unions/SEIU

[neil <74742.1651@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TO:     boddhisatva, INTERNET:kbevans@xxxxxxxxx
CC:     L. godenas, INTERNET:Godenas@xxxxxxx
        d henwood, dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx
        Conference iww.news, INTERNET:IWW NEWS@xxxxxxxxxxx
        R. perrone, INTERNET:perrone@xxxxxxxxxxx

Re:     unions/SEIU

Dear friends,

Great that good people are dealing critically with the degeneration of the trade
unions.
I am a union member and I have worked within well intentioned  radical reform
groups here in LA--but those that settle into getting elected on a "push the 
leaders
to the left" plank are really wasting the workers time and efforts. Its the 
institution
itself that wholly supports the wages system fervently and this provides a big
material and hence political basis for mass betrayal of workers struggles.

Both from honest criticism and experience of other  workers in many regions, the
unions track record shows that the US trade unions have faily well degenerated 
into
something nearing company unionism. We are not just dealing with hobbled
stallions here but a genuine trojan horse.

In LAs SEIU #99 for instance (Classified school empl.--not to be confused  with 
the
separate local  #399 Nurses and Janitors crisis ) then president Sweeney and his
minions led by W. Backstrom put the union in  receivership in 1988-91  to mainly
crush the bus driver dissidents of BAFU who were tired of the union running
roughshod over rank and file demands for better benefits, workers democracy,  
use
of union halls and an end to backroom deals with the school board.

*Sweeney/Backstrom & Co. helped bleed the union dry for $180,000 for alleged
arrears in dues for the international.
*In a May, 1992 rank and file built teacher/parent/classified mass action to be 
held
against cuts/layoff at LA City Hall right after the LA riot/rebellion, THE 
SEIU, UTLA,
and CSEA unions worked with the governing Democrats, Republicans, cops and
Nat'l. Guard to get the event suppressed and on May 9th,  200+ parents teachers,
drivers, aides and students were dispersed, some at bayonet point. 30 were
arrested by the cops and guard for "unlawful assembly" even though the planned
rally and march down to the Ronald Reagan state bldg had obtained a legal march
permit.
*SEIU hacks and others helped spread the lie that the mass event was controlled
by street gangs and "anarchists" (gasp!). The unions and the Board arranged for 
a
separate event to be held at the same day and hour at the LA School board to 
draw
away unionists and others from the downtown event because dissidents from Local
99 and UTLA teachers would hold the podium ( & for a change people would not
have to listen to lying liberal Democratic party drivel).
*at another earlier event Sweeney and Backstrom had given a wink and a nod to 
the
use of thugs against dissident bus drivers to wanted to pass out agitation at a 
rally
against cuts/layoffs.

Sweeney and Backstrom in Local 99 have used craft unionism to divide workers not
unite them for struggle. Like the H. Bernstein  UTLA  misleadership, these hacks
have called on the school board to halt hits on their own dues base feifdoms and
instead  go after workers in other unions, even going so far as to "advise" the 
borad
 not only in where to cut, but advising  in favor of  sackings as well.

For 1st hand info in this continuing saga write and send $3 for a copy of  
Issue#8 of
Chicago Workers' Voice Theoretical Journal
Box 11542
Chicago, IL  60611

LA County, 1995.

Mr. d. Henwood is a bit misinformed on the LA County workers struggles of 1995.

FACTS: The 3 main SEIU unions and the  Board of Supvsrs. and other DP and RP
pols knew they would not lay off the 18,000 county workers as they had 
threatened
in June '95. (Henwood does allude to this being a scam). But the unions are 
part of
the good/cop--bad/cop playacting to decive the workers too!
3, 200 workers did end up getting the axe in 1995. Caseloads of workers 
increased
up to 15% at welfare offices and clinics and hospitals. 9 Clinics have alredy 
been
privatized and 22 more are to be as well. The only "stumbling block" for the  
unions
on this is their demand the SEIU #660 continue to be able to "represent" the
workers under privatization and collect dues of course. This as the workers 
affected
have their pay and benfits cut 25 to 30%. What great union  representation!
Under privatizations, patients who don't have money or medicaid cards up fornt 
will
be given the  2 aspirins and band aids or maybe no treatments at all.
It should be noted that more rank and filers are not waiting for the hacks to  
fight for
them. Last week 300 county welfare workers staged a militant picket downtown
to protest the big increase in infant deaths due to case overloadings and they 
also
want to stop the bi-partisan scapegoating of county workers.

Some leftists , like the CPUSA, DSA, SWP/USA, WWP , etc, half echoing the
bourgeios media hailed this as some  kind of limited 'victory'.
Yes, like Gen.  Custer's victory  at the Little Big Horn  and Adm. Kimmel's at 
Pearl
Harbor!

The very influential  bourgeois LA Times now  makes no bones about the fact that
the bi-partisan county  Board of Sups. and the state pols. will be going in for
thousands of more layoffs this summer. Gee, I wonder whay the ruling class
reaction is able to smell more workers blood?
Could a big part of this be because they know the unions are fervently loyal to 
capital
and wage labor? Could it be because millions of workers dues monies go to
support "friends of labor" Democrats? Well , i guess with militant motion of the
ranks vastly  scaled back by the unions, the rich have good reasons to be cocky!

Near 90% of the present US left merely provides political  tailwind power for 
the
union officials and the Democrats. Its odds- on they are not going to change 
much
either and so they are part of the problem too, not the solution. militant 
workers at
the base are beginning to see this charade a bit clearer now and pockets of 
anger
are rising.
If the presen t relatively  weak ond disunited forces in the ranks can bring 
more of
our fellow workers to active resistance, a real fight could be in the works.

Marxists should help politically/ideologically  to give impetus to rising 
combativity of
the ranks and help spread it . Shady   Liberals, conservatives and other 
supporters
of class rule will continue to assist the unions, their  state, and  the bosses 
fixeroo
election charade pen in the workers combativity, derail  and contain it .  
Thats the
real dialectic at work here.

Mr. MacLean



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