-----Original Message----- From: C. Petersen <ottilie at u.washington.edu> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
-And out on this -picketline, it seemed like there were about 20 people, all from the -sociology and math departments (math people are political I guess), and I -was just getting all depressed standing out there, having some frat boys -yell at us, people in my department were kind of whispering and passing -around my name... At least the sociology -people were creative enough to teach us all some dances and songs etc.
Ahh...you just made it clearer why the UAW jumped at the Dem leadership's mediation offer. The strike sounds quite different from the 1992 strike where the whole campus was largely shut down and the vast majority of departments outside the sciences (and even some of them) were out on the picketline. Although the Sociology and Math departments were also the strongest then too.
It's sad, though, since the 1992 strike was in many ways a success but the UAW folks defined it as a failure because recognition was not won right there - and the result was the demoralization and demobilization of the departments due largely to the leadership's definition of the strike as a failure. The UAW also dismantled the steward's council following the strike as well, which led many activists to quit the union as well. I don't know how strong the English department was this strike, but they were awesome in 1992 but were also most pissed off at the UAW's actions post-strike. By the end of the semester following the strike, the infrastructure of activism at Berkeley was essentially pulverized.
What this means is even if the union gets recognition now, it's unclear if the unions will have the strength to fight for substantive benefits if the grassroots is as eroded as you describe.
--Nathan Newman