Re: Reply to: Re: US Rail Contracts

[David Walters <dwalters@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I guess the question is what kind of proposals do you make to workers
in order to stengthen your position against the boss during the rail
negoitations? Do you increase the filing of grievances? Do you as an
individual union member seek to work with others in the Local or
International to raise tactics and strategies that would push the class
forward? Do you seek to become the representatives of workers in the
shops as a Committeeman or Steward? Do you seek to build networks or
caususes with other rank and file members and union officials like we
did in the UTU Right to Vote Committee in 1969?

As for LPA, this is the biggest happening interms of any discussion
around independent working class politcis in modern US labor history.
Regardless of the positions taken by the leadership, the LPA has
allowed me to rasie the question of indepenent working class politcs in
ways that were never dreamed of in the past. For once LARGE groups of
workers organized in their unions are debating this question. NO left
group in the last 40 years has been able to initiate such real
political discussions among workers and gotten such a hearing. Perhpas
it is a good thing that most left groups abstain from this discussion.
I hope you can raise labor party issue in your rail union, now's the
chance to really do this and just bury the idea by placing it a title
of a pamphlet in the back of the bookstore, so to speak.

Having worked in the IBEW for 12 years and a few other unions prior to
that for once we can really get a hearing for breaking the stranglehold
of the stinking Democrats over the unions.
what do you think?

David Walters



     --- from list marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---