A broader, political example of company unionism is labor unions' continued involvement in the Democratic Party. The Democrats have always been dominated by big business; it's a party where corporations come together to have their needs met, though less explicitly -- and therefore more dangerously -- than the Republicans.
The few crumbs that Democrats threw to the unions have long since dried up; both Clinton and Obama are blatantly pro-corporate Presidents, with Obama presiding over a very pro-corporate Democratic controlled Congress.
And although the Democrats have snubbed labor a thousand times, most top labor officials seem desperate to maintain this worthless "alliance," something that requires them to constantly make "compromises" with the Democrats that are against the interests of the working class. The most recent one is the acceptance of the Democrats' "Cadillac" tax on workers health care plans.
Another recent example of labor officials practicing dangerous cooperation with the corporate Democrats is the actions of the President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Randi Weingarten.
Instead of preparing teachers for a battle against Obama's anti-public education "reform," the AFT President has decided that "working together" would be more effective. Both the Democrats and mainstream media are attempting to adopt many long-time conservative notions regarding education. Obama calls his plan the "Race to the Top" campaign (a name as misleading as Bush's No Child Left Behind).
The Democrats attack on public education requires undermining the power of teachers' unions, a task done by instituting teacher-specific, conservative reforms, including tying a teacher's pay and job status to a student's performance or closing down "failing schools" and opening non-union, private charter schools. Both of these schemes are integral to Obama's education reform and have already been ruthlessly implanted in New Orleans and Chicago, to the huge detriment of both teachers and students.
In response to future, potentially crippling, attacks in
Obama's plan, the AFT President is disarming her membership while walking them
into a war zone.
Weingarten has not only failed to condemn the President's plan, but has spoken positively of it, and how teachers could best work with the Obama administration.
In a recent speech to the U.S. Press Club, the AFT President cited two recent examples of teacher collective bargaining retreats -- including an especially bad defeat in Detroit -- and proclaimed the outcomes as victories of "collaboration", to be mimicked throughout the country in accordance of Obama's anti-teacher plan. Weingarten admits that one of the contracts included classic conservative reforms like "rigorous evaluations, more flexible hiring authority, and performance pay on a school-by-school basis--
In a classic example of company union ideology, Weingarten states: "We must transform our mutual responsibility into mutual commitment. Our relationship should be a constant conversation that begins before and continues long after we meet at the bargaining table."
This would be a fine statement if not for the fact that Weingarten's partners in "mutual commitment" are out for teacher's blood.
Advancing the labor movement cannot be done with friendly
cooperation with management or voting for either of the corporations' political
parties. The past gains in living wages of
union workers-- which are now quickly shrinking-- and their benefits were won in
past generations through a combination of two very important factors. The
first was the recognition that the interests of working people and the
employers were diametrically opposite, where wages came at the expense of
profits and vice versa.
Secondly, workers employed organized militant actions, for example, large demonstrations, strikes with massive picket lines and at times workplace occupations, etc. Those who promote less confrontational solutions to labor's problems have had decades to prove their theories. They have completely failed. Labor continues a decades-long backward slide. The promised Employee Free Choice Act is being relegated to the Obama bin of betrayals.
Labor can and must change course, the sooner the better. This can be done by directly challenging the Obama administration's pro-big business policies of foreign wars, bank bailouts, cuts in needed social services, corporate health care, attacks on public education, etc. Mass demonstrations are an effective tool to organize and educate workers, while giving an explicit warning against politicians who promote anti-worker policies. Labor unions around the country have passed resolutions endorsing a march on Washington demanding jobs, peace and justice. Below is a model resolution to propose at your local union.
Workers Emergency Recovery Campaign Model Resolution
http://wercampaign.org/2010/01/07/monde_resolution/
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