I found this list of precepts from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union(ILWU). The ILWU is a militant, independent union that most unions could learn a few things from. The ILWU honors every picket line, which I have written about before
here. The ILWU has a long history of successful labor actions and an extremely active membership. The following is a list of the ILWU's ten guiding principles. The labor movement would do well to adopt them across the board.
I
A Union is built on its members. The strength,
understanding and unity of the membership can determine the union’s
course and its advancements. The members who work, who make up the union
and pay its dues can best determine their own destiny. If the facts
are honestly presented to the members in the ranks, they will best
judge what should be done and how it should be done. In brief, it is
the membership of the union which is the best judge of its own welfare;
not the officers, not the employers, not the politicians and the fair
weather friends of labor. Above all, this approach is based on the
conviction that given the truth and an opportunity to determine their
own course of action, the rank and file in 99 cases out of 100 will
take the right path in their own interests and in the interests of all
the people.
II
Labor unity is at all times the key for a
successful economic advancement. Anything that detracts from labor unity
hurts all labor. Any group of workers which decides to put itself
above other workers through craft unionism or through cozy deals at the
expense of others will in the long run gain but little and inevitably
will lose both its substance and its friends. No matter how difficult
the going, a union must fight in every possible way to advance the
principle of labor unity.
III
Workers are indivisible. There can be no
discrimination because of race, color, creed, national origin, religious
or political belief. Any division among the workers can help no one
but the employers. Discrimination of worker against worker is suicide.
Discrimination is a weapon of the boss. Its entire history is proof
that it has served no other purpose than to pit worker against worker
to their own destruction.
IV
“To help any worker in distress” must be a daily
guide in the life of every trade union and its individual members.
Labor solidarity means just that. Unions have to accept the fact that
the solidarity of labor stands above all else, including even the
so-called sanctity of the contract. We cannot adopt for ourselves the
policies of union leaders who insist that because they have a contract,
their members are compelled to perform work even behind a picket line.
Every picket line must be respected as though it were our own.
V
Any union, if it is to fulfill its appointed
task, must put aside all internal differences and issues to combine for
the common cause of advancing the welfare of the membership. No union
can successfully fulfill its purpose in life if it allows itself to be
distracted by any issue which causes division in its ranks and
undermines the unity which all labor must have in the face of the
employer.
VI
The days are long gone when a union can consider
dealing with single employers. The powerful financial interests of the
country are bound together in every conceivable type of united
organization to promote their own welfare and to resist the demands of
labor. Labor can no more win with the ancient weapons of taking on a
single employer in industry any more than it can hope to win through
the worn-out dream of withholding its skill until an employer sues for
peace. The employers of this country are part of a well-organized,
carefully coordinated, effective fighting machine. They can be met only
on equal terms, which requires industry-wide bargaining and the most
extensive economic strength of organized labor.
VII
Just as water flows to its lowest level, so do
wages if the bulk of the workers are left unorganized. The day of craft
unionism – the aristocracy of labor – was over when mass production
methods were introduced. To organize the unorganized must be a cardinal
principle of any union worth its salt; and to accomplish this is not
merely in the interest of the unorganized, it is for the benefit of the
organized as well.
VIII
The basic aspiration and desires of the
workers throughout the world are the same. Workers are workers the
world over. International solidarity, particularly to maritime workers,
is essential to their protection and a guarantee of reserve economic
power in times of strife.
IX
A new type of unionism is called for which does
not confine its ambitions and demands only to wages. Conditions of
work, security of employment and adequate provisions for the workers
and their families in times of need are of equal, if not greater
importance, than the hourly wage.
X
Jurisdictional warfare and jurisdictional raiding
must be outlawed by labor itself. Nothing can do as much damage to the
ranks of labor and to the principle of labor unity and solidarity as
jurisdictional bickering and raiding among unions. Both public support
and strike victories and jeopardized by jurisdictional warfare. This
code for rank and file unionism is implemented by the membership’s
participation in organization, negotiations, strike machinery, contract
enforcement and every other aspect of union life. Thus, its discipline
springs out of participation, conviction and the right of the
membership to decide its own course of action. The above principles and
steps to implement them, and an informed and alert membership make the
union what it is.
In Solidarity,
Joseph
