[lbo-talk] Boots Riley on Occupy the Hood

[Carrol Cox]

OWS is potentially something (or the initiator of something) radically
distinct from all ordinary union purposes. So the question is which unions
or which segments of which unions can relate to those purposes as they are
discovered. (Purposes are always discovered in the action, never a fixed
goal prior to the action) The potential goal here is of course the
destruction of capitalist relations of production. Paying less than $15 an
hour at Walmart can be considered an injury. You do recall, do you not, the
old labor slogan, An injury to one is an injury to all. That pay (while
still grossly inadequate) would increase the freedom of action of Walmart
employees, thereby making it possible for at least some of them to enter
into the general struggle of All.

Carrol

-----Original Message-----
From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
On Behalf Of lasko
Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2011 4:55 PM
To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Boots Riley on Occupy the Hood

This and the KPFA discussion is very interesting. Every time I read an 
article about OWS and labor the admittedly half-formed thought pops into 
my head that OWS is a union.

What Boots might discover, when approaching a traditional union with the 
proposition that they fight for a $15/hour wage for Walmart workers, is 
that he will be listened to politely and then the organizers will start 
trying to manage down his expectations.

The KPFA segment on OWS as means of bypassing legal and contractual 
limits on strikes and secondary boycotts by having a non-union entity do 
the organizing omitted to mention that these type of organizations 
pre-date OWS. There are labor-aligned non-profits that actively seek to 
circumvent the restrictions on unions by organizing actions by union 
members outside the formal hierarchy of the unions they belong to.

I guess the question is whether OWS is an informal version of these 
alternative organizations, or if these alternatives and OWS are a new 
kind of union.

On 12/17/11 6:13 AM, Charles Turner wrote:
>> From the twitter stream of @BootsRiley, 12/16/2011:
>
>
> Mayor Quan sez she plans to get rid of crime (drug sales&related
> violence) in Oakland by havin cops arrest more ppl.
>
> That's been the status quo for half a century in Oakland
>
> That and asking ppl to "Stop The Violence", etc
>
> However, #OccupyOakland is fighting 4 higher wages and better housing,
> which will eliminate the NEED for selling dope in the 1st place.
>
> Crime is not the problem. Poverty is the problem. Mayor Quan is not
> the problem either. Capitalism is.
>
> When dope dealers get areested they don't even have enuf
> money4adequate legal defense. It's a low-paid job.
>
> Most dope dealers on street wld gladly take a $15/hr job instead of
> sellin dope. How do I kno? Yrs of askin dope dealers.
>
> Fast food corps and places like walmart&walgreens culd pay $15/hr and
> still make billions. #OccupyOakland culd make that happen.
>
> I think that, in Oakland, $15 an hour is the number that would work.
>
> In the past workers at Walmart&  fast food who tried to unionize have
> gotten fired due to that activity. #OccupyOakland culd protect those
>
> workers with the threat of shutting them down if they fire the workers.
>
> If we made a fast food workers union, we could focus on one chain in
> Oakland and squeeze it til the corporation renegotiated its deal with
>
> the franchises in order to allow them the ability to pay workers more.
> McD's culdnt pull out of Oakland&leave the market to BK,4instance.
>
> (@alxsm if drugs were legal, dope dealing would b a high paying job
> that Black folks couldnt have.)
>
> @SoulCollabBeats They wouldn't be risking their jobs, cuz
> #Occupyoakland wld back them up.
>
> @adamzilla yes. We'd have to hold out long enuf to make corporations
> re-negotiate w franchise owners.
>
> The point being, w the numbers #OccupyOakland can pull, we can help
> workers get higher wages in jobs where theyd usually get fired4trying.
>
> We can shut places down if they fire workers4fighting4higher wages.
> This wuld set a precedent for class struggle throughout the US.
>
> An #OWS organized fast food workers union w an eye on eventually
> dismantling the system is something that culd b duplicated all over
> US.
>
> Something like that would multiply #OWS movement numbers several times
> over and [t]each lessons on class analysis to millions at the same
> time.
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