The Virtual Picket Line

Christmas On The Picket Line

2011-12-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

As we all prepare to spend the holidays with family and friends, here's a list of workers who will be spending this Christmas on the picket line:

Indonesian Mine Workers

Australian Cleaners

Indian Civic Employees

Remember, Santa and his reindeer don't cross a picket line. Here's wishing you and yours a very special ChristmaHannuKwaanzakkah.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Cuba: Where The 99% Kicked Out The 1%

2011-12-07T19:04:00.001-08:00

From the remarks of Bill Preston, President AFGE Local 17, at a November 18 panel sponsored by U.S. Labor for Friendship with Cuba and the Metro DC Coalition to Free the Cuban Five.

Cuba is a country where the 99% actually took over and kicked the 1% out of power.

While we in the imperialist countries learn about current developments in Cuba's socialist economy, we cannot forget the internationalist duties of those of us who reside in the land of U.S. imperialism:

We cannot "forget even for one moment," Lenin argued, that "our" imperialists stand for the exploitation, oppression, and annexation of the nations and peoples who form the greatest masses of humanity, in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

For someone who lives in the U.S. who thinks they support socialism to fail to do this—to forget U.S. imperialism's historical and ongoing rapacious desires to exploit, oppress, and, yes, to annex Cuba—makes that U.S. person, as Lenin would put it, "an abettor of imperialism in practice."

In Lenin's time the struggle for the right of self-determination within the ranks of the Second International centered mainly on the advocacy and fight for freedom of secession for oppressed countries. "Without this," wrote Lenin, "there can be no internationalism." ("The Discussion on Self-Determination Summed Up," 1916.)

Today the struggle for the right of self-determination includes the right of socialist countries, like Cuba, where the working class is the ruling class, to independent development free from imperialism.

Cuba's freedom from foreign imperialist control, its right to develop its socialist economy in the way Cuba determines is in her sovereign best interests, is inextricable from consistent internationalism today. By supporting Cuba's rights actively, we help fulfill our internationalist obligation to struggle for the right of self-determination.

Rank and File Revolt

2011-11-25T17:48:00.001-08:00

The members of AFSCME Local 3299 have voted out their establishment backed incumbents and replaced five out of the six executive officer seats with rank and file members.

You can read the full story here:

http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20111124095233998

This is a huge victory for the rank and file members , and not an easy accomplishment. In fact, it's nearly impossible in a local this size.

Why is it so difficult? Well, for starters, there's no such thing as a truly unbiased union election if there are more than 100 eligible voters. The more members in the local, the harder it becomes to beat an incumbent, As incumbent officers have the backing of the national union. While most unions claim to have autonomy at the local level, that disappears the instant there is a viable challenger to the power structure. The international will dump whatever resources are needed to preserve their control over a local.

This is especially true if the election is somewhat close to the year of the national convention. In this case, AFSCME is approaching a convention where they will be selecting a new president to replace the retiring Gerald McEntee. A change in leadership in a megalocal that size could potentially affect a voting bloc controlled by the national headquarters.

Incumbents also get to develop the ballots and schedule the election schedule and voting methods. This allows the incumbents to schedule voting times and locations to maximize their turnout and minimize the turnout of their opponents, as well as ensuring they have the most favorable ballot position.

Most megalocals also require a large number of signatures to even get your name on the ballot. Unlike the incumbents, who have the assistance of staff members to collect the number of signatures required, the average member would have to travel on their own time, at their own expense, to several facilities just to get their name on the ballot.

So how can rank and file members mount a successful campaign to win officer elections?

1. Communication with members - if you actually intend to win, as the AFSCME members did, reaching out to members and making sure they vote is key.

2. Make a clear case for change - having a clear, simple platform not only makes the different choices clear, it also makes it easier to get your name out there if it's attached to a platform.

3. Form a watchdog team to observe the larger election locations and vote counts. Have them record the totals so they can be confirmed later. Never underestimate the rogue staffer who may compromise ballots.

The bottom line is: the deck may be severely stacked against the average member, but it is possible to pull of an upset if you have a good strategy.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Labor News Round-Up November 25, 2011

2011-11-25T07:25:00.001-08:00

Labor Unions Mobilize For Democracy Rally in Egypt

Union Leader Arrested in Greece at Tax Protest

Rank and File Reform Slate Sweeps AFSCME MegaLocal in California

NLRB Member Hayes Threatens To Cripple Board

More on AFSCME situation later...

Labor News Round Up November 21, 2011

2011-11-21T16:43:00.001-08:00

Women Becoming the New Voice of the Labor Movement

ILO Condems Fiji Junta Over Labor Violations

Indonesian Mine Workers Fight For Justice

Newt Gingrich Wants To Put Your Child To Work...Seriously

Labor Must Choose Between Occupy Movement and the Democrats

Black Friday's Attack On Workers

2011-11-19T17:46:00.001-08:00

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is known for being the busiest retail shoppping day of the year, and a precursor for sales throughout the holiday season. As a result, retailers across the nation are always looking for a way to jump start their holiday sales.

In years past, this translated into most retailers forcing their staff to come in to work as early as 3am to staff stores that would open at 5am - 6am. This would mean that many employees would have to cut their Thanksgiving celebration short to prepare for the early start. Unfortunately, many big retailers feel that 5am is not early enough. This year, several big box retailers are breaking with tradition and kicking off their sales events as early as midnight Thursday. This means that most of the employees of these stores will have to report to work before Thanksgiving Day is even over.

The employees of these stores are largely non-union, and therefore have no recourse to fight this mandatory overtime. For the record, K-Mart, Meijer, and J.C. Penney are resisting the urge and are not opening until 4am - 5am, but Wal-Mart, Target, Macy's, Best Buy, Kohl's, and many others are forcing their employees to open the stores at midnight.

If labor oranizations that represent employees in this industry are looking for an opportunity to organize new facilities, it would be hard to find a better one than this.

I do believe that we, as labor friendly consumers, ought to make our voices heard both physically, by not shopping until regular hours on Friday, as well as contacting companies to let them know this is not ok. Finally, we can approach employees with information on how to organize.

If you are an employee in the retail industry, and have had enough and want to organize, you can contact the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union here:

http://rwdsu.info/join-us.html

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Demands Of The Occupy Movement

2011-11-06T21:58:00.000-08:00

As the Occupy Movement continues to spread across the nation, there has been a lack of cohesion within the movement. Sure, people are angry, but what do they want? In the union business, this is known as a remedy. When you have a grievance, you always present a remedy to the problem. So far, the Occupy Movement has failed to display a clear vision outside of We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore. While this is good, it would seem that the time has come to begin constructing a remedy for the culture of corporate greed, and political corruption that supports it.

I'd been tossing the idea around for a few weeks, and a couple of nights ago, I jotted down the following:

Nearly two hundred-fifty years ago, women and men in the not quite united states of America started a movement against a government which had become detached from the realities that made up their daily lives. It was a government rife with corruption that protected only the interested of the wealthy elite, while ignoring the well-being of the vast majority of its citizens. Our forefathers took it upon themselves to rid themselves of this tyranny not through violence, but by social action and mobilization of the oppressed. It was the oppressive government who first resorted to violence, but in the end, the people were victorious.

Now, in our present times, we find ourselves living under similar circumstances. Aided by a corrupt government, a small plutocracy oppresses the remaining 99% of the population. The time has come for all people who are endeared to freedom and equality, who truly believe in the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to mobilize in a movement for the people's democracy.

Some among us have already engaged this struggle in the form of peaceful occupation of the monuments of oppression and corruption. Now that the struggle has begun, it is time for us to state our demands who have sought to control us for far too long:

1. UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE FOR ALL.

2. IMMEDIATE FORGIVENESS OF ALL FEDERAL STUDENT DEBT.

3. UNIVERSAL PUBLIC EDUCATION THROUGH COLLEGE.

4. INTRODUCTION OF THE STANDARD 35 HOUR WORK WEEK.

5. THE COMPLETE END OF DISCRIMINATION FOR GENDER, RACE, AGE, RELIGION, AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION.

6. INSTITUTION OF A BAN ON ALL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS. ALL ELECTIONS WILL BE PUBLICLY FINANCED.

7. IMPLEMENTATION OF CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS - 3 TERMS IN THE HOUSE, 2 TERMS IN THE SENATE.

8. AUTOMATIC COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT(COLA) FOR SOCIAL SECURITY TO KEEP UP WITH INFLATION.

9. ENFORCE THE RIGHT OF ALL WORKERS TO JOIN A UNION IF THEY CHOOSE TO DO SO. ALL NLRB ELECTIONS MUST BE HELD WITHIN 5 DAYS OF PETITION.

10. GUARANTEED HOUSING FOR ALL CITIZENS.

As was the case with our forefathers, the government has resorted to violence in response to our peaceful protests - but just as they were victorious, so shall we, the 99% prevail in this struggle.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

What Is Scab?

2011-10-20T16:37:00.001-07:00

This is Jack London's definition, and I find it to be the most accurate description I've ever seen:

After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, and the vampire, He had some awful substance left with which He made a scab. A scab is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a waterlogged brain, and a combination backbone made of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles.

When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and angels weep in heaven, and the devil shuts the gates of hell to keep him out. No man has a right to scab as long as there is a pool of water deep enough to drown his body in, or a rope long enough to hang his carcass with. Judas Iscariot was a gentleman compared with a scab. For betraying his Master, he had character enough to hang himself. A scab hasn't.

Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Judas Iscariot sold his savior for thirty pieces of silver. Benedict Arnold sold his country for a promise of a commission in the British Army. The modern strikebreaker sells his birthright, his country, his wife, his children, and his fellow men for an unfulfilled promise from his employer, trust, or corporation.

The bottom line is that when you cross a picket line, you are taking money from another man's pocket, and food from his children.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

It's Time To Strike The No Strike/No Lockout Clause

2011-09-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

Much has been said by various leaders in the labor movement over the last several years about the lack of solidarity in the labor movement, yet most of them seem to ignore one of the biggest causes of this problem - The No Strike/No Lockout Clause in most union contracts.

Admittedly, the plus side is very attractive to union leaders and workers: The company agrees not to lock you out for the duration of the contract. Well, at least they say they won't lock you out. These rules may not apply if you work for Albertsons, Ralph's, Sterling Chemical, Castlewood Country Club...you get the point.

Unfortunately, the down side to a No/Strike/No Lockout clause is a huge one. Not only are workers barred from going on strike, it bans just about any labor action, including leafletting, picketing, and slow-downs. Bigger than the issues just mentioned is that most of these clauses prohibit sympathy strikes, and forces members to become scabs and cross picket lines of other unions.

It would seem to me that if the leaders of today's labor movement are searching for the reasons that workers aren't as united as we were 60-80 years ago, this might have something to do with it. In exchange for not locking us out, which is not always effective, especially if the workers get into the plant and have a sit-down strike, the labor movement has signed over our most effective weapons:

1. The ability to control our own labor.
2. The ability to unite with other workers to effect commerce.

Without these weapons, the labor movement has become soft, weakened, isolated, and although it pains me to say it: corporatist.

So how do we solve this problem? Well, there are a few ways. Some are more radical(effective), and some are more moderate(somewhat less effective).

1. Remove the No Strike/No Lockout Clause completely. Instead of wasting time and money on arbitration cases that drag on forever, change the grievance procedure where any class action that is not solved at the 3rd step can result in a strike. Of course, this means that unions will actually have to mobilize workers, which is what our purpose is supposed to be in the first place.

2. Keep the No Strike/No Lockout Clause, but retain the right to picket and leaflet.

3. Keep the right for sympathy/general strikes. At the very least refuse to cross picket lines. What the hell ever convinced the labor movement that it was alright to force our members to become scabs?

If you want real solidarity and a united labor movement, this would be a good start.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

A Few Things I'd Like To See This Labor Day

2011-09-04T14:19:00.001-07:00

Here are a few things I would like to see this Labor Day:

1. An actual push by the labor movement to organize new workers. I actually kind of liked the AFL-CIO commercial last year, but I'd like to see one this year that simply lists the benefits of being in a union vs. non-union with a message that says "If you'd like to learn more about joining a union or starting one where you work, call this number" with a number set up by the AFL-CIO to direct people to the appropriate labor union.

Sounds simple doesn't it? It is, except it would mean that big labor would actually have to spend some money on organizing - what a concept!

2. While millions of Americans are watching football, wouldn't it be awesome to see a commercial(maybe even the sort of one listed in number 1) featuring some of the biggest names in the NFL, who oh, by the way, happen to be union members, publicly supporting unions and encouraging people to organize?

3. Since it hasn't happened up to this point, wouldn't it be nice to have a union friendly President come out publicly in support of unions, and the right to organize freely under the Employee Free Choice Act? Does anyone remember Candidate Obama saying he'd be right out there on the picket line with workers? If anyone has a picture of Obama in Wisconsin, or at the Ohio Statehouse, or on the picket line with Verizon workers, please send it to me - I think I missed something.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

p.s. - if you are interested in joining a union, please post a comment and I'll direct you to a union in your industry.

Locked Out: The NBA

2011-08-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

While the media has covered the NBA lockout, it has failed to gather as much attention as the NFL Lockout that recently ended without any games being canceled. This is due to a few different reasons:

1. The NBPA is not as strong as a bargaining unit as the NFLPA.
2. The NBPA has not done as good a job winning the battle in the public square.

While the NFLPA immediately went on the offensive with a unified voice to the public, NBA players have wasted time with a faux decertification threat, and some of its members have entertained the idea of playing overseas. Neither of the two have helped their cause. It would seem that the NBPA would want to hammer the NBA owners with the fact that they are asking for major concessions from the players at a time when the league is making record profits.

Albeit, there are teams who are losing money every year, but that is mainly due to poor ownership coupled with a bad economy. This situation could be rectified by working out a deal similar to that of the NHL, where the smaller, less profitable markets are helped out by the rest of the league. Unfortunately, the owners would rather take it out on the workers.

Unfortunately, the people hit most by this will not be the owners or players. It will be the people working for $8 an hour at the arenas who might lose work because of the lockout. I hope the owners keep that in mind as they are thinking about solutions to this situation.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Verizon On Strike!

2011-08-16T03:41:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago, 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike. To find out how you can support them or join them on the picket line, click here:

http://www.cwa-union.org/

Support our sisters and brothers at Verizon!

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Post Mortem in Wisconsin: How Labor Missed Another Opportunity

2011-08-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

Let me be the first to say this: Labor could have won last night. Adding to its ever-growing string of missed opportunities, Big Labor fired yet another round into its already bullet-riddled feet.

Yes, winning two races in GOP territory is a big accomplishment, and should be lauded. However, the avoidable strategic missteps that kept Democrats from winning a crucial 3rd race cannot be ignored. Allow me to present a few observations I made on the ground in Wisconsin:

1. Labor once again let the Democratic Party run the show. Imagine if Labor would have run its own candidates as independents. This would have neutralized heavy party-line voting in the GOP strongholds.

2. Resources were wasted in two Districts that everyone, especially the Democratic establishment, knew were never in play. I'm not saying you don't make an effort, but you don't waste money and resources by opening offices and using political operatives where you know you have zero chance of coming within 7 points. Districts 10 and 2 should have been run by local volunteers - kind of the way any districts in the state of Virginia that are west of I-81 are run without paid staff.

3. Democrats relied on outdated ground-game strategy that effectively turned out the vote against them in stronger GOP districts. When you're running in a district that is heavily stacked in the other direction, you can win by getting your people out to vote, and try to get everyone else to stay home. By harassing independents, who tend to break Republican, you incite them to get out to the polls and vote against you. If Democrats would have focused only on union households in these precincts, and left moderate Republicans alone, they would have had an outside shot at an upset by winning the turnout game. Unfortunately, they beat moderates over the head with as many as 7-8 house visits in some cases. I believe this in effect turned out the GOP vote in areas where the GOP did not even have a committed ground game.

4. Labor allowed themselves to be to spread out. While the Democratic establishment is expected to try to compete everywhere, the Labor Community should have targeted its efforts on the 3-4 Districts that had the best prospects for winning. Unfortunately, as I stated in point number 1, Labor allowed the Democratic establishment to run the show and waste valuable resources on races that were not winnable.

Conclusion: I believe that if Labor had committed its resources only in Districts 32, 18, 8, and 14, we would be looking at a Wisconsin State Senate with a Democratic majority.

Unfortunately, we will never know. There is always January, and a certain governor who will be eligible for recall. I believe that is a fight we can win.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

On The Ground In Wisconsin

2011-08-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

I landed here in Green Bay yesterday morning, and will be here through the August 9th elections. I've been keeping some notes to chronicle my experiences. Here's what has happened thus far:

August 5th

4:00am - Sweet mother...it fells like I just went to sleep five minutes ago. I quietly slip out of bed, trying not to wake up our 11 month old son. My wife has threatened to kill me if he wakes up.

4:25am - I go out front to wait on my taxi cab, which thankfully doesn't take very long.

5:00am - I get to the airport, where I congratulate my TSA inspectors on their recent NLRB election to join AFGE. They say they hope it will help improve working conditions.

6:15am - I get to enjoy a 2 hour layover in the Detroit International Airport. There is no WiFi, nothing open, but there is a Kubrick-inspired tunnel that makes you feel like you're an extra in The Shining.

9:00am - I finally touch down in Green Bay. I pick up my car and head straight to the District 2 Offices in Kaukauna.

11:00am - I meet a few guys from IUPAT(Painters) who have already been here for a few days. We take a few packets and head out to Seymour to canvass some union households.

12:21pm - Hey, a buffalo farm!

1:04pm - Whoever said it would be cooler in Wisconsin is due for a kick in the ass when I return to West Virginia.

1:11pm - Decide to utilize the car for canvassing. Oh heavenly a/c!

3:25pm - Return to office and call it quits for the day. They tell me that one of the local volunteers is throwing a cookout for the out of towners, and I decide to check it out.

6:30pm - Sweet baby Jesus in the manger, these are the best bratwursts I have ever eaten.

8:15pm - Headed back to the hotel. I am completely drained.

August 6th

8:00am - Time to get ready for a fun-filled day of canvassing in District 2!

9:00am - Arrive at office

9:30am - Take my packet and head out to a local neighborhood.

9:37am - I notice a guy who looks like he might be dropping literature at the same houses I have on my list. I decide to hide for a minute to find out what he's up to.

9:39am - This guy is from Operation Rescue out of Milwaukee. Since he hasn't spotted me, I decide to tail him. His literature is wedged in the cracks of the doors. Unfortunately, when I put my literature there, it makes it too wide to keep both flyers, and one of the flyers falls out. This coincides with a hefty breeze that takes the other flyer far, far away.

11:35am - Arrive back at the office. I sit for a few minutes and rest. I then pick up another packet and decide to head back out.

12:04pm - Why did I decide to park in the 2800 block and walk all the way down the street canvassing to the 1400 block. I can't even see the car now.

12:15pm - Finally arrive back at the car. I am dripping sweat and look like I'm about to die.

3:00pm - I finish my packet after walking what feels like 5 miles. I've had enough for today...

5:15pm - I decide to check out Lambeau Field. It's a nice stadium, and the only non-profit NFL Team. Lots of labor-friendly people here.

9:00pm - back at the hotel for the night.

More updates as things unfold.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

SEIU/DISTRICT 1199 WV/KY/OH MAKES HISTORY WITH STAFF UNION

2011-07-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

Recently, my fellow union staff made history by ratifying the first staff union contract in the history of SEIU/District 1199. While the bargaining unit was voluntarily recognized by the leadership of the union, it still took some effort to negotiate the contract, and to get a ratification vote from a bargaining unit that is spread out over three states.

SEIU/District 1199 WV/KY/OH has a reputation for being one of the most, if not the most, democratic, member-driven SEIU Local. This achievement should go a long way in cementing that reputation. There had been three prior attempts to organize the staff, but for a variety of reasons were unsuccessful.

The vote to ratify the negotiated contract was approved overwhelmingly by the bargaining unit, which includes all full time and regular part time salaried administrative organizers, lead administrative organizers, member communications liaisons, political liaisons, member relations liaisons, field organizers, field researchers, lead field researchers, outreach organizers, and member strength organizers.

While this is a very positive step for the staff and the union, there are some major challenges that present themselves:

Due to the small bargaining unit size, and lack of affiliation with a larger labor organization, the staff union may have a difficult time staying financially stable. For instance, arbitration can be very costly, and a bargaining unit of forty employees may end up paying astronomical dues in order to cover those costs. There also is the issue of keeping up with the administrative side of things. Because there is no affiliation with another labor organization, there are no paid staff to spend time handling issues that may arise. While the bargaining unit is made up of union staff, their already hectic schedules might make it difficult to keep up with staff union issues.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Back In Action

2011-06-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

So...it's been a few weeks since my last post. I've been tied up in contract negotiations in Eastern Kentucky, where management is utilizing what I like to call The Crystal Ball Theory. That's when your company has made money, but you think you may possibly not make as much money, so let's punish the workers based on hypotheticals. You'd think I'm joking, but I'm not.

That aside, it's been a crazy world in the labor community in the last month. I got to be a part of collecting a record number of petitions to get a referendum on Ohio Senate Bill 5. I'm preparing for officer elections next month, which is one of my favorite parts of the union business - democracy in action, and to top it all off, my fellow SEIU/1199 WV/KY/OH staff members made history by ratifying our 1st staff union contract. I'll be sure to have a lengthy post on that tomorrow.

Enough with the lull in posts, I'm back in action!

In Solidarity,

Joseph

General Electric(GE) and the United Electrical Workers(UE) Return to the Table

2011-05-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

If you ever want to see the difference between the way a corporation thinks, and the way a union thinks, look no further than the ongoing negotiations between GE and UE. This was made very evident in the opening statements, where GE brought the same old song and dance about how rough they have it, and how workers must "share the burden" when there are losses. Of course, now that GE has rebounded from the financial crisis, they are unwilling to "share the profit" with their workers. This point was not lost on UE President John Hovis, who stated,

"Certainly the company has “rebounded strongly” from the financial crisis, said Hovis and is therefore “in a position to address positively the issues that concern our members.” He noted GE’s 2010 gross profit of $14.2 billion last year, ranking it sixth among the Fortune 500. “Just last month,” Hovis added, in reporting first quarter results, “Mr. Immelt reported $82 billion of cash on the company’s balance sheet, the third dividend increase to stockholders in the past year, and a record backlog of orders going forward.”

It is this fundamental difference in worldview that debunks the myth that unions have somehow outlived their relevance. As long as companies rely on their workers to turn a profit and refuse to share the spoils, there will always be a need for workers to form unions to get their fair share.

More on these negotiations to come...

In Solidarity,

Joseph

For Class-Oriented Unionism: Lessons of the WFTU Congress

2011-05-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

The following article was written by a member of the US Delegation to the 16th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions. It was first posted at http://www.mltoday.com/ and I am pleased to publish this important piece of writing on the Virtual Picket Line.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

For Class-Oriented Unionism: Lessons of the WFTU Congress

Written by Bill Donnelly

I participated as an observer delegate in the 16th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) in Athens, Greece, from April 6-9, 2011. I left Athens inspired by the bold, class-oriented unionism on display at the Congress. WFTU assembles 210 organizations with 80 million members (a 13-million member increase since the last WFTU Congress, in Havana in December 2005) in 120 countries, organizing workers in such strategic sectors as energy, metals, transportation, food, and education.

WFTU General Secretary George Mavrikos's address to the Congress, on the first day of its work, following the spirited opening ceremonies at an Olympic sports arena the evening before, put forward two main lines of direct relevance to contemporary trade union activity in the capitalist countries:

• Firm, unwavering opposition to class collaboration

• A focus on actions to build class, internationalist unity.

Union brothers and sisters with labor organizations in over 100 countries, with 32% of the delegates being women, made concrete proposals designed to act on WFTU's platform and priorities. For example, a brother from India addressing the Congress described why strike and other actions that in effect function as de facto negotiations—which can favorably set the terms of any formal negotiations taking place at the same time or after—should be used against capitalist management instead of "dialogues" with no end.

A delegate from South Africa spoke of the urgent need to articulate offensive, and not merely defensive, demands in resistance to capital's austerity programs. She pointed to the importance of coordination through WFTU between trade unions in the imperialist countries and workers' movements in countries of what she referred to as the "global South." The South African sister amplified this with a call for coordinated actions against the multinational corporations.

The Congress was an international, multiracial event in more than just the composition of the delegate body (598 representatives and 213 observers cast secret ballots in the election of a 40-person Presidential Council, 24 of whose members are new). The leadership role in this Congress by workers' representatives from many different nations, including especially the leadership role of trade unionists from Greece and Syria, highlights the implications of the law of uneven, spasmodic economic and political development of capitalist countries discovered by Lenin.

At this time it is comrades from nations other than the major imperialist countries who play a leadership role in analyzing and generalizing the development of internationally significant trade union activity. We in the imperialist countries have a responsibility to begin to acquire the same perspective and implement a class-struggle approach, in order to further the cause of international working-class solidarity.

The presidents of Bolivia, Cuba, Cyprus, Syria, and Venezuela sent greetings to the Congress. Almost all of them , like Syria's Dr. Bashar al-Assad, lead countries targeted by imperialist aggression in one form or another. This underscores the necessity of real international solidarity opposing interference in countries seeking to develop independently of imperialism.

This World Trade Union Congress could not have been the success it was without the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) of Greece. It generously assisted the stay of the almost one thousand people who traveled from around the world to Athens for this event. PAME organizes the struggles of hundreds of thousands of workers in Greece, in the public and private sectors—no matter whether the workers are Greeks or immigrants.

PAME's George Perros, of its executive secretariat, drew attention to some burning issues facing the world trade union movement. He urged delegates to return to their home countries with a commitment to expose, isolate, and win fellow workers away from the class collaborationist International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Referring to the capitalists and the imperialists, he said: "We are not servants of their war against the working class. We want the working class to be the ruling class, and to socialize the means of production."

WFTU General Secretary George Mavrikos affirmed: "We have chosen to be soldiers of the working class. With that is a responsibility." In the forefront of our responsibility, said Mavrikos in a speech the next day, is the requirement to confront the yellow- and CIA-oriented trade unions head on. In practice this means we in the U.S. must condemn and break with the opportunism and corruption stimulated by "our own" imperialism's labor lieutenants of capital, those, as Mavrikos ably indicated, whose briefcases stuffed full of dollars and euros are employed to undermine and dismantle the trade union movement the world over.

Instead of such corrupt misleaders, Mavrikos said, "we want trade union leaders who are role models and examples." To this end, Mavrikos reminded us all that we need to exercise self-criticism, and also understand that "experience is something collective," as he put it. What I took from this last point especially was that the insights of the 16th Congress belong to the entire international working class, like an arsenal we can all use to arm ourselves.

In addition to strike and other activity, outcomes in the bourgeois electoral system gauge the developing strength of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) in the ongoing deep crisis of the capitalist system. In the most recent elections in Greece, two rounds of local elections in November 2010, nationwide percentage results for the Communist Party showed it with 10.85% of the vote, an increase of 3.3% from the 2009 parliamentary elections. In Athens the Party netted 13.74% in the first round of voting in November's local elections. The Party's trade union work aims to build the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME). Together with organizations of self-employed tradesmen and craftsmen, poor farmers, students, and women, PAME unites in a social alliance, in which the Party also develops its vanguard role, based on a platform of common struggle to overthrow monopoly capitalism.

A member of the Communist Party with whom several U.S. delegates spoke, age around 30, described how PAME, the All-Workers Militant Front, puts class-oriented unionism into practice. Union dues are collected in person, face-to-face—no reliance on employers or banks to collect these funds. After the second step of the grievance procedure, workers go on strike if they remain collectively dissatisfied—no entanglement with arbitration procedures and all the individualistic and legalistic habits and ideologies they feed. Written contracts tend to about two pages long—not the hundreds of pages crafted over years of near-constant negotiation with which we are familiar in the United States. There is no certification of bargaining units by the regime of the class enemy, unlike in the U.S., where labor organizations literally are capitalist-state-controlled through various Federal statutes, and in many cases have anti-Communist provisions written right into their own national and local constitutions that actually go further in proscribing reds than even the U.S. Code mandates.

PAME struggles for the class in the same facilities where yellow unions, an old term broadly referring to class collaborationist unions that should perhaps be resurrected, also operate, disregarding any of their claims of exclusive agency, because even while the bourgeois state and capitalist employers favor unions other than the All-Workers Militant Front, the Front doesn't care what they decree and organizes where it deems necessary anyway. Finally, and most importantly, unions with the All-Workers Militant Front are integral components of a struggle for socialism, with the open, transparent goal to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat, which will expropriate the means of production from the capitalists and make them the property of the proletarian state.

The class-oriented unionism of PAME and its vanguard Communist Party which I learned about at the WFTU Congress is in stark contrast with U.S.-style business unionism, which is also a "red tape unionism" on account of its bureaucratic procedures that unwittingly affect both rank-and-file workers and local union leaders who get pulled into class collaboration thereby. Over 15 years after hard anti-Communist Lane Kirkland was dethroned at the AFL-CIO, U.S. unionism by and large finally seems very comfortable with talk of "social justice," but almost all of our unions in practice still relate to workers essentially as customers or prospects of an insurance-like mutual aid society and pre-paid legal plan with duties only to protect jobs and benefits. Unions that function as the typical U.S. union does, with a pinched world outlook, not surprisingly readily serve as transmission belts for political directives from U.S. imperialism, through the offices of its Democratic Party operatives.

Going to the WFTU Congress in Athens gave me the sufficient political-ideological distance from the U.S. labor movement to see how even the most dedicated of U.S. unionists are typically enmeshed in class collaboration, in spite of their intentions. The WFTU Congress helped me understand that class collaboration is not even mainly a subjective factor. It is in fact primarily objective. Class collaboration is built into the very practices of U.S. unions, which often devote much of their time to negotiations that drag on, almost ritualistically, one after the other, year after year, and to grievance/arbitration and Unfair Labor Practice cases that also find ways to occupy the time of even the most militant here. In the U.S. are many trade unionists who honestly do not see themselves in the mirror of class collaboration, yet because their struggles are wholly engaged with its ways and means they gravitate objectively toward class collaboration nonetheless.

There is a kind of institutionalization of class collaboration, facilitated by the capitalist state (e.g., through the NLRB) channeling workers' complaints into grooves that help misdirect the entire class. When the AFL-CIO's misnamed "Solidarity Center," with ample U.S. government funds, "educates" unionists from around the world (many of whom come to the 47-acre suburban campus of the National Labor College near Washington, DC for this purpose), it infects other peoples, through a sort of globalized disorientation process, with the ways of the yellow- and CIA-oriented unionism long entrenched in this country.

The working class and its allies fight valiantly in Wisconsin and other states to preserve the right to collective bargaining. As it were, they're fighting to keep their chains. Collective bargaining, as it exists in the U.S., objectively restricts workers' struggles, thereby limiting them to manageable proportions. Thereby, the opportunity for Communists in the trade unions to build class and revolutionary consciousness is minimized. Admittedly, the present collective bargaining system represents "chains" less painful to the workers than the actual handcuffs with which extremist state and federal legislators aim to shackle unionists in Wisconsin and elsewhere, when they resist the abolition of public sector collective bargaining.

The mistake is to assume the present inadequate form of collective bargaining is forever. Not so. It developed under concrete historical circumstances. It can change. The workers' movement therefore must go beyond merely reaffirming collective bargaining rights won in the mid-20th century. Regrettably, for now, many leaders of U.S. trade unions, given their economism (i.e., the confining of struggle to mere economic demands), seem unable to give adequate answers to the questions raised by Wisconsin, except recall petitions.

"This does not mean that we a priori limit the class struggle," as Aleka Papariga, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, told WFTU delegates attending a cultural program of revolutionary workers' music and song at the Party's national headquarters in Athens on April 7. She added, however, that "reality demonstrates that a movement can tire out easily, that it can be assimilated or broken, when it is limited strategically to a struggle for some defensive demands, in a period when whatever gains that had been won or conceded are being abolished. In this way the trade union movement is in danger of being led to being scorned and discredited and to eventually losing its fighting character and becoming completely degenerate, as has happened unfortunately in the USA." True that.

Those of us from the USA who went to the WFTU Congress have not only immense tasks ahead of us but also a continuing obligation to learn from the WFTU and the All-Workers Militant Front, even if it doesn't yield significant or maybe even measurable results in the short term. People who would reject this as impossible or unwise because we can never be "like PAME" miss the point.

Of course, no one can mechanically "apply PAME" here in the U.S., or other countries for that matter. What we must do in the U.S., I believe, is try to develop class-oriented unionism, of which the most instructive examples I've seen thus far were at and around the recently concluded WFTU Congress. I suspect those who will say nothing like that can ever be done really don't want it to happen here in the first place.

I hope to meet soon with interested sisters and brothers to discuss collectively the further steps we, especially but not only those who were part of the delegation, could take in this country against class collaboration and for a class-oriented unionism USA.

The contributor is an elected union official in the United States.

How Buying Pirated Movies Hurts Workers

2011-05-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

I know we've all seen it - the guy selling DVDs that are still in theaters for $5. It can be tempting to pay $5 instead of $6 - $12 at the movie theater. Who cares, it's just taking money from the big corporate theaters who keep raising ticket prices, right?

Wrong. Dead Wrong.

I have to be as clear as possible on this: When you buy pirated movies or music, you are stealing money out of a union members wallet. There is a huge misconception that it only affects the theater owners and studio corporations, but the truth is that who it really hurts is the IATSE film crew, or IBEW electrician, or Teamster or LIUNA laborer who has less work or a lower paycheck due to piracy.

When you put a human face on the so-called victimless crime of media piracy, you begin to realize that buying that pirated DVD is no different than walking into Best Buy, putting a DVD into your pocket, and walking out without paying. It's that simple.

Back our union sisters and brothers in the film industry, and say something the next time you see one of your co-workers buying pirated merchandise. Maybe they'll think twice the next time.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

The Virtual Picket Line Meets the Actual Picket Line

2011-04-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

A few weeks after moving to Huntington, WV, I discovered that United Steel Workers Local 721 has been on strike at the Braskem Steel Company in Kenova, WV, for over 7 months. I finally got the chance to go out and show some solidarity this afternoon and walk the picket line for a little while.

It struck me that these guys have been out on strike for nearly 8 months, and there has been no real mobilization of the labor community to put public pressure on management to settle the dispute. The fellows I talked to all said they would much rather be inside the plant at work than on strike, but the company hasn't been willing to get serious about negotiating a contract.

In case you are in the Tri-State area near Huntington, WV, you can come and join USW Local 721 24/7 at 200 Big Sandy River Rd in Kenova, WV. We need to show some solidarity with our brothers at Braskem Steel.

Also, it's important to add that Braskem Steel is wasting a ton of money putting up scab workers in hotels in Kentucky. Here are some pics I took today:

In Solidarity,

Joseph

The 16th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions

2011-04-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

From April 6th - 11th, 2011, delegates from 210 organizations in over 120 countries, representing over 78 million members gathered in Athens, Greece for the 16th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions. Unfortunately, this exciting event that is held every five years is largely unknown to the majority of the labor movement in the United States.

Why is this?

Actually, there are a few different reasons.

1. Where Are Our Leaders? I'll start with a little history lesson. A century ago, the American labor movement was robust, active, and had leaders who transcended the labor movement and galvanized the working class as a whole in the United States. Leaders like Eugene Debs, Mother Jones, Joe Hill, to name a few. Who can we name in the last three decades that is anywhere near the level of leader with anywhere close to the level of influence as the figures I mentioned above? Sadly, the answer is no one. Our lack of leadership in the United States to galvanize the working class against the ruling class is just one reason why we don't even hear about major labor events such as the WFTU's 16th Congress. This brings me to my next point, which is why we haven't had any leaders.

2. The Purge - In the 1940's and 1950's, the ruling class pulled off one of the greatest strategical moves in labor history. Learning the lesson of Joe Hill(kill them, and you make them a martyr), the ruling class figured out a way to get the labor movement to get rid of their most effective leaders. That's right - a little thing called Loyalty Oaths. Sadly, big labor in the United States went right along with this idiotic exercise, expelling the most active and vocal leaders and organizations(UE, anyone?), and keeping the class collaborators. The effects of this event still resonate and shape today's labor movement. Have you ever notice that you can't start a union meeting without the pledge of allegiance or the national anthem? I'm not saying those are bad things, but it is very telling that labor is still stuck in that mindset of having everyone prove their Americanism before every meeting.

3. Class Collaboration - The labor movement today is a far cry from its militant predecessor. Instead of calling for the working class to unite and smack the ruling class back into reality, big labor has settled into the cozy setting of labor management forums and the bureaucracy of the toothless and cumbersome NLRB. Our conventions are held at casino's and resorts, where we spend members' money on lavish dinners for officials. This is the same activity that we complain about when it is corporations that are doing it.

4. Strike? What Strike? - In the United States, we have all but given up our best, and most powerful weapon of all - the ability to withhold our labor to deny profit to the ruling class in order to receive our fair share. Most standard union contracts contain a "no-strike" clause in them. This also barres unions from refusing to cross a picket line, or joining sympathy, or general strikes. This is designed to keep the working class from uniting across industry lines. Unless we bring back our most powerful weapon - which by the way, is used heavily, and with great success by WFTU unions - our movement will continue to wither away. It's time for us to return to our militant, grassroots, sit-down strike origins.

All of this brings me back to why the WFTU is largely unknown in the United States. The WFTU believes in an open, democratic, militant membership. They do not believe in discriminating against people with various political beliefs. Most importantly, the do not believe in class collaboration, and openly call for combating capitalism and the unity of the working class in the struggle against the ruling class.

You can find out more about the WFTU, and their 16th Congress here:

http://www.wftucentral.org/?language=en

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Virtual Picket Line Endorsement: Rick Thompson

2011-04-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Virtual Picket Line is proud to endorse Rick Thompson for Governor of West Virginia. Rick Thompson has a long history of supporting labor. Here is some information from his bio on http://www.rickthompsonwv.com/

When Rick Thompson says, “West Virginia owes me nothing. I owe this state everything,” there is no doubt he means it. There is also little doubt that few men who have shared a similar past would feel the same way.

In 1952, six months before his second son would be born, Richard Thompson died in a coalmine accident near Fort Gay, West Virginia. He left his unborn son his name, the only photo of himself and his wife, which was in his wallet, and a lifelong respect for the men who mine coal. The newspaper report said that Rick Thompson was “about 27 years old,” and speculated that a piece of slate fell from the roof and knocked his carbide lamp into a can of blasting powder, causing an explosion. The story did not mention that his older brother was with him when he died. Mining is always a family business.

Like many West Virginians of the past, and unfortunately of the present as well, Rick and his older brother Steve grew up without plumbing. Rick wore the same blue jeans everyday. But he had a granddad, Fred Thompson, who taught him how to hunt squirrel and rabbit and to be honest and to always tell the truth and to always do what you said you would do. Fred Thompson worked in a nursery for minimum wage.

Rick could also count on a bus driver who wouldn’t leave his stop until the boy was on the bus. A woman in the lunchroom who would get him an extra milk to take home, and the cooks who did the same with left over food. The teachers were good to him too, like Mrs. Faye Thompson (no relation) who taught him English.

At Fort Gay High School, he played baseball and by the time he was 17, he earned the grades to attend Marshall University. After the first year of college, though, his brother Steve died of cancer, and Rick didn’t have the money to stay in school, so he took a job with the railroad. He worked on the “cross tie gang,” hauling 200-pound timbers for 14-hour days in the middle of nowhere and sleeping in the rail cars at night. For almost a year, he sent money home and saved all he could, hoping to return to college. The country was at war, however, so the following year he volunteered for the draft.

After Basic and advanced training, Rick qualified for the Army officer’s entrance exam, but chose not to take it. He began service in September of 1972, and sent money home to install a phone, so that he could hear the voices of his family. After two years active duty and four inactive, he returned to Marshall to study criminal justice.

The G.I. Bill helped with tuition, and Rick worked as a ranger in Huntington and was a Fuller brush salesman. One of his professors, Dr. Choi, felt so strongly that Rick was cut out for law school, that one day he placed the entrance exam on his student’s desk and told him that if he didn’t complete it, he would fail the class. Rick went on to earn his J.D. at West Virginia University, and returned to Wayne County to open a legal practice.

Although Rick’s uncle became the mayor of Fort Gay, it never occurred to him to run for office himself. It happened almost by accident with a friendly conversation at lunch, but after weekends spent with family and friends walking neighborhoods and knocking on doors, the people of his community sent Rick Thompson to the House of Delegates in 1980.

A year later, he gave up his seat to serve as an assistant prosecuting attorney, to coach little league, and to eventually go back to his legal practice and to marry Miss. Beth Chambers. For the next 22 years, Beth ran the law office, served in her church and her community and raised a family that encourages each other’s strengths and shares each other’s interest from music to hunting to politics. (Yes, Beth hunts too.) When Rick Thompson says, “I couldn’t do it without her,” he means it.

In 2000, Rick Thompson returned to the House of Delegates, winning election to the 17th District, representing Wayne County. One of his first initiatives was to push for a Clean Water Act, to protect West Virginia streams before the federal government stepped in and shut down the state’s coalmines. Seven years later, he was elected Speaker of the House, largely by a band of “back-row” representatives who felt it was time for a more open process with equal participation and fairness in funding.

Rather than circling himself with loyal friends, Speaker Thompson looked at each representative’s talents to decide committee chairmanships. He changed the rules to open debate, and he ended the process by which bills could be bundled together and voted on in block, rather than receiving proper scrutiny.

One of the first actions taken up by the new House was abolishing the business franchise tax by responsibly phasing it out, which Thompson had always viewed as unfair. At the same time, he ended an anti-worker trend, which had developed in the previous years. By all accounts, the House of Delegates changed from a place of bickering where legislation went to die, to a body that shaped policy and set a direction.

Today, Rick Thompson is running for Governor. He doesn’t need a job, and he would rather spend his Saturday mornings bow-hunting than giving speeches. (When he does give a speech, he’s often asked to follow it with his guitar and a song.) Those who work in the Capital know that Rick Thompson lacks the ego and the desire for power, too often present in politics today. His vision for the office is one of responsibility and service. More than anyone else, Speaker Thompson has dealt with the diverse and often-competing agendas brought to Charleston from across the state and has proven that he can find a balance and build consensus.

Thompson says, “There’s a mindset to hold on to what you have instead of moving forward, and someone needs to break that thinking and set an agenda.” His agenda is straightforward – forming a vision for what West Virginia will look like fifty years in the future, from the state’s education system to its industry and infrastructure. “We’ve been coal, and though there’s plenty of it left, there is plenty more to West Virginia. We have the location, the resources, and the people. If we can look beyond coal and put politics aside, we will be uniquely positioned as an epicenter for America’s future growth and opportunity.”

Rick Thompson has a vision for the office of governor, namely to set a vision, but he also has a drive that only comes from a clear focus – the coal miner and his family, the single mother, the working grandfather, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, teachers, rail workers, college students, and our veterans. As he says, “West Virginia owes me nothing. I owe the people of this state everything.”

I've met Rick Thompson. He's a true supporter of the labor movement. I'm proud to support him as a candidate.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

p.s. - That is my son, Aodhan, with Rick in that photo.

Wild and Wonderful

2011-04-09T11:55:00.001-07:00

There's been a lot going on the past few weeks in the world of labor. From a narrowly averted government shutdown(at least for now), to continued anti-union hijinks in Ohio, Wisconsin, and elsewhere, to God knows what else.

As I was talking to a good labor mentor of mine, he theorized as to the cause of the political climate, as far as labor is concerned. His explanation was that both labor and big business prepared for a potential war over the Employee Free Choice Act. The problem started when labor never yelled charge, and big business did.

Anybody have a flare gun?

In Solidarity,

Joseph

In Transit

2011-03-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lull in posts, especially with everything that is going on in the movement these days. I am in the thick of moving my wife and son with me to Huntington, WV. I should resume normal postings within a week or two.

Until then, here's something to ponder. Why is the word strike viewed as a dirty word in America, when it is still viewed as a legitimate strategy in almost every other industrialized nation in the world. Is it PATCO? Is it the lack of striker replacement laws? Is it something else?

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Quick Update on Ohio

2011-03-08T14:59:00.001-08:00

Just returned from what is quickly becoming my regular Tuesday trip to Columbus, and got the chance to talk to some old school union members about their time in the movement, and we got to talking about the importance of strikes.

More on this in my next entry.

In Solidarity,

Joseph