The Dilemma Of A Staff Union

As I recently discovered, nearly all labor organizations operating within larger labor organization(often referred to as Staff Unions) often face the same dilemma - how to act like a real union when your employer does not.  Anyone who remembers the U.U.R. debacle that led to the picketing outside of SEIU headquarters will surely understand what I am talking about.  Some staff unions are so inactive that the international union doesn't even realize they exist(ask anyone at the CWA headquarters if they've ever heard of Local 2835 that supposedly represents AFGE field staff - they haven't).

While inactivity is certainly a problem, an even bigger problem arises when a staff union is not affiliated with an outside union, and management effectively runs the staff union, resulting in a sort of Kabuki Theater where no one dares to push back or bring up real workplace issues.  There are certain unions that will not represent union staff for these reasons. 

In my recent experience, I discovered that it can be detrimental to your career in the labor movement(especially with lavender shaded organizations) if you attempt to behave as an actual elected union officer while you are still in your year-long probationary period.  Luckily, being ostracized from the purple monster can actually be a positive thing these days to real friends of labor.

There are some good staff union Locals out there, notably IFPTE Local 70, which represents Jobs With Justice staff, as well as other progressive NGO staff.  The key is that you must never forget that workers are workers, and management is management, regardless of what logo happens to be on the building.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Christmas On The Picket Line

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%

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



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

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

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

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

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