[lbo-talk] unions & OWS

lasko lascaux at riseup.net
Sat Oct 29 15:33:18 PDT 2011


In the early days of the occupation some skeptics (not referring to lbo-talk here) opined that they couldn't take the movement seriously until institutional powers - e.g. unions - got behind it.

The bodies occupying the space of the park weren't sufficiently "broad-shouldered" in this view. Skinny hippies in a ragged camp. Bare life?

Articles like the one in the WSJ suggest unions need the occupiers more than the occupiers need the unions.

Sure, the TWU came in and it was great, but the girth in the labor movement these days isn't muscle.

On 10/29/11 2:44 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
> on.wsj.com/sYR6mP
>
> Unions Look to Protesters for Future Supporters
> By MELANIE TROTTMAN
>
> Union members who descended on Occupy Wall Street encampments armed with tents, food and organizational expertise hope to turn young demonstrators into enduring labor allies, part of a larger effort to rejuvenate the movement's aging ranks.
>
> In the throngs of unemployed 20-somethings gathered in cities across the U.S., labor leaders see a chance to improve their movement's image with a generation of future workers who will be crucial to unions' survival.
>
> ...
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