[lbo-talk] Learn Why We Need a Million Worker March

Marvin Gandall marvgandall at rogers.com
Sat Sep 18 08:37:07 PDT 2004


Doug Henwood:


> Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
> >When was the last time you saw rank-and-file labor activists attempt
> >a national mobilization like the Million Worker March under the
> >left-wing Black leadership no less?
>
> It's a great idea, but the timing stinks - weeks before an election
> that most likely participants care about, some very intensely. What
> were they thinking?
>
> Doug
------------------------------------ I may be wrong, especially because I am commenting from afar, but I think the organizers may be seeing the MWM as providing impetus for the construction of an "independent labour party" to the left of the DP, and the timing was therefore a somewhat self-conscious way of signalling their distance from the AFL-CIO campaign for Kerry. In fact, I'd bet that's also how the labour leadership sees it, which apart from the real exigencies of the election, would account for their lukewarm response to the rally. (It will be interesting, incidentally, to see how much the actual labour turnout is boosted by antiwar and Green supporters.)

I agree a massive show of labour militancy would be great, and that this could only happen after the election, as you note, but whether the labour leadership could be persuaded even then to throw its weight behind the idea would still depend on their assessment of how large a mobilization of their members they could hope to achieve. They would be mindful, as would any serious movement organizer, of whether it would be a public demonstration of strength or weakness, the result of which would either energize or demoralize their base. As you also note, if they decided to go ahead, they'd likely have the political savvy not to inflate expectations by billing it as a "million worker" march.

To give the rally organizers their due, it is often necessary for the ranks to prod their leaders, who have a conservative instinct in any organization not to expose it to possible defeat. I remember a couple of very impressive CLC rallies on Parliament Hill -- one against wage controls in the 70's and another against public pension rollbacks in the 80's -- which required this bottom-up pressure. To enlist the cooperation and resources of the federation(s), however, requires taking great pains not to be seen as pursuing an alternative agenda. The timing of the rally in the midst of the election may have done just that, making it easier for the AFL-CIO leadership to discourage its affiliates from participating now or later. But those closer to the event can confirm whether this is more than just idle speculation on my part.

Marv Gandall



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