I think that it is a mistake for the UAW to be organizing graduate assistants and clericals, for example. There is something to having the labor movement organized according to meaningful jurisdictions, as it allows internationals to focus and organize themselves along the needs of a particular constituency with a given set of needs. It allows for a concentration of bargaining power in an industry. One of the problems that we face in health care, for example, is that there are at least five major unions working in the field [AFSCME, SEIU, AFT, Teamsters, and Nurses Associations, with a bunch of minor efforts], and they often work at cross purposes. Graduate assistants should be organized by some combination of AFT, NEA and AAUP [which should also merge into one union], and clericals should be organized by SEIU or AFSCME. [By way of self-criticism, I do not think that the AFT should be organized nurses, notwithstanding the fact that they came to us.]
>From the perspective of the larger labor movement, the proposed merger of the
Steelworkers, the Machinists and the UAW into one metalworkers union, akin to
the German federation, makes best sense. There is more than enough work to do
in that field. From what I understand, however, it is not the UAW, but the
Machinists, which have posed the major roadblocks to completing that merger.
[This is all third and fourth hand, however.]
But I think that the argument that the UAW is losing members because it doesn't organize autoworkers is a mistaken criticism. For one, it is doing organizing, just in the wrong sectors, from my point of view. If you want to look at the issue through the prism of so-called "business unionism," then you must take into consideration the fact that union income is dependent totally upon members' dues; the self-interest of a "business unionist" is to organize, but not to service. This is what the Teamsters did for years before the Carey election, and is back to doing again, notwithstanding the defense of the Hoffa Jr. regime from the likes of the CP front Labor Research Association. Remember the role of the Teamsters in providing what were virtually company unions in situations such as California farmworkers. So, pullllllease, don't send me e-mails about how anxious the Hoffa Teamsters are to organize autoworkers.
The fact is that the auto industry in the US is basically organized. Justin thinks that I too quickly pass over the fact that the auto parts sector of the industry is more unorganized. But it is a very decentralized part of the industry, organized into small units. Organizing it is like organizing a fast food chain, outlet by outlet. You have to expect that progress will not be fast or dramatic. There are some Japanese based automobile factories which are not organized, but we are not talking about a major part of the industry here.
The problem is that the automobile industry is being economically reorganized and restructured. Parts of the work is being shifted to factories in the global South, and parts of the work are being transformed, with the introduction of more and more capital intensive and high technology methods. That is why the UAW has lost members, and will continue to lose members, in the auto industry.
This is a very difficult context for any union. Classic left unions such as UE and the West Coast Longshore union have done no better than the UAW in such situations, notwithstanding doing all the things all of the UAW critical folks on this list would like them to do. It is just not so simple and easy a solution as to have an union leadership which focuses on organizing and "class struggle."
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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