[Marxism] Labor Notes endorses the Million Worker March

[andrew c pollack <andypollack@xxxxxxxx>]

Finally Labor Notes speaks its piece on MWM, with a hearty endorsement.

This is not surprising given the broad union endorsement the March has
gotten. However it should have come earlier.

MWM is the kind of cross-union initiative that the network of thousands
of union militants who follow Labor Notes could be taking regularly were
there a group at the core of that network structuring it. Hopefully after
the march such permanent structure will develop -- but then that's up to
all of us, isn't it?

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Labor Notes <update-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: andypollack@xxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 16:37:44 -0400
Subject: Support the Million Worker March and Labor Notes October Issue
Online

In Today's Message:

1) Labor Notes Editorial: Support the Million Worker March

2) Website Articles for October issue of Labor Notes are online.
Check out at www.labornotes.org

3) International Solidarity: Delphi Workers in Mexico

4) Volunteers Needed for the 2005 World Social Forum in Brazil

**********************************************************************

1) Labor Notes Editorial: Support the Million Worker March
http://www.labornotes.org/archives/2004/10/articles/b.html

by Chris Kutalik

For many union members the presidential election season is known
mostly for a few painfully predictable things: glossy magazine covers
from the International featuring the candidate of choice; appeals for
COPE money by local officers; repeat calls to come down to the union
hall and pick up yard signs; speeches at whistle stops; and countless
other familiar activities.

It's not known for putting thousands of people out in the streets to
support a labor agenda, but that's exactly what organizers of the
Million Worker March are aiming for on October 17 in Washington, D.C.

Evolving from a call put out in spring 2004 by members of
International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 in San Francisco,
the march intends to draw attention to positions on a number of issues
near and dear to labor activists: promoting universal health care;
pushing a national living wage; guaranteeing pensions; canceling free
trade agreements; repealing the Taft-Hartley Act; and opposing the war
in Iraq-all positions that neither major presidential candidate
supports.

According to MWM spokespeople, "The Million Worker March is organizing
working people to put forth our needs and our agenda independently of
politicians and parties.  We say that only by acting in our name can
we build a movement that advances our needs."  March backers claim
that no politicians of any stripe will speak from the stage.

AFL-CIO OPPOSITION
This independent spirit may be what has motivated the AFL-CIO to
oppose the march. The AFL-CIO's Director of Field Mobilization,
Marilyn Sneiderman, circulated a memo June 23 stating, "We encourage
our state federations, area councils, and central labor councils not
to sponsor or devote resources to the demonstrations in Washington,
D.C. but instead to remain focused on the election."

MWM organizers questioned this decision in an open letter to
Sneiderman: "Why would the leadership of the AFL-CIO feel threatened
by a labor mobilization that confronts the crisis facing working
people in America?" In the meantime, they are busy trying to expand
what was originally a West Coast effort into a full national
mobilization.

Certainly, endorsements for the march are piling up. The National
Education Association, American Postal Workers Union, South Carolina
AFL-CIO, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, ILWU's Longshore
Division, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Teamsters National Black
Caucus, SEIU 1199 Joint Delegates Assembly, AFSCME District Councils
37 and 92, and a number of other central labor councils, locals, and
community organizations have signed on.

As with the antiwar resolutions passed by many unions over the past
two years, it's not clear to what degree these endorsements will
translate into mobilization for the event, but reports of buses and
local committees being organized are starting to surface from many
major cities.
Demonstrations like the Million Worker March are just one part of the
struggle that goes on every day in the workplace (see Charley
Richardson's article on page 8) and in the community-the tough fights
over work conditions, against discrimination, for democratic control
of the union.

But marches like the MWM have the potential to bring together workers
from different unions, regions, and industries in a show of strength
and solidarity.  These experiences can keep union members energized
for the hard, long-haul fights.  Labor Notes supports the marchers in
this effort.

For more information on the Million Worker March, go to:
http://www.millionworkermarch.org/.

***************

2) ONLINE ARTICLES for the October 2004 issue (#307) are below.
Please circulate.

Labor Notes is a monthly magazine putting the movement back in the
labor movement. Every month we post a small selection of our articles
on our website.

To subscribe to the newsprint edition, or to find out about other
resources we offer, go to www.labornotes.org/subs.html

VIEWPOINT:
SURRENDERING THE SHOP FLOOR MEANS SURRENDERING THE FUTURE
by Charley Richardson
http://www.labornotes.org/archives/2004/10/articles/d.html

New technologies and new ways of organizing work are flooding into our
workplaces.  From global positioning systems installed in trucks to
monitor drivers, to electronic medical records and hospital
information systems that are replacing health care workers and
centralizing control, to lean production and other programs that
standardize and intensify work, no sector of the economy escapes
change.  The changes undercut access to and control over critical
skills, undermine solidarity, and contribute to a loss of faith in the
union.

MT. OLIVE PICKLE BOYCOTTS ENDS IN VICTORY: 'GUEST WORKERS' JOIN FARM
UNION IN NORTH CAROLINA
by Teofilo Reyes
http://www.labornotes.org/archives/2004/10/articles/a.html

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee and the North Carolina Growers
Association signed in mid-September a historic contract covering 8,000
seasonal guest workers who travel each year from Mexico to work the
fields of North Carolina.

STRIKES LOOM AT MAJOR HOTEL CHAINS ON BOTH COASTS
by Sheila McClear
http://www.labornotes.org/archives/2004/10/articles/e.html

With their contracts recently expired, hotel workers at three UNITE
HERE locals in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. voted
to authorize a strike against a group of major hotel chains.

EDITORIAL:
SUPPORT THE MILLION WORKER MARCH
by Chris Kutalik
http://www.labornotes.org/archives/2004/10/articles/b.html

Demonstrations like the Million Worker March are just one part of the
struggle that goes on every day in the workplace and in the
community-the tough fights over work conditions, against
discrimination, for democratic control of the union. Marches like the
MWM have the potential to bring together workers from different
unions, regions, and industries in a show of strength and solidarity.
These experiences can keep union members energized for the hard,
long-haul fights.

AFL-CIO FORMS SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO WARD OFF INDEPENDENT UNIONS
by William Johnson
http://www.labornotes.org/archives/2004/10/articles/c.html
http://www.labornotes.org/nupdiscussion/index.html

The AFL-CIO has created an Independent Union Raiding Committee that
will explore ways to stem the tide of workers decertifying AFL-CIO
affiliates in favor of independent unions. According to the Bureau of
National Affairs, the committee began its work "by looking at raiding
by non-AFL-CIO unions" in the airline industry, but discovered that
such campaigns are far more widespread.

SONG OF THE MONTH
Hail To The Thief: Stupid's Pledge, I'm George W
http://www.labornotes.org/songs/songOfMonth.html

Featuring: Chris Bricker, George B, Utah Phillips, Marty Confurius,
George Mann, Julius Margolin, Alan Podber, Scott Supeck, and beginning
with a brilliant, never-before-attempted bowed-saw kazoo duet.

***************

3) International Solidarity: Delphi Workers in Mexico

Delphi Corporation, the auto parts maker which spun off from General
Motors in the 1990s, is taking the global race to the bottom to new
lows. After terrorizing their U.S. workers with the loss of 17,000
jobs since 1999, Delphi forced devastating concessions on those who
remained, by cutting starting pay by $11.00 and imposing a permanent
two-tier system.

They're now starting to apply the same treatment to their Mexican
workers.  On July 20, management of Delphi's six electrical systems
plants in Reynosa, Mexico, announced the closing of plants 3 and 4,
citing lost contracts and the need to become more "competitive."  1800
workers could quit or move to plants 5 and 6 across town.  Some
workers were told that their seniority would be respected, others were
told that they would get the legally-mandated severance pay and could
start again as new employees.  There was talk of a 10,000 peso
($1,000) bonus for moving.

The workers' union, the CTM, was nowhere to be found and when
confronted refused to divulge what agreement, if any, they had
negotiated for the workers.  Delphi workers, many of whom have worked
there 20 years, earn between 500 and 700 pesos per week ($50-$70) plus
bonuses of about 150 pesos ($15).  Since most live very close to
plants 3 and 4, they would have to take four buses and spend hours
commuting if they were to take jobs at plants 5 and 6.  The daily
transportation costs would be $8 a day or $40/week.

They were also told that work schedules would change from four 12-hour
days per week from 7 p.m.  to 7 a.m.  to five 9-hour days from 10 p.m.
to 7 a.m.  Many of the workers are women, and they would be taking
buses at night.  The workers wondered why they couldn't be moved to
plants 1 and 2 nearby, and speculated that Delphi wanted them to quit
so they could hire temps at a cheaper rate of pay just like so many of
the maquiladoras are now doing, even though it's against the law.  To
add insult to injury, the workers were told that if they didn't accept
the jobs across town, they would only receive 90 days of severance pay
instead of 120 days, which are legally required under Article 439 of
Mexican Federal Labor Law.

For more information, go to:
http://www.cfomaquiladoras.org/english%20site/delphiprincipal.englsh.html
.

The Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras
(http://www.coalitionforjustice.net/) is asking for your help. Please
send a letter denouncing this treatment to Delphi CEO J.T. Battenberg
III, 5725 Delphi Dr., Troy, MI 48098. You can also send an email to
maurice.j.rodriguez@xxxxxxxxxx and lee.ann.a.smith@xxxxxxxxxxx

***************

4) Volunteer interpreters, translators and technicians needed for the
2005 World Social Forum in Brazil

Approximately 1,400 volunteers will be needed during the World Social
Forum, which will be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil (January 26-31,
2005) to provide simultaneous interpretation, written translation, and
technical support.

Volunteers must be available for a minimum of seven days. Round-trip
travel costs will be covered if the budget allows. Accomodation will
be provided.

For more information on the World Social Forum go to:
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/home.asp

For more information on volunteering go to:
http://www.babels.org/spip/IMG/pdf/WSF2005-call_EN.pdf and
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/noticias_01.asp?cd_news=1208.

***************

"Putting the movement back in the labor movement"

Labor Notes
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Detroit, MI  48210
Tel: 313/842-6262
Fax: 313/842-0227
Email: labornotes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.labornotes.org

East Coast Office:
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Brooklyn, NY 11225
Tel: 718/284-4144
Fax: 718/287-3287
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