[lbo-talk] OK, Nathan

[Max Sawicky]

Maybe.  Would they be more democratic if they weren't bound up with the DP?
Like the IBT of old?

I don't discount the corruption or its importance.  In re: the point at hand
-- unions' non-support of single payer -- I don't think it's the fundamental
problem.

One of the funniest scenes in Casino is a mobster's mother (played by
Scorsese's mother) scolding her boy for cursing.

mbs 

-----Original Message-----
From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
On Behalf Of andie nachgeborenen
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 9:49 AM
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] OK, Nathan

Yeah, e.g., the Teamster's Southeastern, etc. States
Pension und was run by the mob and financed its
expansion into Vegas. (See, e.g., Nicholas Pilaggi's
Casino, the basis of a not-bad DeNiro/Psci/Sharon
Stone movie of the same name). There's going to be a
problem as long as many/most unions are top down
institutions with little democracy. That doesn't mean
your points about fragmentationa nd disunity are
lacking, but with regard to the latter point, don't
you think the unions' Babylonian capitivity to the
Democratic Party may be relevant?

--- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:

> Max B. Sawicky wrote:
> 
> >Unions with well-run funds could have a reason for
> opposing single-payer.
> >Like a lot of other people, if they are happy with
> their current coverage,
> >there is less reason to rock the boat for an
> unknown alternative.
> >
> >The root of this is not corruption, but the
> fragmentation and implied
> >political disunity underlying an employer-based
> system.
> 
> That's part of it, but Fitch's tales of corruption
> in union-run funds 
> go on for pages. They're used for self-enrichment
> and patronage, and 
> the tales go back decades.
> 
> Doug
> ___________________________________
>
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> 


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