[lbo-talk] Re: how we could win

George Scialabba scialabb at fas.harvard.edu
Thu Jul 20 10:35:26 PDT 2006


Sounds excellent to me, Jenny. Remember, though, the discussion started out being about whether one is more likely to get there by beginning with a lofty exposition of faith, vision, general principles, etc, or with lots of concrete suggestions like these. Of course both are necessary, but as a tactical/rhetorical matter, where to start?

At 01:06 PM 7/20/2006, you wrote:
> >> Well, not just *any* laundry list. Suppose they campaigned really
> >> hard for universal single-payer health care,
>
>Charles Brown writes:
> >CB: How about a Constitutional Amendment for a right to a job ( for
> >'Mericans) ?
>
>Plus free higher education, along with the national health insurance. Er,
>why not the whole Labor Party program, while we're at it
>(www.thelaborparty.org):
>
>1 Amend the Constitution to Guarantee Everyone a Job at a Living Wage
>2 Pay Laid-off Workers Two Months Severance for Every Year of Service
>3 Restore Workers Rights to Organize, Bargain and Strike
>4 End Bigotry: An Injury to One Is an Injury to All
>5 Guarantee Universal Access to Quality Health Care
>6 More Time for Family and Community:
>-A 32-Hour, 4-day Work Week
>-Double-time Minimum for All Overtime
>-An Hour Off with Pay for Every two Hours of Overtime
>-20 Mandatory Paid Vacation Days for All
>-One Year Paid Leave for Every Seven Years of Work
>7 Protect Our Families:
>-Paid Family Leave
>-Flexible Working Schedules
>-Affordable Child and Elder Care for All
>-Mandatory Minimum Pensions for All
>-Guaranteed Adequate Annual Income for All
>8 Ensure Everyone Access to Quality Public Education
>9 Stop Corporate Abuse of Trade
>10 End Corporate Welfare as We Know It
>11 Make the Wealthy Pay their Fair Share of Taxes
>12 Revitalize the Public Sector
>13 End Corporate Domination of Elections
>14 Build A Just Transition Movement to Protect Jobs and the Environment
>15 Enforce Safety & Health Regulation with Worker Inspectors
>16 Reclaiming the Workplace: Job Design, Technology and Skill
>
>Oh, damn, that's right, they're not going to do any of that unless there's a
>massive political threat to their way of life, that's why we started the
>Labor
>Party. Now I'm remembering.
>
>Jenny Brown
>co-chair, Alachua County Labor Party, Gainesville, Florida
>___________________________________
>http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk



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