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Good for them. It's still hardly justifies the statement about the negotiating stance of American unions. I joined my first union in 1966, and have been a member of one or another almost continually. The one of which I am currently a member is very good at defending members of the bargaining unit being victimized, but it has been so ineffectual at negotiating contracts that we have lost ground since 1979, when it won recognition. In my experience, unions generally strike only when they're forced to it, and do almost anything and everything to avoid it. The data on union membership and the standards of living indicates that my experience has been far more characteristic of union members than the generalization to which I responded implied. The point is that we do not condemn unions going into negotiations despite the generally muddled and confused nature of the kind of trade unionism we have in the U.S. Certainly, this doesn't mean we are silent in the face of misleadership and betrayal, but it seems reasonable to wait until the evidence is there to be seen and appreciated. As to preemptive dismissals of any mode of struggle, an analogy from the predigital age used to say, a broken clock is always right twice a day. ML _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
