Re: [Marxism] Class, Party, and Organization

[Greg McDonald <sabocat59@xxxxxxx>]

Joaquin Bustelo wrote:

<There is no reason in the abstract why a similar dynamic can't play  
out in
the class as a whole. All it takes is that those who are four, five  
or six
rungs up on the ladder to understand that their actual conditions  
depend on
how low the ruling class is allowed to drag down the entire ladder.

It is a question of political dynamics and social forces in motion --  
not
just privilege. When you get to an actual struggle, you find people
radically redefining themselves and their outlook, shedding all sorts of
prejudices and better-than-thou stances. We've all seen, time and again,
truly inspiring examples of class consciousness and solidarity that  
arise in
moments of struggle. Yet in the U.S., these have remained isolated, they
have not and (at least for the time being) do not cohere into a  
movement,
not even the beginnings of a movement, as one would expect.>

A bit more from some of us workers "four, five, or six rungs up on  
the ladder".

At my workplace, fellow workers in the spa are among the highest  
paid, and all are white, except for one african-american woman. I  
worked through the summer to get them involved in study and  
discussion groups by disseminating Yates' book on unions, and by  
handing out copies of the Industrial Worker. Four people joined the  
union and then we hit a brick wall. The overwhelming majority  
rejected the idea of forming a union, and my efforts to reach out to  
the lower paid workers in custodial, kitchen and laundry came to nil  
after management pulled a freshdirect and got ICE involved. 14  
undocumented workers were given one week to verify their ss numbers  
and all were fired. This created enough of a climate of fear to keep  
most of the remaining workers from even talking to me and to others  
trying to gain their confidence. Then management began to hire  
workers from temp agencies to avoid paying benefits and to drive a  
larger wedge between CR employees and the new hires.

Simultaneous with my efforts the upstate NY IWW picketed the  
workplace against management policy to expropriate the 18% tip fee  
which they charge to guests in our name, and in support of our  
lawsuit to win back the money. Management caught wind of my  
involvement, and in  spite of my stellar work record HR began to  
target me with guest complaints such as greeting a guest with a cup  
of tea, or yawning during a session, etc. Nitpicky stuff. But they  
actually managed to cobble together a written complaint putting my  
employment in jeopardy. So I had to back off. Now they're doing the  
same to the FW who instigated the lawsuit, (who is also a union member).

So we have to wait it out until the heat is off. About the only thing  
I'm doing nowadays is handing out the IW to the few workers who can  
be trusted not to snitch me out.  Interestingly enough, the economic  
downturn, coupled with management's nickel and dime gradualist cuts  
to our benefits packages, has generated quite a bit of spontaneous  
discussion on inflation, stagflation, etc. So we just have to keep  
chipping away. Canyon Ranch is important due to the fact that it is a  
flagship leader and trend-setter in the multi-billion dollar health- 
spa industry. Decisions and policies adopted here are copied  
throughout the country. We still have a toehold and have punished the  
owners with a multi-million dollar lawsuit, backed by the state  
attorney general. We've also enlisted state OSHA to investigate and  
force CR to clean up moldy rooms used by massage staff, which may not  
seem like much, but if you have a mold allergy the effects can be  
quite devastating. Once we win the lawsuit and people have cash in  
hand, this will allow people to see that taking on management as an  
organized group can be quite effective. And yes, I realize that cash  
in hand is not necessarily an inducement to the formation of class  
consciousness, but it certainly can't hurt.


Greg McDonald


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