On Thu, 25 May 2000, Marta Russell wrote:
> The People
> June 2000 (Vol. 110, No. 3)
> 'Justice For Janitors' Goals:
> Were They Set High Enough?
>
> By Ken Boettcher <thepeople at igc.org>
>
> What they got was what they can expect from a business union
> like the SEIU. Because it accepts the capitalist system of
> exploitation, it, like other such unions, cannot challenge
> capitalism.
God, I hate this kind of sectarian crap monday-morning quarterbacking strikes by people who couldn't organize a picketline to save its life (DeLeon's The People hasn't been relevant to working people's lives since Eugene Debs split off to form the Socialist Party and fight for working people and unions that exist in something other than a fantasy land).
I am all for radical unionism, socialist unionism in fact, but the idea that a bit more communism would have changed the outcome of the fight by the janitors nationwide is ridiculous in a world where leftwing and business unions have all suffered similar losses under the assault of capital. I've seen a few sectarian posts around the Web denouncing 30% pay increases for SEIU members as "sellouts" and such-- of course every one of these workers deserve more, but the capitalist contractors have fought the workers illegally up and down the coast, yet the janitors have prevailed with tough, imaginative and militant action.
I am sure there are good analyses to be made of where improved tactics could have improved the result, but this kind of mindless sectarianism without any constructive analysis is just lefwing union-bashing, no better for workers than the National Right to Work Committee.
I look forward to seeing LaborNotes analysis of the strike and others who will no doubt find fault with SEIU's tactics and strategy. But it's a waste of bandwidth to post laborbashing by irrelevant sectarians like THE PEOPLE.
-- Nathan Newman