[lbo-talk] advances in union militance

[wrobert at uci.edu]

I'll repeat myself.  I don't have an opinion about the fight with the CNA,
but SEIU just tried to break up a conference for union activists. 
Whatever one's opinion of the conflict is, this seems to be a misplaced
priority.  Perhaps it was a bit naive for the Labor Notes organizers to
expect that a reasonable debate could occur with this level of acrimony,
but they are right to try to get some sort of conversation going.  Out of
curiosity, has there been any attempt to analyze the conflict from a less
partisan position.  All I have seen so far is bad yellow journalism from
both sides (or perhaps I should go with purple prose given the SEIU
involvement.)

                            Robert Wood


> It bears repeating that this was in response to CNA's recent union
> busting and raiding efforts. Had CNA not engaged in a last minute
> "vote no" union-busting campaign to wreck a three year struggle to
> organize Catholic Health Partner hospitals (as well as start raids on
> SEIU units in NV and CA hospitals), then I'm sure Rose Ann Demoro
> would have been left alone to tell the assembled Labor Notes crowd how
> "professional" RNs need their own organization, how highly-educated
> RNs shouldn't be in the same union as dirty janitors, and how
> conservative craft unionism is the way forward. Also, I'm sure she
> would have added how appointing -- as opposed to electing -- the head
> of a union represents the height of union democracy.
>
> In the real world, when a union engages in such totally fucked-up,
> insanely counterproductive behavior like the CNA has, it commands a
> response. I too hope for a time when cooler heads will prevail; there
> are simply too many unorganized workers for unions to raid each other
> and to make last minute interventions in organizing drives.
> Unfortunately, I don't see this happening until the CNA leadership is
> held accountable for their actions. This is what SEIU is doing right
> now.
>
>> Maybe we should save the militant action for
>> operations against capital, but then SEIU's leadership seems to have
>> decided that's passe.
>
>