Comments on: Beyond “Charlie Brown” http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown // Culture. Consciousness. Critical Thought. // Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:43:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Political Kabuki | The Activist http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74551 Political Kabuki | The Activist Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:18:02 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74551 [...] at Rick Trumka’s appearance on Bill Moyers’ show as discussed in Robert Fitch’s recent article. Trumka certainly thinks that his makeup of labor resurgence is enough to keep people in the [...] [...] at Rick Trumka’s appearance on Bill Moyers’ show as discussed in Robert Fitch’s recent article. Trumka certainly thinks that his makeup of labor resurgence is enough to keep people in the [...]

]]> By: Andrew Holt Williams http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74546 Andrew Holt Williams Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:06:07 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74546 Indeed. It's solidarity in more than one sense. Some of the construction unions are still somewhat exclusionary, esp. towards recent immigrants, and a lot of the unemployed in America today are in those fields. Same goes for manufacturing and other areas dominated by easily-fired recent immigrants and working poor. Not to say that industrial unions are exclusionary in the sense of some craft unions, but there's no reason why the unemployed shouldn't be organized. Indeed. It’s solidarity in more than one sense. Some of the construction unions are still somewhat exclusionary, esp. towards recent immigrants, and a lot of the unemployed in America today are in those fields. Same goes for manufacturing and other areas dominated by easily-fired recent immigrants and working poor. Not to say that industrial unions are exclusionary in the sense of some craft unions, but there’s no reason why the unemployed shouldn’t be organized.

]]> By: Andrew Holt Williams http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74545 Andrew Holt Williams Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:01:29 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74545 Yeah, I need to get ahold of it. I did read Solidarity Divided a few years back and I'd recommend that, too. Passed it on to another YDS member elsewhere after I read it, so hopefully it's still circulating. Yeah, I need to get ahold of it. I did read Solidarity Divided a few years back and I’d recommend that, too. Passed it on to another YDS member elsewhere after I read it, so hopefully it’s still circulating.

]]> By: Chris Maisano http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74543 Chris Maisano Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:34:55 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74543 I thought Sam Gindin had some really good, if still somewhat vague, ideas in a piece he wrote recently for Socialist Project: http://www.socialistproject.ca/relay/relay28_gindin.pdf. It seems to me that what folks like us should be doing is trying to build organizations in our communities that address the concerns of working people in as broad a fashion as possible. I'm not entirely sure how such an effort could then be tied back in to reforming the way unions work in this country, however. In the shorter term, those of us who are fortunate enough to still be union members, especially in public sector unions, should start trying to refashion their organizations so that they are leaders in the fight to maintain public goods and stop budget cuts. This could help build support among the public by showing that unions are not just out to protect their own members and cut down on the perception that unions (especially in the public sector) are a special interest that deserves to die. But maybe it's just time to say screw it and call for the repeal of the Wagner Act. It formalizes business unionism and gives management the upper hand more often than not, and it would hasten the death of all of the horrible and dysfunctional unions out there. I thought Sam Gindin had some really good, if still somewhat vague, ideas in a piece he wrote recently for Socialist Project: http://www.socialistproject.ca/relay/relay28_gindin.pdf. It seems to me that what folks like us should be doing is trying to build organizations in our communities that address the concerns of working people in as broad a fashion as possible. I’m not entirely sure how such an effort could then be tied back in to reforming the way unions work in this country, however.

In the shorter term, those of us who are fortunate enough to still be union members, especially in public sector unions, should start trying to refashion their organizations so that they are leaders in the fight to maintain public goods and stop budget cuts. This could help build support among the public by showing that unions are not just out to protect their own members and cut down on the perception that unions (especially in the public sector) are a special interest that deserves to die.

But maybe it’s just time to say screw it and call for the repeal of the Wagner Act. It formalizes business unionism and gives management the upper hand more often than not, and it would hasten the death of all of the horrible and dysfunctional unions out there.

]]> By: Bhaskar Sunkara http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74542 Bhaskar Sunkara Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:12:58 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74542 Actually, I've always found 19th century forms of organization like the city central appealing and due to recent developments in capitalism we are dealing with a more "unfettered" system. Also, resurrecting the idea of the union as a vehicle for the entire working class meaning the employed and the unemployed. Actually, I’ve always found 19th century forms of organization like the city central appealing and due to recent developments in capitalism we are dealing with a more “unfettered” system. Also, resurrecting the idea of the union as a vehicle for the entire working class meaning the employed and the unemployed.

]]> By: Bhaskar Sunkara http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74541 Bhaskar Sunkara Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:46:47 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74541 Fitch's point is that the problems are structural. I think you'd really get a kick out of "Solidarity for Sale", really reshaped my understanding of the labor movement in the United States. Fitch's latest in New Politics distills a lot of the book's ideas: http://newpol.org/fromthearchives?nid=178 Fitch’s point is that the problems are structural. I think you’d really get a kick out of “Solidarity for Sale”, really reshaped my understanding of the labor movement in the United States. Fitch’s latest in New Politics distills a lot of the book’s ideas: http://newpol.org/fromthearchives?nid=178

]]> By: Andrew Holt Williams http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74540 Andrew Holt Williams Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:45:49 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74540 Not to say that's anything more than a very idealistic wish, but hey, it's a start. Not to say that’s anything more than a very idealistic wish, but hey, it’s a start.

]]> By: Andrew Holt Williams http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74539 Andrew Holt Williams Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:45:18 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74539 Well, there's always the return to the one big union...ok, that might not sound serious, but simply an organization as visible as the Knights of Labor circa the turn of the century or the IWW pre-WWI that isn't a union with dues and contracts and whatnot per say but is built on the premise of bringing together workers under a premise of "an injury to one is an insult to all" would be good...and with the internet, organizing on a mass scale is more possible than ever. Well, there’s always the return to the one big union…ok, that might not sound serious, but simply an organization as visible as the Knights of Labor circa the turn of the century or the IWW pre-WWI that isn’t a union with dues and contracts and whatnot per say but is built on the premise of bringing together workers under a premise of “an injury to one is an insult to all” would be good…and with the internet, organizing on a mass scale is more possible than ever.

]]> By: Andrew Holt Williams http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74538 Andrew Holt Williams Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:40:14 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74538 I can't say I have much of an inside track to the rank and file of most unions. I'm a member of our union, but we're not granted bargaining rights by the state of Virginia so I can't tell you much about the bargaining process and actually doing more than just being a lobby group, so pretty much all we can do is be like Trumka and hope we get listened to (not likely). As far as providing a model for democratic rank-and-file unionism, I was particularly impressed with the Raleigh sanitation and public works workers union, UE 150, when I still lived there. In theory, and mostly in practice, this was a union that encouraged the rank and file to be the face of their negotiations with the city. The only problem was that one of the "rank-and-file" leaders was actually a "proletarianized" member of Worker's World, and he was the one doing most of the pushing. Then again, with such a small portion of workers aware of what power they wield collectively, especially in the wake of all the demoralization that has come in the past 30 years, how do you initiate grassroots union democracy when it's not just occurring spontaneously? How do we go about encouraging the rank-and-file to take control of locals? I can’t say I have much of an inside track to the rank and file of most unions. I’m a member of our union, but we’re not granted bargaining rights by the state of Virginia so I can’t tell you much about the bargaining process and actually doing more than just being a lobby group, so pretty much all we can do is be like Trumka and hope we get listened to (not likely). As far as providing a model for democratic rank-and-file unionism, I was particularly impressed with the Raleigh sanitation and public works workers union, UE 150, when I still lived there. In theory, and mostly in practice, this was a union that encouraged the rank and file to be the face of their negotiations with the city. The only problem was that one of the “rank-and-file” leaders was actually a “proletarianized” member of Worker’s World, and he was the one doing most of the pushing. Then again, with such a small portion of workers aware of what power they wield collectively, especially in the wake of all the demoralization that has come in the past 30 years, how do you initiate grassroots union democracy when it’s not just occurring spontaneously?

How do we go about encouraging the rank-and-file to take control of locals?

]]> By: Jason Schulman http://theactivist.org/blog/beyond-charlie-brown/comment-page-1#comment-74537 Jason Schulman Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:34:55 +0000 http://theactivist.org/blog/?p=2650#comment-74537 I hope we can keep the discussion on track, i.e. less about DSA and electoral politics and more about what we can do about the fact that we don't really have anything worthy of the label "labor movement" in the U.S.... Bob Fitch is essentially saying that the existing unions are, for the most part, not salvageable, and that it's time to start from scratch. Fond as I mostly am of that idea, I have no idea how it could be done outside of major splits in the existing unions -- think NUHW vs. SEIU writ large -- and even then, the resulting dues arrangements and such might be too close to U.S. union tradtion. So I don't claim to have an answer and would love to hear from others on this question. I hope we can keep the discussion on track, i.e. less about DSA and electoral politics and more about what we can do about the fact that we don’t really have anything worthy of the label “labor movement” in the U.S….

Bob Fitch is essentially saying that the existing unions are, for the most part, not salvageable, and that it’s time to start from scratch. Fond as I mostly am of that idea, I have no idea how it could be done outside of major splits in the existing unions — think NUHW vs. SEIU writ large — and even then, the resulting dues arrangements and such might be too close to U.S. union tradtion. So I don’t claim to have an answer and would love to hear from others on this question.

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