[lbo-talk] Boycotting the unorganized?

[amadeus amadeus]

It seems particularly silly for folks to be making a
case here for not crossing picket lines, particularly
since no one seems to have any substantive idea of
what this picket is about (though, I admit to not
having read all 173 posts in this thread).
I think we're all in agreement that a lot of "big
unionism" simply isn't making it, and is sometimes in
fact pro-management. And there's certainly no reason
to hold to any hard-and-fast rules about picket lines
or anything else. Perhaps it's necessary to look at
what's worked and what hasn't, historically, on the
left, and reconcile it all with the contemporary
situation of labor in the United States.
Similarly, I think the left, the labor movement, and
workers need to examine which unions and/or locals are
working to advance the position of workers, and which
are not. In the case of unions which are clearly
failing, they can be disbanded at the discretion of
workers, who can then form new, more radical unions.

Let me add that I think labor will be important to any
substantive social change in the United States, since
the majority of Americans are workers of one type or
another, and as a group have the almost exclusive
power of sending the whole system to a grinding halt.

--adx
--- Chuck0 <chuck at mutualaid.org> wrote:


> Lance Murdoch wrote:
> 
> > On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 19:19:42 -0600, Chuck0
> <chuck at mutualaid.org> wrote:
> > 
> > It's like Ted, who went to school at the totally
> excellent Berkeley
> > says in his play "all you do is whine about petty
> little issues like
> > working conditions and crap games and the right to
> suck cocks."  We
> > have to go into the forests and live like the
> Ewoks man.  All this
> > working conditions stuff and control of the means
> of production is
> > just a bummer.  Post-leftism is where it's at,
> man.
> 
> And what does this have to do with post-leftism or
> John Zerzan?
> 
> Was I advocating primitivism as a counterpoint to
> picket lines?
> 
> No.
> 
> Did I bring up anything having to do with Green
> Anarchy or Eugene, Oregon?
> 
> No.
> 
> Several people here have supported my argument that
> their are shades of 
> gray when it comes to supporting things like picket
> lines. I've done my 
> share of supporting workers, not crossing picket
> lines, doing workplace 
> organizing, and so on. If you are going to flame me,
> please at least 
> stay on topic!
> 
> I'm all for radical unions and controlling the means
> of production! But 
> nobody is going to control the means of production
> if we continue to 
> blindly support stupid unions who are *still* in bed
> with the Pro-Boss 
> Democrats.
> 
> Chuck
> ___________________________________
>
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> 

		
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