Revitalizing American Unionism

LeoCasey at aol.com LeoCasey at aol.com
Sat Oct 21 18:01:50 PDT 2000


Dennis writes: << Do you know anything about grad unions? Work with one? Know any activists?

Do you realize how important it is that (1) high-tech temp workers, even

those with degrees, can be organized, and (2) are gaining the experience

and tools to go on to radicalize their professions? Your vision of

unionism is confined to a narrow vision of high school teachers fighting

to gain the professional respect of, say, engineers. The point is that the

white collars and blue collars don't matter any more: we're all

grey-collar workers, slaving away on cubicle farms for the benefit of Wall

Street rentiers. >>

Actually, I helped organize one of the very first successful grad unions, at the University of Toronto, in the late 70s and early 80s. I think I have a pretty good idea of what that work involves, having done it successfully, as well as a pretty good take on the sometimes grandiose visions of some of us who did it. If I had wanted to nasty and condescending, I would have said something like "been there, done that." I didn't. What I did say was this: important and useful work, yes, especially in the context of unionization in academia; about to change the nature of American unionism, no.

As for my vision of unionism being a narrow one of high school teachers fighting to gain the professional respect of engineers, I am afraid that is a vision of your making, and not mine.

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 lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. -- Frederick Douglass --



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