[statecom-discuss] Re: [IPPN] Labor Day 2006: Power to the People?

[Mike Heichman]

Ted Glick wrote:

>
>
> Future Hope column
>
> Labor Day 2006: Power to the People?
>
> By Ted Glick
>
> September 3, 2006
>
> "Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made 
> up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I 
> said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in 
> it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there 
> is a soul in prison, I am not free."
>                                                             
>                 Eugene Debs, 1918
>
> A couple of days ago the Gallup News Service released a report on the 
> attitudes of U.S. Americans toward unions. By a two to one margin, 
> people said that they view unions positively, a margin that's been 
> relatively steady for 20 years.
>
> However, in the words of the report, "only 33% of Americans believe 
> unions mostly help workers who are not unionized; the majority (51%) 
> say unions mostly hurt these workers. None of these attitudes has 
> changed appreciably since first measured in 2001."
>
> The report goes on to say that "a solid majority of those in non-union 
> households [over 80% of households] believe that unions are mostly 
> beneficial to union workers."
>
> These statistics help to highlight a fundamental problem for U.S. 
> trade unions: despite popular support for trade unionism in general, 
> trade unions are, in essence, viewed as a "special interest group" by 
> many people, including many workers.
>
> To put it another way, far too many people do not look to labor as a 
> leader in efforts to enact reforms that will benefit working-class 
> people as a whole.
>
> This is not a good thing, and it is part of the picture as to why the 
> percentage of workers who are members of unions keeps going down, now 
> at 13%.
>
> A little less than a year ago, painfully aware of labor's plight, a 
> number of major unions split from the AFL-CIO to form a rival 
> federation, Change to Win. Their mission, in their own words, is to 
> "unite the 50 million workers in Change to Win affiliate industries 
> whose jobs cannot be outsourced and who are vital to the global 
> economy.  We seek to secure the American Dream for them, and for all 
> working people, including: a paycheck that supports a family, 
> universal health care, a secure retirement and the freedom to form a 
> union to give workers a voice on the job."
>
> However, although begun with high hopes and this broader mission, 
> there's little evidence that Change to Win has been able so far to 
> fundamentally alter labor's on-the-defensive dynamics, much less 
> project an approach to organizing that has stimulated grassroots 
> momentum and energy, an essential gauge as to things changing for the 
> better.
>
> For what it's worth, here's what I think is a primary aspect of what 
> labor needs to do differently to transform this discouraging state of 
> affairs.
>
> I don't think the labor movement is going to pull itself out of its 
> decades-long decline until it prioritizes and understands the 
> strategic necessity, the absolutely essential need, for the building 
> of an organized, broadly-based, independent political movement, a 
> movement/organization/coalition/party outside of the Republican and 
> Democratic parties.
>
> It's not just that such a movement is needed in general, as has been 
> true, and as I and many others have written about and been working 
> for, for a long, long time. The "house of labor" specifically needs 
> such a development to help it break out of an organizational culture, 
> a way of doing things, that is very corporate-influenced, top-down and 
> hierarchical. Labor needs the fresh winds of unionists and 
> non-unionists coming together around a common progressive platform, 
> getting organized to work for independent candidates who support it, 
> and engaging in agitation and organizing in between elections to 
> demand that candidates of all parties get behind that platform.
>
> Labor needs the creative tension that comes with trying to figure out 
> how to work together in a productive way with people who are 
> different, people who have other top priority issues, people who are 
> passionately committed to democratic process and leadership 
> development, for example, as essential aspects of building a movement 
> that can ultimately win.
>
> Labor needs the kind of partners to interact with in an on-going way 
> that some of us experienced during the few years in the 1980's that 
> the National Rainbow Coalition was a movement-building operation 
> bringing together African Americans, Latinos, labor, farmers, 
> students, environmentalists, women's rights activists and more.
>
> It is unlikely that this new political movement will emerge as a 
> full-fledged alternative political party. It is much more likely that 
> it will be a hybrid, a mix of people from third party groups, 
> progressive efforts within the Democratic Party, and unions, community 
> groups and issue- and constituency-based organizations. But it must be 
> seen by the country as a whole and must operate internally as a 
> distinct "third force," an entity very different from either 
> Republican or Democratic politics-as-usual.
>
> Within such a formation the progressive trade unions that will be part 
> of it will find inspiration, fresh approaches to organizing and new 
> members. This in turn will have a leavening effect within the broader 
> labor movement, play a catalytic role. For the first time in a long 
> time, labor, not to mention all the others in this movement, will be 
> liberated from the bad choices of supporting a Democratic candidate 
> you know you can't trust or supporting an independent you like but 
> know has almost no chance of winning.
>
> On this Labor Day, 2006, may the spirit and example of past labor 
> leaders like Eugene Debs and Tony Mazzocchi inspire us all.
>
> Ted Glick works with the Climate Crisis Coalition 
> (www.climatecrisiscoalition.org) and the Independent Progressive 
> Politics Network (www.ippn.org).
>
>
> [This message sent using the IPPN Announce e-mail list.  You can join 
> this
> low-traffic email group on alternative politics by sending a blank 
> email to:
> ippn-announce-subscribe at topica.com You can unsubscribe by writing 
> ippn-announce-unsubscribe at topica.com
>
> To participate in a more active discussion of independent and third
> party politics, please send a blank email to:
> ippn-discuss-subscribe at topica.com
>
>
> --^----------------------------------------------------------------
> This email was sent to: mikeheichman at verizon.net
>
> EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1ddtL.bSjSxt.bWlrZWhl
> Or send an email to: ippn-announce-unsubscribe at topica.com
>
> For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit:
> http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER
> --^----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>