>On Behalf Of Rakesh Bhandari
>It was largely that affiliation with other union workers that
> >showed a retreat from company-only elitism towards a broader
> commitment to
> >shared worker struggle.
>
> This is responsive. And indeed it is a very hopeful sign and opens up the
> most interesting possibility of joint
> engineer-technician/machinist actions
> against Boeing employers in the future. On what issues could such
> a unified
> conception of the working class be forged?
Well, to quote Samuel Gompers,
"More"
As I've said, that has a less savory meaning when restricted to an elite of craft workers as with Gompers, but when workers throughout an industry are organized or being organized, it means a shift of resources from the capitalist class to the working class.
If you look at the dynamics of the strike, the engineers were largely asking for their contract to parallel the gains made by the machinists in their last, very successful contract.
And of course, it could open up nationalist solidarity on the tech transfer issues you have highlighted; as you have noted, there are contadictions in any situation where the working class is only partially organized, where the temptation to evade direct conflict with capital leads to thoughts of taking gain at the expense of unorganized workers.
Which is why concentrating on organizing the unorganized, both nationally and globally, is a more progressive focus in my mind for union activists than demanding the most militant possible contracts in the short term. You can't neglect demanding good contracts in showing the advantages of organizing, but you have to make choices in using resources.
One decision the Boeing engineers made was not to have their Wichita, KS members (the other largest Boeing facility) go out on strike. While this might have helped push a slightly better contract, the decision was made to have those workers stay on strike and send parts of their checks to support striking Seattle workers. This was only partially a financial decision, since the union is a lot weaker in Wichita and has a lot of areas unorganized. THe worry was a decisive strike for unpreparated workers might have undermined their plans for expanded organizing. With a good contract in hand, they hope to organize more workers in Kansas. And hopefully move on to other non-union companies.
And expanding the labor strength in Kansas might down the road give the ability to threaten the two dependable filibuster Senators that right-to-work Kansas invariably elects. In fighting for labor law reform, expanding union power in antiunion states can only help a broader strengthening of overall worker power.
-- Nathan Newman