The past few months have seen a non-stop assault on organized labor by the Trump administration. Early removal of an NLRB member, stripping TSA workers of their union, moving to privatize the post office—each of these could be seen as a precedent-setting attack in their own right. In response, unions have filed lawsuits, pressured Congress, and held several National Days of Action.

However, on March 27, Trump carried out what Mark Dimondstein, President of the American Postal Workers Union, called “the most serious attack on unionized workers in this country in at least a generation.” Using an executive order citing “national security,” Trump unilaterally ripped away all union protections for upwards of 700,000 federal workers. For comparison, Reagan’s crushing of the air traffic controller strike led by PATCO in 1981 involved around 11,000 workers.

In 2011, the Republicans in Wisconsin introduced Act 10, which sought to take away public workers’ collective bargaining rights. From the beginning, it was an all-hands-on-deck situation. Union members and students occupied the state capitol building in Madison. At the crucial moment, many union leaders balked and focused on a recall election of the Governor, which failed. The struggle was successful to the extent to which it was militant. It failed when it was reduced to a “Get Out the Vote” effort. We cannot forget this lesson.

This historic attack on federal workers is in no way an attempt to save the government money or to maintain “national security.” It is a massive political attack on federal union workers—who are resisting Trump—and on the entire labor movement.

We have also seen targeted attacks on union members and leaders, as when ICE recently detained two union activists in Washington state, Alfredo Lelo Juarez and Lewelyn Dixon. The local AFL-CIO and immigrants’ rights groups called for action right away and brought people out into the streets. We need labor leaders to stand up for their members and fight back hard against the Trump administration’s agenda.

Using the courts and pressuring lawmakers is, of course, necessary, but it is in no way sufficient. The time to escalate actions is NOW. The time to get union members into the streets is NOW. The time to defend the working class with all means at our disposal is NOW.

April 5 has been designated the next major Day of Action to resist Trump, and we call on everyone to hit the streets on that day. If nothing is organized yet in your city, reach out to other unions and build it yourself.

International Workers Day comes every May 1, and this year it’s coming with a bang. Build with all people under attack by Trump, especially immigrants, to come out for May Day.

The billionaire ruling class has dropped the mask and is coming for blood—our blood. The slow decline of union density over the past fifty years has served them well, but that era has come to an end. Either we show them weakness, or we show them strength—and the working-class movement needs strength above all else. The future of the union movement will be defined by what actions we take now.

-All out for April 5!

-Build for a Massive May Day!

-When Workers and Immigrants Are Under Attack, We Fight Back!

#Labor #FRSO #Statement #Trump #FederalWorkers #Unions #APWU #Feature

Lenin’s important book, “Left Wing” Communism, An Infantile Disorder, was written in 1920. According to the subtitle of the original manuscript, it was intended to be “a popular exposition on Marxist strategy and tactics.” After the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution in 1917, the working class in the former Russian Empire had smashed its chains and set out on the road to socialism. Revolutionaries all over the world were eager to understand how the Bolsheviks had succeeded in defeating Tsarism and imperialism. Lenin, therefore, wrote this book to help guide the international communist movement and to sum up some of the critical lessons of the revolution in Russia.  

Reading this book by Lenin, one point is made clear again and again – there are no ready-made formulas that can be applied whenever and wherever just the same, but, rather, the concrete analysis of concrete conditions is paramount, and everything must be undertaken in accordance with the present time, place and conditions. Marxism-Leninism is a revolutionary science. It understands that there are general laws of motion that hold true. At the same time, those general laws must be applied creatively to any particular situation based on a dialectical analysis of the material processes at work. 

Lenin’s argument

Lenin begins this text with a look at what is universal in the experience of the Russian revolution. He says that “the Russian model … reveals to all countries something – and something highly significant – of their near and inevitable future.” 

From the outset, Lenin stresses that “the experience of the victorious dictatorship of the proletariat in Russia has clearly shown even to those who are incapable of thinking or have had no occasion to give thought to the matter that absolute centralization and rigorous discipline of the proletariat are an essential condition of victory over the bourgeoisie.” This is Lenin’s first point, that a party of the Bolshevik type is absolutely necessary if the working class is to win power. 

After a summation of the history of Bolshevism, Lenin begins to draw some conclusions. The first of these is that Bolshevism gained strength through struggle against opportunism within the revolutionary movement. Lenin writes that “Bolshevism’s principal enemy within the working-class movement” from 1914 until the time of his writing this book, was, “First and foremost, the struggle against opportunism which in 1914 definitely developed into social-chauvinism and definitely sided with the bourgeoisie, against the proletariat.” This is the “right” opportunist trend. This struggle is well known, Lenin says. If we want to study it, we can look at Lenin’s other texts like The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky. Here he wants to focus on another enemy of the working class, the trend of “left” opportunism. This takes shape as “petty-bourgeois revolutionism,” and Lenin explains how this arises ideologically from the material class position of the petty bourgeoisie, among whom it is rooted. 

“...[T]he petty proprietor, the small master (a social type existing on a very extensive and even mass scale in many European countries), who, under capitalism, always suffers oppression and very frequently a most acute and rapid deterioration in his conditions of life, and even ruin, easily goes to revolutionary extremes, but is incapable of perseverance, organization, discipline and steadfastness.”

He draws particular attention to “the instability of such revolutionism, its barrenness, and its tendency to turn rapidly into submission, apathy, phantasms, and even a frenzied infatuation with one bourgeois fad or another.” Surely everyone who has spent any time organizing has encountered these people and knows exactly what Lenin means. 

Drawing from the Bolshevik experience, Lenin writes, “The struggle that Bolshevism waged against ‘Left’ deviations within its own Party assumed particularly large proportions on two occasions: in 1908, on the question of whether or not to participate in a most reactionary ‘parliament’ and in the legal workers’ societies, which were being restricted by most reactionary laws; and again in 1918 (the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk), on the question of whether one ‘compromise’ or another was permissible.”

These are today still the points where the ultra-leftists try to drag the revolutionary struggle into the mire: how to relate to bourgeois elections, how to relate to the trade unions, and how to deal with the question of compromise. 

Bourgeois elections

Looking at how Lenin and the Bolsheviks dealt with the question of bourgeois elections, we would benefit from quoting the following paragraph in full: 

“The Bolsheviks’ boycott of “parliament” in 1905 enriched the revolutionary proletariat with highly valuable political experience and showed that, when legal and illegal parliamentary and non-parliamentary forms of struggle are combined, it is sometimes useful and even essential to reject parliamentary forms. It would, however, be highly erroneous to apply this experience blindly, imitatively and uncritically to other conditions and other situations. The Bolsheviks’ boycott of the Duma in 1906 was a mistake, although a minor and easily remediable one.  The boycott of the Duma in 1907, 1908 and subsequent years was a most serious error and difficult to remedy, because, on the one hand, a very rapid rise of the revolutionary tide and its conversion into an uprising was not to be expected, and, on the other hand, the entire historical situation attendant upon the renovation of the bourgeois monarchy called for legal and illegal activities being combined. Today, when we look back at this fully completed historical period, whose connection with subsequent periods has now become quite clear, it becomes most obvious that in 1908–14 the Bolsheviks could not have preserved (let alone strengthened and developed) the core of the revolutionary party of the proletariat, had they not upheld, in a most strenuous struggle, the viewpoint that it was obligatory to combine legal and illegal forms of struggle, and that it was obligatory to participate even in a most reactionary parliament and in a number of other institutions hemmed in by reactionary laws (sick benefit societies, etc.).”

So, should revolutionaries participate in bourgeois elections, and how should they go about it? Lenin doesn’t exactly give us a final “yes” or “no” which is true always and everywhere. He does say that “participation in a bourgeois-democratic parliament … actually helps that proletariat to prove to the backward masses why such parliaments deserve to be done away with; it facilitates their successful dissolution, and helps to make bourgeois parliamentarianism ‘politically obsolete’.” 

We should harbor no illusions that a peaceful, electoral transition to socialism is possible. However, revolutionaries must engage with the masses in electoral politics, simply because that is where the masses are at, and we want to create more favorable conditions for revolutionary work. We should use the mass line to take up the demands of the advanced among the masses and, with the lens of Marxist analysis, find ways to see them through. Then we sum up those experiences with the advanced and draw conclusions.  

It has to be stressed that Lenin’s main point in this regard is that particular conditions demand particular tactics. The goal is to build the revolutionary movement, which can only be done together with the masses in real struggle, and tactical decisions must start from there. 

Work in the trade unions

On the trade unions, Lenin writes, 

“The trade unions were a tremendous step forward for the working class in the early days of capitalist development, inasmuch as they marked a transition from the workers’ disunity and helplessness to the rudiments of class organization. When the revolutionary party of the proletariat, the highest form of proletarian class organization, began to take shape (and the Party will not merit the name until it learns to weld the leaders into one indivisible whole with the class and the masses) the trade unions inevitably began to reveal certain reactionary features, a certain craft narrow-mindedness, a certain tendency to be non-political, a certain inertness, etc. However, the development of the proletariat did not, and could not, proceed anywhere in the world otherwise than through the trade unions, through reciprocal action between them and the party of the working class.”

Lenin could not be clearer when he says, “If you want to help the ‘masses’ and win the sympathy and support of the ‘masses’, you … must absolutely work wherever the masses are to be found.” 

This is why we must not shun work in the unions, even if they are led by business unionists who want “class peace” or sellouts who are in it only for themselves. Instead, we have to fight for class struggle unionism and build the militant minority in order to put the unions on a class struggle basis. These are the main mass organizations of the working class. They are not sufficient for revolutionizing the class structure of society by themselves, but they are where the advanced fighters of the working class are to be found, and we will win them over by fighting shoulder to shoulder with them. 

“Left-Wing” Communism today

We find ourselves in interesting times, and the lessons of Lenin’s text deserve careful consideration. First, the working class has no organized vanguard. There is no communist party in the United States. While some claim the name, none in practice can honestly say that their cadres are the “generals of the proletarian army.” This means that the central task is to build such a party. We must do that by winning over the advanced fighters of the working class and oppressed nationality movements to Marxism-Leninism through practice. As Mao Zedong clearly put it, “A leading group that is genuinely united and linked with the masses can be formed only gradually in the process of mass struggle, and not in isolation from it.” In other words, party building has to be done in the course of real mass struggles. How else could we build a party comprised of the true leaders of the masses? 

Furthermore, we are deep into an unusual presidential election season, and we are simultaneously witnessing a U.S.-backed genocide being carried about by the Zionists in Palestine. These are issues that many are talking about and that shouldn’t be ignored. It is unavoidable that we should discuss Lenin’s text in this context, particularly in regard to how we address bourgeois elections generally, and this one in particular. 

One of the main ways the broad masses engage with politics is through bourgeois elections. We may know that bourgeois elections, a contest for rulership between two sections of the capitalist class, is “politically obsolete,” but that doesn’t mean anything if the masses haven’t yet come to the same conclusion. Furthermore, while elections cannot fundamentally change the class nature of society, they can influence the conditions under which we are fighting to build a revolutionary movement. This has been proven in practice, such as in the struggle for community control of the police. 

All that said, how do we concretely analyze electoral questions? When we look at bourgeois elections, we need to consider four questions: 1) Does one candidate represent a special danger? 2) Is the election a referendum on a major social question, such as war? 3) Does a contending campaign embody a particular social movement, such as the Black liberation movement? 4) Is the election part of a significant political movement independent of the two main capitalist parties? 

Of course, all of these questions are in play, but in the present moment it is crystal clear that genocide in Palestine, and the heroic fight for liberation being fought by the Palestinian Resistance, is primary. The advanced fighters in many mass movements are united in this understanding. Solidarity with Palestine and the demand to end the genocide are at the forefront of the peoples struggles, and the Palestinian liberation movement is at the center of revolutionary process that can defeat the Zionist proxy of U.S. imperialism in the Middle East. Those who get this question wrong will lose the confidence of the advanced and will be rightly seen as betrayers of the Palestinian people. 

For the reason, we have to be clear that in the present moment the U.S. presidential election is a referendum on the genocide. It has never been clearer – as we are presented with a choice between the reactionary Trump, on the one hand, and the architects of genocide on the other – that this is a failed system and that the choice presented to us is rotten to the core. Neither choice is acceptable.

Communists must unite with the advanced, using Marxism to analyze the situation and find the way forward. Lenin’s book stresses this same point. Today, that way forward is to unite with and help lead the struggle to stop the genocide and to fight for a free Palestine, from the river to the sea. 

More than anything else, Lenin’s book “Left Wing” Communism shows us how to apply Marxism to the dynamic and complex mass struggles in which we find ourselves, and how to navigate those struggles, always with the goal of building towards revolution and socialism.

J. Sykes is the author of the book “The Revolutionary Science of Marxism-Leninism”. The book can be purchased by visiting tinyurl.com/revsciMLbook

#RevolutionaryTheory #RedReviews #Lenin #MarxismLeninism #Elections #Unions

Resolution in Solidarity with Organized Labor in the Philippines

WHEREAS, legislative and violent attacks on organized labor in the Philippines have resulted in the country being ranked among the world’s deadliest countries for trade unionists, where over 70 workers have been murdered since 2016, and;

WHEREAS, unions and labor activists are frequently targeted with forced union disaffiliation, intimidation, harassment, aggressive surveillance, torture, imprisonment, and killings, and;

WHEREAS, thousands of workers have been arrested on false charges in an attempt to silence their voices, including Anne Krueger, who was working to organize call center workers and hosted two delegations of Communications Workers of America (CWA) members to the Philippines, (1) and; 

WHEREAS, in April 2023, Alex Dolorosa, a union organizer whose work was funded by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), was violently murdered, and no effort has been made by the authorities to investigate his murder, (2) and;

WHEREAS, in the face of legislative attacks, violent repression, and human rights violations committed by the repressive Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regime, unionists in the Philippines continue to organize a vibrant and growing labor movement that merits great respect and solidarity, and;

WHEREAS, the government of the Philippines is by far the largest recipient of US military aid in the Indo-Pacific, having received $1.14 billion in US military aid since 2015, (3) and;

WHEREAS, on May 1st, 2019 the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Congress to end military aid to the government of the Philippines, and; 

WHEREAS, in June, 2020 the AFL-CIO issued a statement calling on Congress to pass the Philippines Human Rights Act (1), which would suspend US military aid to the Philippines, (4) and;

WHEREAS, The Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO, The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), and the AFL-CIO Executive Council have issued resolutions and statements calling for Congressional action to address ongoing human and labor rights violations by the government of the Philippines, and;

WHEREAS, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, representing nearly 20,000 union members, believes fundamentally in the power of worker solidarity, and actively supports trade unionists and all people of conscience working to stop attacks on labor and democratic rights.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO reaffirms our solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the labor movement of the Philippines, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO demands accountability from the Philippine government and supports international calls for a comprehensive investigation of the killings in the Philippines, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO calls for the urgent passage and signing of the Philippines Human Rights Act.

1. https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/statements/congress-should-introduce-and-pass-philippines-human-rights-act

2. https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/statements/2023-george-meany-lane-kirkland-human-rights-philippines-labor-movement

3. https://ph.usembassy.gov/fact-sheet-u-s-philippines-defense-and-security-partnership/http

4. humanrightsph.org/

#MilwaukeeWI #MALC #AFLCIO #Unions #LaborCouncil #Philippines #Labor #InternationalSolidarity

Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of September 27, one year after the publication of his book Fighting Times, author Jon Melrod joined a discussion led by a panel of workers in an event organized by the Young Workers’ Committee (YWC) of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council (MALC). A noted labor activist and lawyer, Melrod spoke with the young unionists, community activists and students regarding the importance of the unions and their place in building a revolutionary movement.

When asked how he found himself in the struggle for worker’s rights, Melrod explained that his participation in anti-Vietnam War projects at University of Wisconsin-Madison was a perfect place of entry. Tactics such as door knocking in dorms and staging directed protests against university leadership united students against warmongering mandatory ROTC programs. Joining unions created a path of entry for students to sustain radical struggle rather than get mired in bourgeois politics.

The young workers asked how to involve working-class people in political projects through their workplace. At American Motors and many other industrial workplaces, Melrod built solidarity through worker-driven shop newsletters, the use of smaller out-of-work gatherings, and targeted campaigns against management. Through a larger class struggle view, the workers found their objectives clearer, and their work more approachable

As a UAW worker at American Motors, he led grievance strikes, fought racist, anti-women management and sought to build a workplace united against the boss, in the interest of workers. In one anecdote, Melrod relayed the successes of building a bridge between white and Black workers. While facing a prolonged strikebreaking effort, a white union member’s car was repossessed. By enlisting the help of a local mainly Black meatcutters union, the car was won back with a picket. Later that week, the UAW workers joined the meatcutters on the strike line to help them win a crucial contract victory.

Relating this to the current UAW strike, Melrod spoke to the efficacy of uniting community groups with labor action and labor groups with community action. He urged those in attendance to get on the strike line with their union siblings in the UAW, and spend time linking organizations. Following Melrod’s advice, the gathered crowd of young unionists spent time creating strategies and building connections after the main discussion ended.

#MilwaukeeWI #Labor #Unions #ClassStruggle

American Federation of Teachers Local 3535, a union of faculty, academic staff and graduate student workers at UW-Milwaukee and UW-Parkside, said enough is enough. In a statement, AFT 3535 explained that the request comes as a result of UWM administration’s irresponsibility. “The university has failed to attract adequate paid staff to service the students they have admitted.” They also identified many solutions the administration should have taken before trying to guilt overworked and underpaid professors into working overtime for nothing.

One possible solution was that Chancellor Mark Mone could have taken a pay cut from his $452,000 salary to redistribute it to a living wage to attract more employees. In comparison, some faculty and staff do not even make $45,000 for full-time positions. “Asking them to accept starvation wages is insulting enough, but asking them to work more hours for free is inexcusable,” read the union’s statement.

AFT 3535 went on to point out that teachers are often the target of such requests. When administrators mess up, they think they can fall back on teachers by claiming it’s for the sake of the students. When teachers stand up for themselves and say no, that’s more ammunition they have against teachers so they can pit students, their families, and lawmakers against educators. It is not the responsibility of already overworked and underpaid staff and faculty to solve the problem the university administration made by not creating a hospitable and worthwhile work environment. Fortunately, the Students for a Democratic Society chapter at UW-Milwaukee understood this and took a decisive stand in solidarity with AFT 3535.

“Many students recognize that staff and faculty are already working above the university’s standards, doing unpaid work to provide a better learning experience for students. Asking them to volunteer their hours for a whole other job is abusive,” said Liam Farin, a student at UWM and member of SDS.

SDS chapters across the United States stand behind the slogan “Chop from the top,” meaning that budget cuts should be made to the top first before cutting things that support students. When budgets get tight, student support, particularly for Black, Chicano and other oppressed nationality students, is usually one of the first things to go. Meanwhile, the administrators at the top still enjoy their excessive salary and put out empty statements about how they value the student experience and diversity on campus, and that we have to come together during economic hardships.

The UWM administration has yet to respond and rectify the situation. For now, AFT 3535 and UWM SDS know that when students and teachers unite, they win!

#MilwaukeeWI #Labor #unions #PublicSectorUnions #studentworkerSolidarity

On August 11 the National Labor Relations Board declared the union drive victorious after processing the final 13 ballots from an election last fall.

Workers sought USW representation to fight low wages, hazardous working conditions and abusive treatment at Kumho, which ruthlessly harassed and bullied union supporters in an attempt to derail the organizing campaign.

“These workers voted to unionize even though Kumho tried every underhanded, despicable stunt it possibly could to violate their rights and poison the election results,” noted USW District 9 Director Daniel Flippo.

In 2017, Kumho workers narrowly lost an initial election on the heels of Kumho’s vicious union-busting campaign, which included threats against USW supporters. Kumho’s conduct was so egregious that Administrative Law Judge Arthur J. Amchan not only ordered a new election but took the extraordinary step of ordering the company to read workers a list of its numerous labor law violations.

While awaiting the final results of last fall’s election, conditions at Kumho only got worse. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the company failed to implement commonsense safety measures.

“In forming a union and holding Kumho to account,” Flippo said, “these workers will help set stronger pay and workplace standards for the whole industry.”

#MaconGA #unions #UnitedSteelworkersUSW #KumhoTire #unionbusting

On August 11 the National Labor Relations Board declared the union drive victorious after processing the final 13 ballots from an election last fall.

Workers sought USW representation to fight low wages, hazardous working conditions and abusive treatment at Kumho, which ruthlessly harassed and bullied union supporters in an attempt to derail the organizing campaign.

“These workers voted to unionize even though Kumho tried every underhanded, despicable stunt it possibly could to violate their rights and poison the election results,” noted USW District 9 Director Daniel Flippo.

In 2017, Kumho workers narrowly lost an initial election on the heels of Kumho’s vicious union-busting campaign, which included threats against USW supporters. Kumho’s conduct was so egregious that Administrative Law Judge Arthur J. Amchan not only ordered a new election but took the extraordinary step of ordering the company to read workers a list of its numerous labor law violations.

While awaiting the final results of last fall’s election, conditions at Kumho only got worse. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the company failed to implement commonsense safety measures.

“In forming a union and holding Kumho to account,” Flippo said, “these workers will help set stronger pay and workplace standards for the whole industry.”

#MaconGA #unions #UnitedSteelworkersUSW #KumhoTire #unionbusting

Minneapolis, MN – While the University of Minnesota top officials gathered for the opening of newly renovated Pioneer Hall, August 21, about 50 members of Teamsters Local 320 and other campus unions held an informational picket line to demand the year-round, full-time employment for workers in M Dining. The U of M has curtailed summer work opportunities for Teamsters and is trampling on seniority rights.

Mick Kelly, a member of the negotiating committee for U of M Teamsters told the crowd, “The university is plunging us into poverty, and this is something that we will never put up with. It is unacceptable, and the condition of dining service workers must be addressed in the new contract. We deserve better than this.”

Members of other Teamster locals, along with AFSCME 3800, also participated in the picket.

#Minneapolis #Teamsters #unions #AFSCME3800 #PublicSectorUnions #TeamstersLocal320 #picketLine

Washington, DC – The UAW filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, January 2, against General Motors for breach of labor contract. The suit requests that the court order GM to transfer seniority union members to the Fort Wayne, Indiana Assembly Plant in keeping with the contractual agreement between the parties. GM is currently circumventing the agreement by using temporary employees.

There are approximately 1000 seniority employees on layoff nationwide, including 690 employees laid off at the Lordstown, Ohio Assembly Plant, many of whom have applied to transfer to openings at the Fort Wayne Plant.

#WashingtonDC #WashingtonDCDC #PeoplesStruggles #unions #UAW #AutoWorkers

The huge procession began with 400 members of Bricklayers Union No. 6, all dressed in white aprons. They were followed by a band and then the members of the Manufacturing Jewelers union. The jewelers marched four abreast, wearing derby hats and dark suits with buttonhole bouquets. They all carried canes resting on their shoulders (similar to the way infantry officers carry swords when on parade.)

As the day went on, the parade included contingents from the Manufacturing Shoemakers Union No. 1 (wearing blue badges), and an especially well-received contingent from the Big 6 – Typographical Union No. 6 – whose 700-strong delegation marched with military precision (they had practiced beforehand.) The Friendly Society of Operative Masons marched with their band. They were followed by 250 members of the Clothing Cutters Benevolent and Protective Union, the Dress and Cloak Makers Union, the Decorative Masons, and the Bureau of United Carpenters (who marched with a decorated wagon).

The parade was filled with banners: “Labor Built the Republic – Labor Shall Rule It”; “To the Workers Should Belong the Wealth”; “Down with the Competitive System”; “Down with Convict Contract Labor”; “Down with the Railroad Monopoly”; and “Children in School and Not in Factories,” among others. The members of the Socialist Singing Society carried a red flag with a yellow lyre in its center. The banner which perhaps summed up the entire procession best was carried by members of the American Machinists, Engineers, and Blacksmiths Union (who wore heavy leather aprons and working clothes). It read simply: “Let Labor Unite.”

It was the first Labor Day parade – and it took place on a Tuesday.

Labor Day became official in this country when the U.S. Congress passed a law in 1894 making the first Monday in September a legal holiday. But this holiday was not simply given to the workers of the United States by the government as some act of charity. The tradition of publicly honoring labor’s contribution to society is a custom established by the workers themselves.

The first Labor Day parade in the United States was held in New York City on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882. More than 10,000 workers marched. It was organized by the Central Labor Union, a body representing 60 unions and over 80,000 people. The CLU was a secret lodge of the Knights of Labor, the major national union of the time.

To really appreciate the September 1882 labor parade, it’s important to keep in mind the profound changes that this country had gone through in the 17 years before it took place. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the capitalists of the North emerged triumphant. They went on the offensive, bitterly opposing labor’s demands. By the time the depression of 1873 took place, any lingering unity between the different forces which had united in opposition to slavery had been torn apart.

On Saturday, July 21, 1877, 17 workers involved in a nationwide railroad strike were shot dead in Pittsburgh. The next day, the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, a New York Protestant minister who had been one of the most eloquent orators against slavery, preached these words:

“God had intended the great to be great and the little to be little…The trade unions, originated under the European system, destroy liberty…I do not say that a dollar a day is enough to support a man and five children if he insists on smoking and drinking beer…[b]ut the man who cannot live on bread and water is not fit to live.”

The 1882 labor parade was the culmination of more than ten years of agitating and organizing by dedicated labor activists in New York. These activists were deeply committed to the fight for the eight-hour day and against the repressive tactics of the employers. They also worked closely with the leaders of what were at that time New York’s largest immigrant communities to assist the fight for justice in three countries: Ireland, France and Germany.

The 1882 parade took place in a city which had seen militiamen open fire on Irish-American Catholic demonstrators in 1871; where thousands demonstrated for the eight-hour day in 1872; and where three demonstrations had already taken place in 1882 to demand justice for Ireland in its fight against British rule. (All three demonstrations had been jointly sponsored by labor organizations and organizations fighting for Irish freedom.)

Because the 1882 labor parade was held on a work day, most of the participants had to give up a day’s pay in order to march. (The CLU even levied a fine on non-participants.) In all, the workers involved forfeited about $75,000 in lost wages.

The parade was scheduled to coincide with a national conference of the Knights of Labor being held in New York. This explains why almost the entire national leadership of the Knights of Labor was present on the parade’s reviewing stand in Union Square. However, the affiliation of these leaders with the Knights of Labor was discreetly hidden from the press that day. (At the time, the Knights of Labor was still a semi-secret society.) For instance, the top leader of the Knights of Labor – “Grand Master Workman” Terence Powderly – was introduced only as the mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania (which he was).

The vibrant character of the labor movement of that time can be seen by looking at three extraordinary people present on the reviewing stand at the 1882 parade:

Patrick Ford was the publisher and editor of the Irish World, a newspaper which strongly supported labor and the fight for Irish freedom. He had been brought to Boston from Ireland in 1842 at the age of seven. Ford had served his printing apprenticeship with newspaper editor William Lloyd Garrison, America’s leading opponent of slavery, before the Civil War. In 1870, Ford founded the Irish World, a newspaper which was regularly suppressed when it was shipped to Ireland.

John Swinton was the chief editorial writer of the New York Sun. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he had moved to New York in 1850 and worked as a printer and became an abolitionist. Swinton had been with John Brown when he made his famous raid on Osawatomie, Kansas in 1857. Swinton would go on to start his own pro-labor newspaper in 1883.

Carl Daniel Adolf Douai was the publisher and editor of the New Yorker Volkszeitung, a socialist German-language daily. Douai was a German immigrant who had been threatened with lynching when he spoke out against slavery while publishing in Texas. In 1860, he moved to New York where he became active in socialist, abolitionist, and Republican Party activities.

The presence of these three men on the reviewing stand – and the presence of Irish, French, and German flags (in addition to the U.S. flag) at the picnic which closed the day – illustrates the wide scope of labor’s concerns at that time. These leaders’ involvement with the parade (and the militant banners carried by the marchers) show that from its very beginning, the U.S. labor movement has been about more than just getting its members a few cents more an hour in wages. From its inception, the labor movement in this country has included both native and foreign-born leaders and immigrant workers have always played an important role in the labor movement. From the very beginning, the U.S. labor movement has included elements who have not been afraid to challenge the legitimacy of the wages system itself.

That’s definitely worth remembering this Labor Day.

This article first appeared in Fight Back! on Sept. 3, 2011

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #unions #LaborDay

México City, México – Militant teachers and education workers from around the world gathered to strategize in México City, March 4, the opening day of the 18th Congress of FISE (International Federation of the Education Sector). FISE is the education sector organization of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), an international union federation with more than 92 million members worldwide that is based on class struggle unionism, union democracy, internationalism and anti-imperialism.

The 18th FISE Congress convened with the themes of “teachers dynamically in the struggle: for full time jobs with full rights! For an education that serves the people needs! No to the reforms against education!”

The 18th FISE Congress is hosted by the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE), the militant Mexican teachers union that has led bold strikes in defense of public education.

There are delegates in attendance from teachers and education unions from many countries including Cuba, Brazil, Lebanon, Greece, Costa Rica, Panama, Niger, Senegal, Basque Country, Vietnam, Argentina and Chile, among others.

From the presentations of unions around the world it became increasingly clear that capitalist governments are following the same “education reform” playbook in their attacks on public education, cutting education budgets, degrading the quality of public education, laying off teachers and privatizing public education for profit.

The speeches were full of urgency and hope. Delegates spoke of the responsibility of teachers and their unions to organize and protect education from privatization and capitalistic automation, both figuratively, as testing replaces critical thought, and literally, as computers replace teachers. Many delegates stressed that this organizing must reach beyond teachers’ individual unions to their students, parents, the broader community, and ultimately across borders to create continental and global solidarity.

A delegation of trade unionists from the U.S. is present at the 18th FISE Congress, including rank-and-file leaders from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and AFSCME Local 3800. The U.S. delegates expressed enthusiasm to learn from the class struggle approach of unions around the world that are fighting back against the same type of attacks on public education.

The FISE Congress will continue with plenaries, resolutions and leadership elections.

#MexicoCityMexico #teachers #unions #WFTU #TeachersUnions #FISE

San Juan, Puerto Rico — On Oct. 20, one month after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the secretary of AFSCME Local 3800, Brad Sigal, was in San Juan to bring a donation of money and medicines to the Puerto Rican Teachers Federation (FMPR, the union's initials in Spanish).

The donations came from AFSCME Locals 3800, 3937, 2822 and many individuals in Minnesota. At the FMPR's San Juan office, Sigal presented the donations to the teacher's union president Mercedes Martinez. The donations will be used in the FMPR's post-hurricane work brigades in hard-hit communities.

A month after the hurricane, the majority of Puerto Ricans still have no electricity or water and schools have not reopened. The U.S. government's flagrantly inadequate relief and reconstruction efforts have been punctuated by President Trump's racist and insulting comments and actions in reference to Puerto Rico.

#SanJuanPuertoRico #SanJuanPR #Labor #PeoplesStruggles #PuertoRico #unions #Minnesota

Milwaukee, WI – On March 7, management of the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) announced layoffs an cuts to hours for 14 members of AFSCME Local 526, which is 8% of the workforce. After six months of negotiations and two quick months after contract ratification, these hard-working men and women found out with zero warning that their position at the museum will either be cut or working hours permanently reduced. Those who are facing reduced hours will lose their health benefits and livable wages to support their families.

There had been no discussion from MPM management during the bargaining process about possible layoffs. The workers at the MPM are still reeling from a 40% reduction to staff from 12 years ago. This news broke weeks after winning a grievance about outsourcing bargaining unit work.

This is a clear union-busting tactic in a long history of management retaliating against union leaders for union activity at MPM. The union is facing five out of six of its executive board members being affected by their decision. The current vice president and former president are both facing indefinite layoff, while another previous president was fired after being unfairly targeted by MPM management.

In the post-Act 10 and right to work era in Wisconsin, AFSCME Local 526 has proven that shop floor struggle and union militancy is a winning formula for contract victories and dense union membership. The company has stated that they will not be outsourcing work but that it simply will not get done, admitting that the world renowned and often copied museum exhibits will deteriorate.

In response to the unexpected layoff announcement, the union called for an emergency picket the next night to fight back against the cuts. The MPM taxidermist Wendy Christensen had this to say: “I have dedicated my entire life to MPM I’ve been there since I was 18. I’ve been here 34 years. For me this isn’t a job it’s my passion. I have been trained by my predecessors who are very talented artists; they've passed on their skills and knowledge over the years. Now there will be no one to pass on those skills. I had hoped to stay and train the next generation.”

The union is calling on the Milwaukee County Board, who owns the millions of artifacts, and the building itself, to consider the impact of these layoffs. The union says the layoffs will greatly damage the invaluable exhibits, collections, programming and prestige of the famed natural history museum.

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #unions #AFSCME

Upon finding out that workers had decided to form a union, the boss immediately doubled up on managers walking the floors of the nursing home and they flew in ten professional union busters to stand in the halls and intimidate and threaten union supporters. They literally would run up and break up any two workers who started talking to each other anywhere on property. Workers on the ground said it felt like being in a prison, with managers and their hired muscle acting as the prison guards.

These union busters resorted to the lowest tactics in the book to try to stop the workers. One union buster even referred to a group of workers who were immigrants from Africa as “slaves.” They quickly fired one of the main supporters of the union in retaliation for her union support and activity. They then claimed she was not fired, that she was just “indefinitely suspended.” They lied to people about who was or was not eligible to vote in the election in an attempt to suppress votes for the union. They tore up union flyers and threw them at supporters, swore at them and called them all “idiots.” Essentially, they violated every legally protected right that these workers have. In one pathetic attempt to stop the workers, they even mandated people to take off their name tag lanyards that had union logos on them and mandated them to wear ones that said “Vote no.”

Management even committed voter fraud by trying to convince those who were not eligible for the vote to go vote anyway, to try to create confusion around the vote count and get the results thrown out or tied up in court for years to give them time to fire everyone before their union got recognized.

There were many complaints from residents that these hired union busters who management brought in were disrupting their lives and the care they needed. Some of those residents even put on union buttons to show their solidarity with the workers who were under these disgusting and illegal attacks.

In the end, Golden Living made it clear they would stop at nothing to keep these workers from having a voice. The good news is that the power of the workers doesn’t come from laws or from collaboration in a voting process. The power of the workers comes from the fact that they are the people who do the work. They knew this well and because of it they were not afraid. These brave workers stood up to the illegal attacks that they were forced to endure and they voted 88 to 19 to join SEIU Healthcare MN.

Now as they go forward this group is well prepared to stand strong bargaining their first union contract and put the boss in their place just like they did while organizing their union.

#StLouisParkMN #SEIU #PeoplesStruggles #unions #LaborMinnesota

Minneapolis, MN – After six difficult months of contract negotiations with management and a hard-hitting contract campaign targeting the inequality of “Two Universities,” the union of 1500 clerical workers at the University of Minnesota, AFSCME 3800, won a tentative agreement Dec. 10. The clerical workers’ negotiating committee characterized the agreement as a breakthrough for workers which is better than any contract they’ve won in the past decade.

According to the clerical negotiating committee, the tentative agreement includes:

• $15 starting wage for all clerical workers
• Six weeks paid maternity leave
• A Memorandum of Understanding on workplace bullying
• 1.5% across the board wage increases each year, plus 2% annual steps
• 1.5% wage increase in year one and 2% wage increase in year two for those at the top of their wage scale
• No cost increases in health care

This marked a shift, since during the past decade the union has been in defensive fights trying to stop university management from pushing through wage freezes and health insurance cost increases. The union has also faced intransigence on all proposals to improve work conditions and rules.

While frontline university workers have seen their standard of living slide, administrators and athletics coaches have seen huge salary increases. This pattern has continued year after year. But this year during contract negotiations, things were different. The unions at the university said ‘enough is enough’ and jointly waged a campaign for Raises and Respect. The four AFSCME union locals and the Teamsters local at the university worked closely together throughout the campaign, refusing to allow management to divide them or divert them from their central message that there must be raises and respect for workers at the university this year.

The joint AFSCME and Teamsters 320 campaign highlighted the income disparities and disparate treatment between the Two Universities: the university that is experienced by the low-wage workforce and the very different university that exists for those at the top. The workplace-based campaign lasted almost a year. Workers created visibility for the union and their demands in the workplace, and then repeatedly took their demand for raises and respect to university management. The campaign included hundreds of workers wearing union shirts every Friday to work, workers giving testimony to the university Board of Regents and to state legislators, workers delivering thousands of petitions to university President Eric Kaler, repeated letters and editorials in the Minnesota Daily and other media, and several rounds of informational picketing and protests. Management certainly got the message that the unity between the unions was strong, and that a significant number of workers would consider voting to strike if they didn’t get a contract with raises and respect.

Throughout this year the university administration has been embroiled in a series of scandals, with several revolving around sexism and harassment in the workplace. Since the clerical union members are overwhelmingly female, the context of these scandals gave clerical workers’ demands for respect added force this year. In this context the union was able to make progress on two key demands that the administration had never before been willing to discuss: increasing paid maternity leave for clerical workers from two weeks to six weeks, and a memorandum of understanding on workplace bullying. The workplace-based campaign also led to the breakthroughs on wages: winning a $15 per hour minimum wage, and getting a larger annual wage increase than management had been willing to consider in six months of bargaining, and a larger percentage increase than other non-unionized employee groups.

According to AFSCME 3800 President Cherrene Horazuk, “For six months, the U of M administration said they only had 0.5% for raises for 1500 clerical workers, even though they spent over $2 million on raises, contract buyouts and the settlement of sexual discrimination lawsuits for eleven coaches and vice-presidents. They also told us that two weeks parental leave was good enough for our families, even though management gets six weeks leave. But our campaign for raises and respect in the workplace bore fruit. Through our struggle, we made a breakthrough that will improve the lives of thousands of workers.”

A statement from the clerical bargaining committee said, “Along with our sisters and brothers in Teamsters 320 and AFSCME locals 3801, 3260 and 3937, we fought like hell for ‪raises and respect from the university administration, and as a result, we won a contract that addresses three of our top five priorities.”

Teamsters and the other AFSCME locals also recently settled their contracts, winning six weeks paid maternity leave and similar raises to the clerical union.

#MinneapolisMN #unions #AFSCME #Minnesota

The origin of the case goes back to June, 2014, when several hundred workers at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, a first-tier suburb of Minneapolis, picketed in a park and on public property near the hospital. The workers were members of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) and SEIU Healthcare MN. The workers joined together in a show of solidarity to fight for safe staffing levels at North Memorial, where cuts in staffing levels consistently put both the workers’ and patients’ safety at risk.

North Memorial management has had a long history of engaging in anti-union behaviors.

After the pickets brought public attention to the staffing and safety issues, North Memorial stepped up its attacks and began to engage in systematic retaliation against union members who led the pickets and on the members’ ability to communicate with each other and with their union staff.

North Memorial management blocked union members’ access to bulletin boards in an attempt to shut down communications. They spied on union members’ conversations and they threatened to spy on and retaliate against those who engaged in union activities. They blocked entrance to the hospital to members and staff who wore union insignias or t-shirts. North Memorial also blocked members’ and staff’s legally protected access to public areas. Then, to show just how far they were willing to go, North Memorial retaliated by firing SEIU Healthcare MN member Melvin Anderson, who actively engaged in and led turnout for the pickets.

SEIU and MNA filed charges against North Memorial for their outrageous illegal behaviors. In October of 2014 the NLRB found that the charges had merit and announced that a trial would be held starting in January of 2015. In that trial more and more chilling evidence came to light demonstrating the clear retaliation by North Memorial.

On Sept. 4, the NLRB issued their final ruling. Melvin Anderson was completely exonerated of any and all discipline related to these charges and was ordered reinstated with back pay plus interest. North Memorial was found to have violated the law on many counts. In addition to fully rescinding the disciplines from Anderson’s record, reinstating him, and making him financially whole, North Memorial was ordered to post a statement by the time clocks stating that they did indeed break the laws, letting each employee know that they have the right to engage in concerted union activities, and that management will not retaliate in the future.

This is just one case. Management here at North Memorial made some serious errors and got caught. Because of this, workers were able to win a victory this time. In truth these same types of threats and retaliation are used routinely by employers when workers try to organize and make improvements, because management knows that as a union the workers have real power.

Members at North Memorial will continue to fight for issues they believe in, like safe staffing, and this victory only affirms that what they are doing is right. This fighting and winning attitude can be clearly seen in statements by Melvin Anderson. He states, “Despite the challenges that North Memorial’s retaliation has caused for me, I don’t regret for one second that I spoke up for safe staffing levels and patient safety.”

Anderson continued, “I hope this ruling makes North Memorial understand that they can’t intimidate employees and that it is time to finally address their staffing levels.”

#MinneapolisMN #unions #NLRB

Minneapolis, MN – Upwards of 250 members of Teamster Local 320 and their supporters joined a spirited informational picket line, August 31 to “Turn up the heat” on the U of M administration, pushing their demands for a real raise and respect. The six-hour long picket took place on the Super Block, a huge complex of student dormitories. It coincided with move-in day.

A strong showing by the university’s AFSCME Local 3800, along with the support of members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), other unions, and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) contributed to the event’s success.

#MinneapolisMN #StudentMovement #Teamsters #unions #AFSCME

Tampa, FL – Over 50 U.S. Postal Service workers and supporters participated in the national day of action here in Tampa, May 14. On May 20, the USPS union members' contract is set to expire. If the contract passes as is, American Postal Workers Union (APWU) members fear it will include more cuts to employee positions and take the only public postal service in the country and hand it to the private corporations.

Reggie Maddox a Tampa resident and USPS worker for over 18 years brought his two sons to the rally. “Our service is here for the people. This is the only postal service that doesn't demand a tax break. My job is threatening to be cut. And I just cannot sit back and accept that.”

According to Don Barron, executive vice president of the Tampa Area Local South Region, “Attacks to USPS are attacks to more than 550,000 employees who are set to be without a job by this Oct. 1. If the contract passes as-is, the APWU will push for arbitration.”

Organizing in two locations, the Tampa Local 259 APWU first rallied outside of the downtown Tampa Postal Office and then, after more than five hours, moved the rally to the Tampa International Postal Office. Workers at the local office joined the rally during their lunch breaks and some even joined before their work shifts.

Joji Wong, a USPS worker for more than 21 years, is a graveyard shift employee and was set to start her shift at 2:00 a.m. Holding a “I stand with postal workers,” sign and talking to USPS customers, Wong said “I'm here because the Postal Service is one of the greatest public services out there. To see the attacks against it and the big efforts to make it private are something I will continue organizing against!”

David Bernstein, president of the APWU Retiree Chapter says, “When you take the services we provide and replace them with a privately-owned service, you end up handing us all over to Wall Street. In the many years I worked with the Postal Services, and the many strikes I have seen and been a part of, I can tell you now that the younger generation needs to fight back against these attacks. Just like I did and just like I still am, even if I am retired.”

Michael Sullivan the South East business agent for APWU; Norwood Orwick, a Verizon worker and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); as well as Sol Márquez, a state of Florida employee and member of the local AFSCME 79 chapter, also in supported the national day of action.

#TampaFL #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #unions #PublicSectorUnions #postalWorkers #USPS

Jacksonville, FL – When the nearly all white jury returned with a not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, people all around the U.S. were outraged. Outside the courtroom in Sanford, Florida some 200 protesters gathered up and issued a united call for nationwide protests, which was answered in the coming days by activists across the country.

One of these protesters in Sanford was Jared Hamil, a union member of Teamsters Local 79 out of Tampa. Holding a sign that read “Justice 4 Trayvon,” Hamil stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the other protesters, proudly wearing a Teamster pin on his shirt.

“Seeing racist discrimination at work and knowing that Trayvon was racially profiled, I saw a big connection,” said Hamil. He continued, “It goes further than just laws. Trayvon’s case shows a system of oppression that targets different nationalities in their communities and at their workplaces.”

Hamil was one of thousands of union workers around the country who joined the protests against Zimmerman’s acquittal in the streets. Two days after the verdict, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) called for “the Justice Department to immediately conduct an investigation into the civil rights violations committed against Trayvon Martin,” adding that it will take a “massive grassroots movement” to win justice.

Reverend Terry Melvin, President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), issued an even stronger statement, saying that the verdict “sends an ominous message to the Black community – that is, white fear still trumps the value of Black life in America today – whether you wear a suit or a hoodie; whether you live in a struggling neighborhood or a gated community; whether you are minding your own business or being stalked by a stranger armed with a gun and hostility toward folks who fit a negative racial profile. This is reality, not a reality show.”

Union members have a direct connection to the struggle for justice for Trayvon Martin. Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, is an active member of Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 100 and has worked at the Miami-Dade County Housing Authority for over 23 years. In a powerful showing of union solidarity after her son was murdered, 192 of Fulton’s co-workers donated $40,825 hours’ worth of vacation time to assist the grieving family.

Many unions and labor organizations supported the outpouring of protesters demanding the arrest of Zimmerman. In Tallahassee, the Big Bend Labor Chapter passed a strongly worded resolution condemning the shooting of Trayvon Martin and “[supporting] coalition partners in their actions to demand justice.” On a national level, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists had Trayvon Martin’s parents speak to the delegates, who received them with roaring applause and calls for justice.

For many union members, the struggle for justice for Trayvon Martin and civil rights goes hand-in-hand with the struggle in the workplace. Warren Smith, a member of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 1408 in Jacksonville and an active leader in the local CBTU chapter, said, “Union members have learned through the years that the right to organize is directly tied to one’s civil rights. What human can work and call themselves truly free in a place where they can’t even walk home safely from the corner store?” Smith continued, “Seeing this, we feel compelled to take arms and ensure justice for Trayvon and by doing so, we ensure a measure of justice for ourselves.”

On July 22, Smith and other union members in Jacksonville did just that. Members from the Longshoremen, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the International Association of Machinists, and AFSCME provided water, food, coolers and supplies to protesters marching from Jacksonville to Sanford to demand justice for Trayvon Martin. The five-day march, called “Walk for Dignity – Enough is Enough”, will span the nearly 120 miles between the two Florida cities. Jacksonville unions took up the call to feed and support the protesters.

Progressive labor unions are part of the African American freedom struggle in the South. The Congress of Industrial Organizations rose to prominence by organizing African American workers in the Black Belt South, in defiance of Jim Crow repression. Civil rights leaders like A. Philip Randolph worked heavily in the unions to fight against job discrimination and unequal pay. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was brutally assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee just a day after supporting the striking African American sanitation workers of AFSCME Local 1733 as a part of his Poor People’s Campaign.

In the struggle for justice for Trayvon Martin in 2013, the history of unions fighting against racism and national oppression remains alive and well. Speaking to his experience on the shop floor, Hamil said, “Where I work, African Americans are constantly harassed and disciplined by managers. I went to Sanford to fight for justice for Trayvon and all other oppressed nationalities who live under this oppressive system. More than just showing solidarity, this was about getting up to the gates of the courthouse to struggle alongside everyone else fighting for freedom in this country.”

#JacksonvilleFL #Labor #OppressedNationalities #AntiRacism #unions #Teamsters #CivilRights #TrayvonMartin #GeorgeZimmerman #InjusticeSystem

Taking an honest look at the labor movement, it doesn’t take a genius to find it at a low that hasn't been seen since the early 1930s. Unions are taking a beating from politicians, who rather than taxing the ultra-wealthy, take the ‘easier’ road of demanding cuts on government workers. At the same time, private sector employers scrape more and more from the workers in order to maintain massive profits. No-strike agreements and open shop clauses in the private sector and right-to-work legislation and restrictions on collective bargaining in the public sector strike right at the heart of what's left of organized labor's gains. In that sense, I applaud the public statements of President Richard Trumka and the AFL-CIO in their recent meetings that recognize the fact that labor needs to change course in the U.S.

Changing course is not only the right thing to do; it has become necessary. According to the March 3 In These Times article, the new AFL-CIO plan is searching for “new forms of worker representation,” including Working America, Workers Centers, and a general low-wage worker campaign at Wal-Mart and in the general service industry. It is a mixing bowl of good and bad ingredients. The approach labor takes with the ingredients will determine if what comes out is any good.

As far as Working America, the supposed 3.1 million-member community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, I have direct personal experience. I worked for Working America for a year and a half, rising to become one of a handful of field managers in Wisconsin. I traveled to different cities, attended leadership conferences and met national leaders of Working America. I spent hours on doorsteps, signing up thousands of new ‘members’ and raising tens of thousands of dollars for the effort.

Working America is not what its pumped up to be. There is almost no ‘community’ involvement in Working America offices, given they are open only a few months of the year, with three exceptions nationally. Working America is a traditional fundraising canvass, subsidized by unions, exclusively to gather names, addresses, emails and phone numbers for national elections. Quite frankly, very few people even recognize that they are ‘members,’ nor are they contacted other than for get-out-the-vote purposes or to be asked for more money. The ‘alliances’ with community groups that Working America builds are hollow and empty and usually involve, again, asking for money from already cash-strapped community organizations and union locals.

One example from my time working in Wisconsin was the canvassing of the city of Manitowoc during the Machinists Union Manitowoc Crane strike in 2011-2012. In ‘support’ of the striking workers, Working America staff canvassed with discussion points vaguely linking to the strike in this small industrial town, fundraising as we went. The funds, despite demands from several of the staffers, did not go to supporting the strikers, but instead directly to Working America's state and national accounts. These thousands of dollars could have supported the Machinist strikers, who ultimately failed in their fight to oppose an open shop clause in the new contract.

It bears saying that a similar technique was employed during the Walker recall race, to great fundraising effect. While we only collected a scarce thousand or so Recall Walker petitions, we raised tens of thousands of dollars for Working America by promoting the Walker recall. In the end, we only canvassed for two to three weeks against Walker in the election itself. While Wisconsin’s trade unions gave the Walker recall every effort, the AFL-CIO put their efforts elsewhere.

Working America is a multi-million dollar part of the pipe dream of a better future with the Democratic Party. Labor leaders should have walked away from this partnership nearly 20 years ago with the passing of NAFTA under Bill Clinton. Instead millions in dues money are used to support politicians who either turn a blind eye toward, or actually vote against the interests of workers.

As for Workers Centers, they have exploded across the U.S., with hundreds now in existence. The question is, “Why, when labor union halls themselves are supposed to be centers for worker power and organization, do these new structures exist?” The answer: Largely because the labor movement had not been filling that role for decades, and in response, workers in these communities were forced to reinvent the wheel, struggling with tiny resources to accomplish something that a multi-million dollar union federation had failed to do: be an active voice in actual struggle on the shop floor, whether it is a fast food restaurant, retail conglomerate or a steel mill. Over the past years the AFL-CIO has recognized the need to join forces with these labor centers. Let’s hope workers can gain union representation through them and not just be used.

Building in expanding areas of the economy such as retail, fast food and service and joining with campaigns such as the OUR Wal-Mart movement should be the next logical step for unions. As a warehouse worker and a Teamster I have a huge amount of respect for the folks I know fighting for better wages and working conditions in Wal-Mart's warehouses. It is an enormous task that will take grinding effort and actual blood, sweat and tears to accomplish. The millions of dollars lost on Working America's current empty shell and misspent on the Democratic Party, could be used to produce a tangible result. A victory in the warehouse struggles could be this generation's 1937 GM sit-down strike and change the face of U.S. labor relations for decades to come. Providing that type of solidarity and funding it, to unionize these warehouses and corporate giants, should be at the top of the AFL-CIO list.

Will it be the top-down, four-letter-word kind of solidarity of the union leadership coming in to run the show and shepherd over workers, or will it be the solidarity that lends voice, leadership and strength to the rank and file (who, despite all the speeches, TV interviews, and news articles, don’t need to be told they're overworked and underpaid)? For us, our own version of falling off the ‘fiscal cliff’ is job loss, homelessness, hunger and the death of our dreams and aspirations as working-class people.

Let’s get down to brass tacks: union representation needs to grow. Community partnership, alliances with workers centers and developing new campaigns in expanding areas of the economy are crucial, but the devil is in the details. What has been announced does not tackle the problems of our labor movement. No bold new strategy is going to solve what is in reality a simple problem of growth.

Want to grow the union? First make an example of the power union workers have, and show bosses and workers alike that we can fight in union workplaces that have been suffering from decades of management harassment and concessionary contracts. What we need is militant workplace action in our own shops. New organizing drives mean nothing and signed contracts provide nothing, if we cannot demonstrate power in our own workplaces.

From a rank-and-file Teamster and union activist, here's the strategy we need: cut the fat, get mean, curtail the spending on elections and instead build struggle through funding ordinary workers fighting bosses in the workplace.

#UnitedStates #unions #AFLCIO #Trumka #LaborMovement