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<< Action- Defend NY's Working Poor | Main | Kuwait Bans "Fahrenheit 9/11" >> August 01, 2004NY Times on Union DiscordSteven Greenhouse gives a bit of a blow by blow of the internal debate by unions on the future of the labor movement. Some want leaders like SEIU's Andy Stern to shut up until after the election, but part of the problem is that people have been "shutting up" about such internal debates for two long. As Bruce Raynor, president of the newly merged Unite Here union of garment and hotel workers, argues: The labor movement needs to confront these issues, but not in a backroom," Mr. Raynor said. "We're not the Kremlin. It's not like people don't know that our ability to protect American workers has been weakened. We have to turn that around, and to some degree that debate has to be done publicly."And we can walk and chew gum at the same time, mobilize for the November election, while debating who will head the AFL-CIO next year-- and more importantly, what policies the movement should adopt to get stronger. Once upon a time, internal union debates were the bread and butter of the larger left and liberal political milieu. What Walter Reuther was doing-- or not doing-- at the United Auto Workers galvinized vigrous debate far beyond the shop floor of General Motors. What the John L. Lewis and the mineworkers were planning was a fixture. I don't necessarily agree with everything Andy Stern says, but I'm damn glad he's saying it, since he's forcing people to think about these issues. Waiting for the "appropriate time" is usually a recipe for it not being discussed at all. That these internal debates are appearing in national newspapers by itself justifies Stern's "gaffe," since the newspapers wouldn't even discuss such issues except in the context of an election story. If I have a plea to fellow bloggers and other progressives, it's that they take these debates seriously and discuss them vigorously at "the appropriate time." The fact that they haven't in the past is why Stern needed to bring it up now. Posted by Nathan at August 1, 2004 10:27 AM Related posts:
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsThere are two basic approaches to acquiring power in the current labor movement. One is to curry the favor of powerful people -- mainly politicians and bosses -- and rely on your "relationship" with them to protect your interests. The other is to organize and mobilize workers in every sphere. Far too many unions are characterized by the former, including, unfortunately, AFSCME, IMHO. Andy Stern is one of a small but growing number of labor leaders who "get it". The New Unity Partnership effort is mainly about getting Labor on board with the 2nd way of building workers' power. If a labor leader talks about a politician being "one of us", 9 times out of 10 (s)he a "connections" type and couldn't organize workers out of a paper bag. Posted by: Nick at August 1, 2004 03:38 PM "If I have a plea to fellow bloggers and other progressives, it's that they take these debates seriously and discuss them vigorously at "the appropriate time." The fact that they haven't in the past is why Stern needed to bring it up now." I guess when the percentage of unionized workers drops below 12% and is dropping faster than a bomb over Iraq then the union leaders finally realize they need action before organized labor goes extinct. At least the progressive union leaders like Stern anyway see the need for action. Posted by: Doug at August 1, 2004 07:53 PM I hope I will live to see the day when American workers have the power to shut down business across the country to force national attention on their concerns. The American people have lost the ability to apply political pressure directly. Andy Stern understands how important this is...and he is working to make it possible. It is too late to rely on political alliances. No political party now has the power to make the changes we need. Posted by: scylla at August 2, 2004 11:26 AM Post a comment
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