Still Fighting

I know it seems like I've been missing in action lately.  I assure you, I'm still around, but raising three kids in in the current economy is taxing.  Add to that that I've spent the last 5 years fighting a Teamsters Local that is as useful as wet toilet paper is almost a full-time job.  These guys have blocked me from becoming a shop steward despite the fact that I have more labor experience than the business agents mainly because I actively campaigned for Teamsters United in our Local. 

I am still here, ready to fight for our labor rights at a time when public sector union members are under unprecedented attack via the courts(AFSCME vs Janus) as well as the state legislatures when it comes to their pensions(Kentucky).  The NLRB has been working as fast as they can to undermine anything remotely pro-worker.

And Ronald fucking Reagan is now in the Department of Labor Hall of Fame thanks to this guy:

So, while it would be easier to just try and ride out the storm while President Cheetoh is in office, we just can't. I just can't.  Even if it means I'm going to do some IWW organizing(I'm less of a fan of dues check-off every day) and write a bit more on labor issues, I will try to find time.  Be prepared for some late night time stamps.

In Solidarity,

Joe Riedel

An Open Letter to my Fellow Labor Activists

To my fellow labor activists:

I have taken leave for the past several months to sort of take stock of the current state of the labor movement, as well as my feelings about where we are now, where I think the movement is being steered by those in charge, and what I think we should be doing to rebuild the rank and file movement that defined labor at its strongest point so many years ago. This being May 1st, The international Workers' Day, it seemed appropriate to write this letter.

Last July, when I made my last post to this blog, I was covering the backlash from members that the American Federation of Teachers(AFT) was receiving due to their endorsement of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. I was not very surprised by the executive board of AFT endorsing Clinton, who has been very closely linked to Randi Weingarten, AFT's president.  I was, however, surprised that when the uproar became much louder than they had anticipated, they tried to claim that they had polled their membership, which overwhelmingly chose Clinton.  Anyone who has worked in the labor movement knows that to be a patently false statement.  Just about every major union follows the same pattern, which I explained in detail in that post, which can be read here.

Soon, the Machinists, SEIU, AFSCME, AFGE, and several other unions all endorsed Clinton long before the primary season even commenced.  There were, of course, exceptions.  The Communication Workers of America, as well as National Nurses United and the American Postal Workers Union all endorsed Sanders.  I found it striking that the unions that backed Sanders all allowed membership votes, while those backing Clinton primarily relied on the National Executive Councils of their respective organizations to make the decision.

All of this really made me step back and do some hard thinking about why, when faced with a decision between a candidate who had backed the labor movement on a fundamental level against corporate greed for 40 years, and one who backed the broader ideas of unions, but also backed large corporations and took a labor management approach, they would choose the latter.  The answer became very clear to me: This primary would highlight the ever growing chasm between the class struggle being waged by the rank and file members and labor activists, and the lobbying organizations into which the labor elite have turned these institutions.

So Where Are We Now?

When I accepted a job with SEIU in 2011, I had been a shop steward and labor activist for several years.  I had pursued a job with several labor organizations, and was excited to finally be a paid staffer with a labor union.  What I discovered was a completely different world than I had imagined, and not just within SEIU.  From my interaction with other staffers at various other unions, it was obvious that there were a ton of similarities.  As I have written about extensively on this blog, there has been a trend over the last 15 years of unions, particularly at the national and regional level, to hire recent college graduates as staffers.  While the students are typically progressive, they often do not have any experience as union members.  This has exacerbated the disconnect between rank and file members in the shop, and their leadership.  I feel we rapidly approaching a crossroads where this must be rectified, or else we face the prospect of a fractured labor community.

Where Are They Taking Us?

In my opinion, the major shift from labor movement to lobbying effort was kicked into high gear by Andy Stern.  It was never a secret that Stern desired to be a player in DC, so much so that he was willing to fracture the AFL-CIO to do it.  Change to Win was patched together largely by the cult of personality leadership of Stern and Hoffa(honorable mention to Doug McCarron).  The leadership of the large labor organizations are largely involved much more in political lobbying than they are with the day to day struggles of the rank and file.  The fact that nearly ever major union, with the exception of the Steelworkers and a few others, have their headquarters within walking distance of Capitol Hill is very telling.  I think we owe it to ourselves to ask if we want our unions to continue to be lobbying organizations that focus primarily on attempting to further our cause through using our resources to affect legislative changes, or if we are resolved to return the labor movement to its direct action roots when we didn't trust politicians to do our bidding.

What Is To Be Done?

For my part, I will always prefer direct action to lobbying.  This has a lot to do with the fact that I studied political science in college and was a member of a union(AFGE) that depended on legislative action for a lot of their collective bargaining terms.  For public sector unions, lobbying makes a lot more sense due to what I just mentioned.  However, in the private sector, I believe we need to reaffirm our commitment to the direct action roots of our labor founding fathers(and mothers).

I implore every labor activist out there to do some volunteer organizing for your local IWW branch.  I really believe that the Wobbly approach is still the best approach.  Rebuilding the IWW would go a really long way to revitalizing the labor movement at large.  If you agree with anything you read, please evaluate your feelings about the direction of our movement, and resolve to do whatever we have to do to get things back on track.  Where are the Mother Joneses and the Joe Hills of this generation?  If it isn't us, who will it be?

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Leading By Example On Income Inequality

The leadership of the labor movement has finally gotten on board with the notion that beating the drum on income inequality is striking a chord with the populist trend that has been growing with the general public in the last year or two.

This is a smart move, but there is a downside to this strategy for many unions: the income inequality that exists in their own organizations. For instance, here are a few of the leadership salaries of some of the most well known unions in the United States:

Richard Trumka(AFL-CIO) -$298,542
James Hoffa(Teamsters) - $ $381,409
Randi Weingarten(American Federation of Teachers) - $543,150
Lee Saunders (AFSCME) - $350,058
Donald Moak(Airline Pilots Association) - $627,796
Robert Buffenbarger(Machinists) - $319,667
Edwin Hill(IBEW) - $400,968
Terence O'Sullivan(LIUNA) - $663,981
*Special Recognition to LIUNA for having ten officers making over $300,000
Mary Kay Henry(SEIU) - $295,870


I'll be the first to point out that these salaries are not even in the same universe as the outlandish corporate CEO levels out there.  That's not the point I'm making here.  While I'm not opposed to union officials making a good living, could anyone imagine Big Bill Haywood, Mother Jones, or Joe Hill taking home over half a million dollars a year?

I don't think so.

The labor leaders of the past we regard as heroes were true believers in the cause. They were leftist, usually broke, often arrested, some were deported, and some were even killed for the cause.

With salaries so much higher than that of the average member of their respective unions, labor leaders run the risk of looking more like the Chamber of Commerce than Big Bill Haywood, Joe Hill, and Mother Jones.

The leaders of the labor movement have an opportunity to lead by example by voluntarily capping their own pay, and investing that money in new organizing campaigns to grow the movement.  Think of the contrast to the excess and greed of corporate America this action would demonstrate to the American public.

In Solidarity,

Joseph Riedel

Deja Vu In Wisconsin

I feel like I've already written this entry before...

My autopsy of the failed attempt to recall Scott Walker in Wisconsin is very similar to my autopsy of the legislative recalls in Wisconsin last year. 

1.  As was the case last year, Big Labor allowed the Democratic Party to run the show.  This is somewhat understandable because unlike Senate Bill 5 in Ohio, this was an election with candidates, not an issue election.  But with so much at stake for labor in Wisconsin - AFSCME has just lost the right to represent workers in the state in which it was founded - one would think that labor would have taken the reins from the DNC.

2.  Labor and the Democrats relied on the same outdated ground game that fell short last year.  I wrote about this at length in the entry linked above. 

3.  President Obama's lack of involvement will undoubtedly be scrutinized, and for good reason.  Labor is still waiting for Candidate Obama who promised to walk the picket line with us to make good on his promise.  This is one of the main reasons The Virtual Picket Line has endorsed Stewart Alexander for President in 2012.

While Big Labor will attempt to deflect criticisms such as the ones I mentioned earlier by pointing the finger to the Citizens United decision rendered by the Supreme Court, I reject this argument as a cheap cop-out.  While Citizens United makes a mockery of our democracy, it is hardly the reason Labor and the Democrats fell short yesterday. 

Yes, Barrett was outspent by a 7-to-1 margin by Walker.  In any other case, I would probably agree that the disparate spending levels heavily influenced the outcome.  I don't believe that to be the case in this election.  When I was on the ground in Wisconsin for last year's round of recalls, it became very clear to me that the the level of undecided voters was virtually zero.  People had not only made up their minds about the candidates up for recall at the time, but on Scott Walker as well. 

Now if Scott Walker had been up for recall last summer, he likely would have lost by a wide margin.  But as we know in politics, timing is everything.  Huffington Post had a very good post explaining that exit polls showed that the Walker campaign simply did a better job turning out its vote than Labor and the Democrats did.  This goes back to explanation of the outdated ground game of Labor and the Democrats on Number 2.

If Labor does not learn from this lesson, things could start to get really rough in other states, especially states that are not as moderate as Wisconsin.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Solidarity in Ohio

I just got back from spending the day inside the capitol building in Columbus, Ohio.  What I saw inside was a wonderful display of solidarity between many labor organizations.  This stood in stark contrast of the GOP's refusal to allow the citizens of Ohio to have their voices heard.  First, the locked down the capitol building, only allowing 500-700 people inside, while thousands rallied on the steps of the capitol.  Not to be denied, those of us inside made sure that they could hear us inside the chamber, as debate on Senate Bill 5 began. 

I got to shake hands with Rep. Dennis Kucinich, as well as former Gov. Ted Strickland.  I stood for several hours, and am tired, but all in all, this was an amazing first day with SEIU/1199 WV/KY/OH.  Hopefully, more people will continue to stand with the public service employees in Ohio and Wisconsin.  Today, Gov. Mitch Daniels in Indiana asked the state GOP to table efforts to strip collective bargaining rights from public service employees.  Gov. Rick Scott in Florida followed suit as well.  Now, someone just needs to get the memo through to Kasich and Walker.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Wisconsin Update

I got a call from my friend Chris Townsend, National Political Director for the United Electrical Workers(UE), who has spent the last several days on the ground in Wisconsin.  He informed me that he counted at least 37 national unions being represented in Madison.    Townsend also mentioned that what struck him was the amazing sense of solidarity between groups that you wouldn't normally expect.  Seniors and young people, and thousands of Wisconsin citizens who are not seasoned activists who have shown up to unmask what this really is - an attack on the right of workers to collectively bargain in the workplace.

AFSCME has agreed to the concessions Walker has asked for, but he doesn't care about that.  It was never about a budget gap - which Walker created purposely to bust up the union - it was always about taking away the collective bargaining rights.  The citizens of Wisconsin have realized that, which is why they are coming by the thousands to fight this thing.

Here are a few pictures from Madison:

In Solidarity,

Joseph

60,000 in Wisconsin

Apparently, Madison Police now estimate the crowd at the state capitol at 60,000.  As I said earlier, because of the implications this has for both public and ultimately, private sector employees, this is the biggest direct labor struggle in several decades.  Every labor organization I can think of is coming together to fight this battle.  From the AFL-CIO, to Change to Win, from UE, to IWW, labor is united once again.  I think it's overdue, but a great sign nonetheless.

It's not just labor this time either.  Religious groups and community action groups are coming together to stand in solidarity with their friends and neighbors in Wisconsin.  If you are anywhere near Madison, please consider going to the capitol.  If you are out of the area, please contact your legislators and ask them to publicly stand up for the good folks in Wisconsin.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Why Wisconsin and Ohio Matter for All Workers

The ongoing events in Wisconsin and Ohio involving the attempts to roll back workers' rights for public employees should have the attention of all workers, public and private.  Why does this matter for those of us who either work in the private sector, or don't live in one of the aforementioned states?  This matters because if Gov. Walker in Wisconsin, and Gov. Kasich in Ohio are successful in nullifying decades of workers' rights, every other union busting, tea bagging, right-wing governor will be right behind them.

For those who are in the private sector, and think this doesn't have any importance to them, consider this:

If the collective bargaining rights are done away with in the public sector, which is much more organized than the private sector, how long do you think it will be before they come to take away your rights?

For my friends in the labor movement, especially my fellow young workers who have talked about being ready to fight, old-school union style:

The time is now!

If you are anywhere close to Wisconsin or Madison, I urge you to go join the protests.  There isn't a better opportunity or cause to get behind right now.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

2010 Elections: Was Labor's Effort Worth It?

Well, if you were looking for suspense and unpredictability this election cycle, you probably woke up Wednesday morning as disappointed as the DNC leadership team.  This mid-term went just as we all knew it would, despite Big Labor's strong effort to mobilize its membership. Perhaps without Labor's contribution, the Democrats might have lost a few more seats in the House, and Harry Reid owes SEIU his soul for sparing him eternal Tom Daschle icon status, but aside from these situations, what did we get for the millions of dollars in membership dues spent on this election?

As is often the case, we will probably never know exactly how much money was spent by Big Labor during the 2010 election cycle.  However, we do know that it was a LOT.  AFSCME, along with SEIU, likely spent upwards of $100 million each.  UFCW, CWA, and the other larger unions probably spent around $50 million as well.  These rough estimates do not even count the amount of money donated in the form of paid union staff sent to battleground states working as de facto volunteers for the DNC.

I can't help but think that this massive amount of money could be better spent on some wild idea like, say, addressing the direct needs of our membership.  Think of what we could do if we invested the several million dollars into organizing and member education and mobilization.  Hell, we could start a program to give high school graduates full scholarships to the National Labor College.  Any of the aforementioned possibilities sounds better to me than the flushing noise that is still ringing in our ears from Tuesday.

The Democrats received this shellacking, as Obama properly phrased it, not because the Democratic base wasn't mobilized enough, or because rank-and-file union members didn't do enough labor walks in October.  The Democrats lost because they lost their memory of the last decade and decided it would be nice to try bipartisanship.  They lost because they sucked at governing over the last two years.  The lack of a unified strategy exacerbated their situation.

I hope I live long enough for the labor movement to come out of this comatose state in which we hand over large amounts of cash every two years to an entity that hasn't reciprocated since FDR was still alive.  Now's as good a time as any.

In Solidarity,

Joseph

Merging: Why Less Is More

As I mentioned in my last entry, I believe that the labor movement needs to take a hard look at industries and trades where there are overlapping unions and make some tough decisions on merging certain organizations together.

First, let's look at a few obstacles to the concept of merging unions:

1. The big labor federations receive per capita dues from their affiliates, which means that if some of the unions in the AFL-CIO or CtW merged, there would be less per capita dues being paid to the aforementioned federations. This means the federations would most likely oppose any idea of mergers.

2. As I mentioned, each labor union has developed its own sort of fiefdom, which will not be given up easily, but if one looks at the long-term interest of the labor movement, I believe they would agree that it is a necessity.

Here are a few examples of unions that should consider merging:

The Amalgamated Transit Union(ATU) and the Transport Workers Union(TWU) and the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen(BRS) and the American Train Dispatchers Association(ADTA)

The International Longeshoremen's Association(ILA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union(ILWU)

United Farm Workers(UFW) and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee(FLOC)

International Association of Firefighters(IAFF) the International Union of Police Associations(IUPA) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees(AFSCME)

American Postal Workers Union(APWU) and the National Association of Letter Carriers(NALC)

With all these proposed mergers, I must point out that while I do favor merging different organizations, I am very strongly opposed to the creation of what I refer to as "Mega-Locals." Members of SEIU's Local 1199 will understand what I'm saying here. A Local with 20,000 members in several different states is entirely too big to give its members adequate representation.

If these, and other unions merged, it would free up funding for member education, along with a plethora of other opportunities to further the labor movement.

Fewer Unions, but with more members. Locals that are truly local.

Public Employees: The New GOP Whipping Boy

This is such a crock of shit. Why is it that the GOP has it in their heads that public sector employees are vastly overpaid, and that the unions are to blame? The only federal employees who are overpaid are the non-bargaining unit employees that are somewhere above GS 13. The vast majority of federal and state employees are on average paid less than their private sector counterparts. Here is an interesting story by Politico on the subject:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38183.html

The Little Town That Could

Local 3968 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees recently won their first contract after a two year struggle. Local 3968, which represents approximately 80 city workers in Yankton, South Dakota, persevered through union-busting and stall tactics by the city government officials.

The contract includes a 4 percent retroactive pay increase and structured grievance process. Read more here:

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2010/04/06/community/doc4bbc0aec3cb73356836873.txt