The unions that organize the most workers? Like what SEIU "local" 1199? A "local" that spreads from New York to Kentucky? How did a "local" become so big? Because the modern mentality among union leadership is "bigger is better". Due to their shrinking sizes, unions and locals are being forced to merge together. When the ILGWU and ACTWU merged into UNITE you could say they both grew by 100%, but did they organize anyone new? I don't dispute the numbers of unions or locals who say that they grew by a certain size, I certainly dispute the idea taht most growth has been by going out and organizing new shops, faster than old ones are being lost at least.
> YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
>
> At the beginning of a pending battle between unions within the AFL-CIO; when
> people are raising serious, practical issues and debating the real world;
> when the leader of a major international union is saying openly that the
> AFL-CIO is an outdated, broken institution cursed with leaders bereft of
> vision; when the most organizing-focused unions are openly challenging the
> federation and one at least is threatening to leave altogether -- why would
> anyone waste time trying to explain things to Lance Murdoch?
Wow, nothing like that's ever happened before. Is this like the current talk about the Democratic Party taking a good look at itself? Things could go as far as a union leaving the AFL-CIO, but that would not change things in general. Failing so dismally, what else would you expect the bureaucrats to say at this point, "let's stay the course"? This would have meant something twenty, thirty years ago! Now it means very little.
The informal (and formal) networks of African-Americans in the labor movement, and the informal/formal network of Latinos in the labor movement will do a lot more than people like Andy Stern and "local" 1199 ever will. As private unionization rates plummet 10%, 9%, 8%, and a whole host of Republicans now in Washington DC (on the back of a horrible economy, I wonder what kind of landslide they'll get if the economy improves), we might witness before the AFL-CIO becomes more of the relic of itself it already is, it becoming ONE BIG UNION!
> Come on, guys, I'm being serious here. This is my question to all of you (of
> the Lance Murdoch frame of mind): why do you feel bound to pontificate about
> shit you know nothing about? Ever consider that you may have something to
> learn from other people before you go running your mouth on the basis of
> superficial analysis and little or no information?
You're right, I'll read Leo Casey's denunciations of Castro more carefully next time, he seems to know more about Cuba than me (although he left this list since lbo-talk is too radical for him, I'll have to go over to leftist trainspotters to hear his wisdom). Thank heavens the UFT bureaucracy is fighting for the freedom of Cuba's workers. Venceremos!