I agree with you, Carrol, when you associate radical trade unionism activity with the historic labour struggles for recognition and collective bargaining rights. And also your points concerning the decline in trade union "density" within the society, and the scarcity of politically-conscious activists in the locals. No different up here or in any of the developed capitalist economies in this period.
But I'm not referring to the left-wing militancy we associate with the old IWW- and CP-led unions -- but something much more elementary, when people initially have "bread and butter" trade union and political consciousness forced on them by the circumstances they find themselves in. In this context, I do think if the coming cuts to retirement, medical, and other core government programs are deep enough and perceptible enough, people will react -- in varying degrees -- even if they're deep into watching sports, sex, and survivors on TV today. And people invariably turn first to what it closest at hand when their living standards are threatened -- their unions and, in the US case, the Democratic party -- which is why I think these are the venues where any opposition to serious cutbacks would first manifest itself. Of course, this isn't certain; the cuts, when they come, will almost certainly be downplayed, disguised, sold as "reforms", and phased in. So they may well be, by and large, passively accepted because they won't be experienced directly as an immediate assault on jobs or income. But if there is a potential to organize opposition, as I think there will be, it will be easier and more effective to do so from within the unions and the DP rather than from the outside. I include in this the development of opposition within the environmental, lesbian and gay, Latino/a, black, and other social movements -- all of whose demands to stop the cutbacks will be necessarily channeled into the Democratic party and directed at the party's legislative representatives at all levels of the political system. Marv Gandall ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carrol Cox" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 1:04 PM Subject: [PEN-L] Estanblished Trade Unions & Left Politics, was Re: He does have a point > Marvin Gandall wrote: > > > > I regularly vote for the > > social-democratic NDP in Canada. But I think it's worth pointing out, > > for the purposes of your debate, that I don't do so because I think the > > party, in the unlikely event it should take power at the national level, > > will govern much differently than the Liberals or Conservatives. The NDP > > 's history of governing at the provincial level in the West and in > > Ontario shows this to not be the case. > > > > What attracts me to the party is its social composition. It's where the > > trade union and social movement activists are to be found, > > Hypothesis: Trade Unions are actively left in their politics ONLY during > their early stages, when the chief issue is establishing the right to > exist. Once that right is established, they rapidly cease to be an > element in left politics. At the present time, with only scattered > exceptions, one will not, in the u.s., find social activists _and_ trade > union leadership in the same social/political locations. In most > instances of radical activists inside the trade-union movement you are > more apt to meet those activists in organizations separate from the > trade union itself. > > And, of course, in the u.s. the membership in unions has shrunk to the > point where it makes up an extremely small proportion of non-public > employees. If we want to "reach" the "working class" our efforts for the > most part will have to be directed to non-union workers. > > My wife was president of the APWU local for many years, and also served > on the County AFL-CIO Central Council. It doesn't take two hands to > count the number of "activists" she met in those years. Before being > employed in the Post Office she had led for a number of years an > organizing committee (variously attached to AFSCME, NEA, & SEIU) among > clerical employees at Illinois State U. I make these observations to > emphasize that I am _not_ talking from a vantage point outside the union > movement. I'm for unions, not against them, but leftists at the present > time simply should not fool themselves into thinking, again _at the > present time_, unions are a very important locus for leftist activity. > > Carrol > > Carrol >
