[Marxism] RE Connecticut AFL-CIO joins major Change to Win Unions in endorsing war hawk Lieberman

["robert montgomery" <ilyenkova@xxxxxxxxx>]

MG: What's of more interest is whether USLAW and other left caucuses in these
unions have had any success in organizing a response... This would be
another good gauge of the state of the US labour left and the degree to
which the elected officials and apparatus are acting outside the prevailing
sentiment of the rank and file. I couldn't find anything about this in the
wsws article - a curious omission for a left-wing publication - but you and
others may have some information.

Les is correct in setting this lock-step support for Lieberman  in the
context of  defense contracting in Connecticut, coupled  witth a
demographic shift  of upscale New Yorkers into the state. So Joe
Lieberman is to CT as Scoop Jackson ("the Senator from Boeing") was to
Washington. Correspondingly,  the question of how much the bureaucracy
acts outside of or in conflict with the prevailing sentiment of the
rank and file will be matter of degree. Among public sector workers in
Massachusetts where I am, there is no more than 10-15% pro-war
sentiment. In my experience the rank and file break down roughly into
thirds: 1/3rd are totally alienated from the party system with a
fraction of that group desperate for a left-popular party; almost 1/2
are in accord with their Kerry/Kennedy senators; and there's that 15%
or so with spouses working at Raytheon. So the picture is pretty
specific to the options deemed possible.Left forces in the  unions act
pretty much as antiwar activists, doing things like making sure that
leaflets  get posted on the union bulletin board.  Antiwar,
anti-Patriot Act, "see the movie on Gitmo" leaflets don't get ripped
down by the local officers.  They do try to cover them over with the
latest numbers on "your new health insurance premiums". So there's
coexistance, basically, of narrow business unionism with popular
antiwar sentiment. After all, our Democratic congressional delegation
are antiwar too, aren't they?
RM

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