One Nation March, 10/2/10

As I'm sure most of you from the states are aware, the One Nation, Working Together March on Washington is coming to town on October 10th. Here is AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka with his official invite:

I think this has the potential to be a good thing, as long as it doesn't turn into a rah-rah, let's get out the vote for Democrats rally. The labor movement needs to galvanize around more than just an election cycle. In fact, I have a novel idea(this means you shouldn't hold your breath) that could really build some solidarity, as well as some major press at a time when the labor movement could definitely use some.

Visualize for a second the National Mall in Washington, full of working-class folks from every conceivable labor organization. Then, to the roar of the crowd, the leaders of the AFL-CIO, Change to Win, and the independents(well, probably minus the Carpenters) all come on stage together, and announce that they are going to bury the hatchet and put forward a united front to move the struggle forward into the 21st century. Can you imagine the solidarity(and let's not forget the press) that would create?

If only it were that easy. I guess there's always hope.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

p.s. - I am actually looking to catch a ride so I can document this event. if anyone is around the Brunswick, MD area(Frederick County), shoot me a message.

Book Review: In and Out of the Working Class by Michael Yates

Let me begin with a quick caveat: I do not follow the traditional book review format. I was forced to use it one too many times in college, and have sworn off of it forever. I have always found it more interesting, and frankly, more useful to just talk about the book, and what I liked or didn't like, and then give my rating and recommendation.

In and Out of the Working Class

by Michael Yates

I must begin by saying I hate economics. I mean, I really dislike conversing and studying economics. I know that a labor activists who hates economic discussion sounds ridiculous, but it is true. The fact that I burned through Yates' book in two days speaks volumes about Yates' abilities as a writer as well as his ability to explain economics to a wide audience. In and Out of the Working Class is a fascinating read that weaves between fiction and non-fiction(mostly non-fiction) through various stories and experiences ranging from a creative non-fiction retelling of an encounter with Cesar Chavez, to my favorite chapter of the book, which tells us what Lenin and a Catholic priest from Yates' past have in common.

The chapters that cover Yates' experiences on campus are in my opinion, the highlight of the book. I must admit I am a bit biased, as I related quite a bit to the frustration the author had with lazy students in my generation who, with a regrettable sense of entitlement, rob themselves of a more thorough education.

The most important revelation I had while reading this book is that if there were a few more Economics professors out there like Yates, perhaps fewer people would view economics like I did before I read In and Out of the Working Class. This in of itself would be a major accomplishment. The ability of the author to explain economics through real life stories, rather than through statistics and numbers is something more authors and university professors should try to emulate.

I highly recommend this book, whether or not you fancy yourself a fan of economics. It will not disappoint.

You can purchase In and Out of the Working Class here:

http://arbeiterring.com/books/detail/in-and-out-of-the-working-class/?/new/inandout.html

In Solidarity,

Joseph

A Pair Of Good Labor Books

Hello Everyone,

I apologize for the lack of posts, I've been hunkered down this past week on a deadline for an article. I should return to normal on Monday with some book reviews and a lot of new topics to discuss, including Organizing Office Staff, the October 2 Labor March in Washington, DC, Organizing the American Red Cross, a series on reform groups in various labor unions, and a series on independent unions.

In the meantime, I'd like to plug a couple of excellent new labor books I've been reading over the last few weeks(check back for some reviews):

Embedded With Organized Labor by Steve Early

In and Out of the Working Class by Michael Yates

I have already read through a good portion of each of these books, and love them both.

Early's book is chock full of reviews of past labor works, as well as the kind of insight you could only acquire with multiple decades inside the labor movement.

I have found Yates' work to be captivating, as he weaves back and forth from non-fiction to the occasional fiction story. Want to know what Lenin and a Catholic priest have in common? Read Yates' book and you'll find out.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Social Network for Labor Activists

Hello Everyone,

I just thought I'd give UnionBook a little shout out here. Eric Lee, of LabourStart fame, has created this awesome social networking site for labor activists to cennect. If you haven't checked it out yet, I recommend it!

Click on the image below:

Is It Time For a New Labor Party?

Is it time for a new labor party?

Some time ago, I began to ponder this question. I can't remember exactly when. Perhaps it was when Congress passed a healthcare bill that did not include single-payer or a public option. Maybe it was after I campaigned in over a dozen states for a progressive candidate who, once in office, appointed robber barons to fix the economic crisis. It might have had something to do with the Employee Free Choice Act being on life support, with a less than stellar prognosis.

Come to think of it, it was probably a little bit of everything. The question remains: Is it time for a new labor party? I am beginning to think so. Even with the system so heavily tilted in favor of having two parties(Thank you Martin Van Buren), I could see it happening, and here is a brief explanation how I think it could be accomplished. Given the fact that the South Carolina Labor Party never got past the fish or cut bait moment, the field seems to be open for a new entity.

I believe that a growing amount of Americans do not identify with either major party. This is not news, but important nonetheless. I believe that any successful attempt to organize a new political party based around economic issues would do well to incorporate the following ideas:

1. Avoid making party-wide stances on volatile wedge issues that individual candidates can handle.

For example, despite the fact that many Democrats happen to be pro-life, they have allowed themselves as a party to be boxed inby the GOP on this issue. This also goes for gun rights, etc. Let the individual candidates make that call, and let the party focus on galvanizing the working class.

2. Appeal to the economic anger of the tea party crowd.

I know it may be hard for some of my inside the beltway friends to believe, but there are a fair amount of rank-and-file union members in the Tea Party Movement(for those of you who missed my post devoted to this subject, you can read it here). As I stated in the aforementioned entry, I believe the reason for this is that the Labor Movement missed a major opportunity to unite working-class Americans against the capitalist system that got us into this financial mess. Instead, the Tea Party Movement has hijacked the message to push their fringe, right-wing agenda. We have to get to work on fighting this nonsense. If we can do this effectively, we could build a movement built on the economic interests of the working-class.

3. Solicit support from existing Socialist groups.

I know Socialist is a bad word to many people, but that's because they don't know what the hell a socialist is. Any attempt to organize a legitimate labor party is going to need the help of groups like the Democratic Socialists of America, Socialist Party USA, The International Socialist Organization, and other groups like this who are dedicated to the cause of labor.

Will this ever happen? I don't know, but what I do know is that we'll be hard-pressed to find another economic situation like this in the near future where a large portion of the population is tired of the two-party nonsense and is listening if someone else offers a better solution.

Let's offer it to them.

The Return of LIUNA: What This Really Means for the Building Trade Unions of the AFL-CIO

Solidarity. That was the message AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sent in a statement welcoming the Laborers’ international Union of North America (LIUNA) back into the fold, after the organization announced on August 13, 2010, that it will rejoin the AFL-CIO, effective October 1, 2010. In his statement, Trumka said,

“We are very happy that LIUNA is rejoining the AFL-CIO at a critical moment for working people…LIUNA brings a proud history and dedication to the union movement and we are delighted to welcome them back to the AFL-CIO.”

Aside from the expected kumbaya moment where labor leaders flaunt terms like Solidarity and Coalition Building, what does LIUNA’s return to the AFL-CIO mean in practice for the Labor Movement, the AFL-CIO, and more specifically, the other members of the AFL-CIO Building Trades Coalition Department? Will this move galvanize the building trades, or will it cause former tensions to resurface? Once the ink is dry on the press statements and the photo ops have ended, there will be some serious issues to be hammered out between LIUNA and the AFL-CIO.

First, there is the question of whether the AFL-CIO should levy any penalty or back per capita dues accrued during LIUNA’s time away from the Federation. James Williams, General President of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) said in an interview on August 27, 2010, that he couldn’t comment as to whether the AFL-CIO would assess any back per capita, as it would come up in the executive meetings in the near future. When asked his personal feeling on whether the back per capita should be an option, Williams stated, “In a perfect world I would say they should pay some back per capita, but realistically, it’s not likely to happen.” Williams later said that he didn’t feel that it was necessary to impose a per capita penalty on LIUNA at this time. Given the fact that the AFL-CIO did not levy a penalty against Unite Here! when they returned in 2009, it appears extremely unlikely that LIUNA will face any financial penalty for its split from the AFL-CIO in 2005.

This poses a very serious issue for the AFL-CIO: If in practice, there is no penalty for leaving the AFL-CIO, in part to escape paying per capita taxes, which was very much part of the decision back in 2005, what is to stop any affiliate union from bailing from the AFL-CIO for a few years if they get into financial problems? With the ticking time bomb many unions have with their pension programs, this precedent could turn out to be disastrous for the AFL-CIO in the coming years.

Second, there is the lingering issue of whether the AFL-CIO should require some form of a public mea culpa from LIUNA regarding the situation with the unaffiliated United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC). A long-time, high-ranking union official, who did not wish to be identified due to the subject matter, noted that this should make some of the other members of the AFL-CIO Building Trades Coalition a bit uneasy due to LIUNA’s past behavior. Several years ago, LIUNA conspired with the Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) to set up a tier system in which the UBC would organize the skilled laborers, and LIUNA would organize the unskilled laborers, therefore squeezing out the other building trade unions. This scheme fell apart, mainly because the employers weren’t cooperative enough. However, if the employers would have gone along with this plan, several of the AFL-CIO building trade unions may have ceased to exist. Given this past activity, it should worry some of the building trade unions that not only is the AFL-CIO accepting LIUNA back with open arms, but also without any type of apology or public denouncement regarding the aforementioned situation with the Carpenters. At the very least, the AFL-CIO should require a public statement from LIUNA affirming their dedication to Article 20 of the AFL-CIO Constitution, which prohibits this type of activity by its affiliate unions.

For their part, the member unions of the AFL-CIO Building Trades Coalition Department are publicly supportive of LIUNA’s return. IUPAT General President James Williams said he is “Glad to have Terry [O’Sullivan] back,” and hailed him as a “Strong, progressive leader.” One has to wonder, however, how this will play out behind closed doors at the upcoming AFL-CIO executive meetings, and whether this will turn out to be a major victory for President Trumka, or another division in the house of labor.

A Union Baby is Born!

Hello Everyone,

I apologize for the lack of updates. My wife and I welcomed our first child, Aodhan Jasper Riedel into the world on August 19th. I promise I will return shortly with a look into the history between LIUNA and the Carpenter's Union, and what LIUNA's return to the AFL-CIO may mean for trade union affilliates.

In Solidarity,

Joseph Riedel

A Tale of Two Futures

Where are we going?

As I sit in this hospital room where my wife will give birth to our first child in the morning, I have started to wonder where the labor movement will be in a couple decades when he enters the workforce. I'll be putting together a longer piece in the next few days, but I encourage everyone to take a realistic look at where they think the labor movement will be in twenty years based on where we are today, and if they are satisfied with that.

More to come.

Bringing Organizing Into the 21st Century

I spoke to a friend of mine who works on the social media side of things last night, and we mulled over some ideas to update the traditional methods of organizing, be it labor organizing, community, or otherwise. While I am somewhat traditional on organizing, there were a few things that his line of work has to offer that I believe could seriously improve our efficiency and success rate.

1. Tie in the use of systems like Salsa to Blackberry and iPhone apps. Think about how much easier it would make it for the average organizer if they could eliminate the time and effort of filling out a paper form for every house visit. Instead, they could utilize software from Salsa to punch in the data on their Blackberry. This would also allow for real time data accessibility during a large scale organizing blitz. This would be as big as the introduction of electronic voting machines vs. the paper ballot system.

2. Use Salsa as a sort of one-stop shop for Locals to consolidate all of the tedious bookkeeping and management functions in one place. I know from my experience using Salsa with a Young Democrats Chapter that it made life much easier when you could log in one place and check on everything. It saved a lot of time and headaches.

3. Use the technology to help with member run organizing campaigns. In many cases, labor organizations hesitate to invest resources on organizing campaigns until the members themselves have done a lot of the footwork themselves. Salsa could be utilized to set up an area for the employees to keep the union abreast of the progress without the union having to invest time and money in the very early stages.

While I have just spent a fair amount of space extolling the virtues of Salsa, I stand firmly by the conviction that technology alone cannot save the labor movement. House visits, along with other face to face communications are still our most effective outlet. However, technology can definitely be used to eliminate the clutter between those moments.

Check out Salsa here:

http://salsalabs.com/o/8001/p/salsa/website/public2/?reference=Salsa%20Overview

The Employee Free Choice Act: An Obituary

Although I'm sure someone else has probably said it already, let me make this important declaration:

The Employee Free Choice Act is dead.

Deceased.

Kicked the Bucket.

Bought the Farm.

And with it, the hope for reviving the mainstream labor movement.

And who do we have to blame for the death of the most treasured piece of pro-labor legislation in the last sixty years? The pro-corporation, anti-worker fat cats? The Republicans?

Nope.

We have ourselves to blame. Allow me to explain:

For decades, the labor movement has continued to suck at the tit of a Democratic Party that has had a bosom full of poison since the party bosses managed to exchange Harry "the puppet" Truman for Henry "the real deal" Wallace in 1944.

For many years, we were able to survive by inoculating ourselves by investing dues money from the expanding membership. But with the declining membership and burdensome pensions that most unions have no real plan to pay for, the poison will finally begin to kill us, unless we begin to ween ourselves off of it immediately.

When we keep returning to the Democratic Party every election cycle like a prostitute to an abusive pimp(I apologize for the imagery, but it is a good description of the relationship between labor and the Democratic Party), we are extending the cycle that has brought us nothing in the manner of actual progress for the American working class. Every other November, the party puts(pimps) us out on the corner to attract voters(johns), and despite all our whining and complaining, what do we do? We put on our stilettos and fake mink coat and take to the streets.

The only way the labor movement will ever make a comeback in the hearts and minds of the workers is if we publicly cut the cord with the Democratic Party and begin to use our numbers to affect individual races that benefit us. No more dumping millions of dollars into the DNC, just so they can use it to promote the likes of Blanche Lincoln and Ben Nelson.

Let's go find us a few more candidates like Bernie Sanders, and let these anti-worker Democrats fend for themselves. After all that's exactly what they've done for us, isn't it?