolis/St. Paul: (612) 8021482, [email protected] • New York City: (212) 781-5157 • Philadelphia: [email protected] Transition. The Labor Campaign for Sin­ gle-Payer is keeping that issue alive and is co-hosting a big strategy conference in Chicago in a few weeks. And last but cer­ tainly not least, there is Teamsters for a Democratic Union, whose thousands of rank-and-file members are campaigning around a militant slate that appears to have a real shot at ousting the Hoffa regime in next year’s election.

Finally, there is a third camp that is partially inside but largely outside the traditional trade union struc­ ture—the movement of low-wage workers who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. Long ignored by the union bureaucracy as being more trou­ ble than they’re worth, some of the working poor are organizing through worker centers that have popped up in communities throughout the country and in co­ alitions like Jobs with Justice.

Until recently, the UFCW dipped a toe in the icy water of Walmart, but they have now given up. However, the OUR Walmart rank and file are still carrying on their important fight against the world’s biggest private employer. Over the past couple of years the Service Employees International Union has transformed this camp into a high-profile mass movement, especially among Fast Food workers—but also among homecare and airport-service workers, and adjunct faculty.

SEIU has collaborated with parallel 15 NOW com­ munity movements working for municipal and state $15 minimum-wage laws. Early breakthroughs in SeaTac and Seattle were largely led by Socialist Alter­ native and benefited from Kshama Sawant’s election to the Seattle City Council. Dozens of cities have now adopted similar ordinances.

Looking ahead to the next election, Governor Cuo­ mo responded to pressure from the SEIU-dominated Working Families Party by ordering administrative action granting $15 for Fast Food workers in New York state, and legislation is being introduced in the legislature to expand this to all workers. These new laws, along with raises negotiated by SEIU and AFSC­ ME for home-care and child-care workers in a num­ ber of states, are transferring many millions of dollars from the exploiters to the working poor.

SEIU appears to be in for the long haul. Their finan­ (continued on page 5, in “How capitalist politicians dilute social reforms”)

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