As far as the top union officials are concerned, they liked neither the timing (October 17, 2004, about two weeks before the election day) nor the message (of independent political action of the working class advocating for a comprehensive progressive political program) nor the mode of organizing (bottom up, led by Black labor activists on the left). That's three strikes against the Million Worker March in the eye of AFL-CIO:
<blockquote>Despite the organizer's pro-labor agenda, the AFL-CIO has refused to endorse the march, arguing that the group needs to focus on electing John Kerry in the November presidential election. In June, according to march organizers, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney ordered a memo sent to State Federations and Central Labor Councils asking them not to sponsor or provide resources to the march. "The AFL-CIO is not a co-sponsor of this effort and we will not be devoting resources or energies toward mobilizing demonstrations this fall," the memo said. "We think it is absolutely critical that we commit the efforts of our labor movement to removing George W. Bush from office."
Other labor leaders also expressed skepticism. "We're not against [the march], but we think that the time could be spent more appropriately," Gerald McEntee, president of the 1.5 million member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) told the Chicago Tribune.
At a recent AFL-CIO executive council meeting in Chicago, march organizers protested outside, chanting, "AFL-CIO, we're ready, let's go!" in hopes of convincing the trade federation to endorse the event, the Tribune reports. They were unsuccessful. (Madeleine Baran/The NewStandard, "AFL-CIO Snubs Million Worker March," <a href="http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=19&ItemID=6072">August 19, 2004</a>)</blockquote>
As for Greens, a group called Labor Greens made efforts to get the Green Party to hear Clarence Thomas at the party convention (Mike McCallister, "John Sweeney, the Greens and the Million Worker March," <http://www.laborstandard.org/New_Postings/MWM_Greens_Sweeney.htm>) and to endorse the march, and the GP Coordinating Committee recently did issue a press release endorsing it:
<blockquote>Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 19:30:36 -0400 From: Russ Buckbee <russbuckbee at adelphia.net> Subject: [ohiogreens-general] GREENS ENDORSE MILLION WORKER MARCH,
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES <http://www.gp.org>
For Immediate Release: Monday, September 6, 2004
Contacts: Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-487-0693, mclarty at greens.org Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen at acadia.net
GREENS ENDORSE MILLION WORKER MARCH, PLANNED FOR OCTOBER 17 IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green Party of the United States has endorsed the Million Worker March, which is planned to take place in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, October 17, 2004.
"The Green Party is a working people's party -- we reject the money and influence of corporate lobbies that have enthralled the Democratic and Republican parties," said Maya O'Connor, co-chair of the national party and an employee of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.
"As Greens and as working people, we look forward to marching behind our party's banner and to meeting people from all over the U.S. who share our ideals," added Ms. O'Connor, who is also a member of the Newspaper Guild, which is part of Communications Workers of America. "The demands of the Million Worker March <http://www.millionworkermarch.org/article.php?id=28#dem> are Green Party demands."
The Coordinating Committee of the Green Party, in which 43 state Green Parties are represented, voted overwhelmingly to endorse the event.
The Million Worker March was proposed by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 10, in response to the attacks upon working families in America, invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the millions of jobs lost under the Bush administration with the complicity of Congress.
ILWU member and march organizer Clarence Thomas received a standing ovation after addressing the Coordinating Committee at the 2004 Green National Convention in Milwaukee on June 25.
The Green Party's platform calls for repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act's restrictions on workplace organizing, living wages, single-payer national health insurance, and creation of jobs through public works programs and community-based businesses. Greens have vigorously opposed international trade authorities, such as NAFTA and FTAA, that wield the power to overrule nationally and locally enacted labor and environmental protections.
MORE INFORMATION
The Green Party of the United States <http://www.gp.org> 1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404 Washington, DC 20009. 202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN Fax 202-319-7193
Million Worker March <http://www.millionworkermarch.org>
Cobb/LaMarche 2004 <http://www.votecobb.org></blockquote>
I was delighted to see this endorsement come out. It's something that Cobb supporters, Nader supporters, and temporary Demogreens, etc. in the Green Party can work on together, and in that spirit I have sought and gained cooperation of Central Ohio Greens, including Cobb supporters.
However, since then, the national GP homepage has neither featured a link to the Million Worker March website nor added a link to a ride board nor done anything else. I emailed the national GP contact address inquiring about the absence of the Million Worker March on its website. The replies I have received have not been encouraging. Eventually I was told that if I wanted to have the Million Worker March featured on the GP homepage, I would have to have Ohio delegates to the national party press for it specifically: "if you want the national party to do something, then the way to do that is through your delegates. There is no other way." I will certainly ask Ohio delegates to push for it, but that will be time-consuming -- it would have been nice if the GP national staff had already done so before anyone inquiring about the matter.
As for the message of the Million Worker March, it's certainly not a one-issue mobilization, nor is it slickly packaged, unlike demonstrations organized by those who may be called "professional protest organizers," who tend to prefer a sharp focus on one simple message (e.g., against the Iraq war, against Bush, etc.). But that's because the Million Worker March is truly an expression of working-class radicals, who know that they aren't simply fighting against this war or this administration and would rather have a political party of their own but who have yet to make it an explicit demand. -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Greens for Nader: <http://greensfornader.net/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>