The decision of the union _not_ to go negative, in a public way, with the names of those who were scabbing on the strike may or may not have been a correct strategic choice. It would be next to impossible, at such a distance, to make an informed evaluation of their choice. But what is clear, on general principles, is that it was their choice -- and not someone else's -- to make. It is the livelihood and professional careers of the union members which is at stake, and it is their right -- and their right alone -- to make decisions about how to wage the fight to preserve and better it. I have always found that one of the hallmark of sectarian types which invariably makes me crazy is the willingness to fight to the last drop of someone else's blood. If it ain't your own blood, it ain't your decision to make.
Leo Casey United Federation of Teachers 260 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869)
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters.
-- Frederick Douglass --
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