[Marxism] Democracy and Worker's Power

[Bonnie Weinstein <giobon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Democracy and Worker's Power
By Bonnie Weinstein
March/April 2009
http://www.socialistviewpoint.org/marapr_09/marapr_09_07.html

Every right won by workers anywhere in the world has been won by the  
active participation in the struggle by the ranks of workers  
themselves. From strikes to revolutions, victory depends upon the day- 
to-day involvement of the workers themselves in carrying out the  
fight. The most recent example of this took place in December of  
2008, when Republic Windows and Doors workers won back pay and  
benefits owed to them by sitting-in and occupying the factory until  
their demands were met.

Not only did they win their immediate demands, but they have won  
their jobs back. Just recently, Republic Windows and Doors was sold  
to a California company, Serious Materials, for $1.45 million. The  
new company officials promised United Electrical Workers Local 1110,  
the union that represented the Republic workers, that they would  
rehire all the laid-off workers at their former rate of pay!

There is no doubt that the massive popular support and solidarity the  
Republic workers were able to muster for their just cause led to this  
unexpected victory. Their decision to occupy their factory won them  
that popular support.

It was no accident that the sit-in was the workers chosen action.  
It's a tried and true tactic of the workers movement and has lead to  
many victories in the past. And, it's important to note, that the  
success of such actions have always depended upon the popular support  
of other workers for their cause.

Solidarity among workers-the conscious understanding that an injury  
to one, is an injury to all-is a very powerful unifying force for  
working people, even though tremendous legal barriers to real  
solidarity exists.

Carrying out job actions, such as strikes, in solidarity with the  
rights of other workers, like the Republic workers, is illegal under  
U.S. law.
The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947

U.S. capitalist labor laws struck a deadly blow to workers' democracy  
by ending the right of workers to withhold their labor in support of  
the rights of workers on other jobs and in other industries. If this  
were a democratic country, the majority would have the right to carry  
out its will.

The Taft-Hartley Act of 19471-an extension of the Labor-Management  
Relations Act-defined the actions labor can take in the event of  
disagreements with the bosses, and the actions that can be taken by  
the bosses during their disputes with labor.

The Act bans jurisdictional strikes, wildcat strikes, solidarity or  
political strikes, secondary boycotts and "common situs" picketing  
(picketing by a labor union of an entire construction project as a  
result of a grievance held against a single subcontractor on the  
project.) These are the most crucial, solidarity tools in the  
historic arsenal of the workers' movement. They are essential to  
effectively fight for and win their demands. Being able to carry out  
those actions in unity with others is what enables workers to muster  
large enough numbers to defend themselves and their class against the  
bosses' assault on their wages, benefits and working conditions.

The theory, based on the real-life-experience of working people is  
that, if an employer on one job can get away with something,  
employers on other jobs will do the same thing. And, conversely, what  
workers win on one job will make it easier for workers to win on  
other jobs.

The ability of working people to take action in support of other  
workers under attack is essential to saving our jobs and living  
conditions! And that's why the capitalists do what they can to outlaw  
it.
Workers strength and power lies in the numbers they can muster in  
their own defense

The ruling capitalists make up about one percent of the population  
and are far outnumbered by working people. The ongoing goal of the  
capitalist class is to weaken solidarity among workers, which leads  
to the further weakening of the ability of workers to fight for their  
rights-such as the basic right to strike in support of fellow workers  
whose living standards or working conditions may currently be under  
attack.

The Taft-Hartley Act also gave the government the power to issue  
injunctions to end legal strikes if those strikes posed "hazards to  
the American people." These "hazards" are determined, not by the  
workers, or the American people in general, but by the bosses and  
their bought and paid-for government representatives. These  
injunctions were recently used against New York transit workers in  
December of 2005 and before that, against the ILWU port workers in  
December of 2002.

And, to make sure that labor leaders would themselves be further  
disarmed, the Act required union leaders to sign statements swearing  
they were not communists. This basically entitled the bosses to  
dictate who could (or could not) be the labor representatives; while  
at the same time, the same Taft-Hartley Act gave the bosses the right  
to fire supervisors with union sympathies.

The Taft-Hartley Act, written by the bosses themselves and passed by  
their bi-partisan, paid representatives in the House and the Senate,  
serve to ensure that the majority (a united working class) can't act  
in unity and solidarity with each other, i.e., demonstrate their  
power as the majority in a purely democratic expression of unity with  
one another, such as in a general strike, without breaking the law.  
It is divide and conquer written into the laws of the land-the  
capitalist laws.

Working people must not accept any laws that make working class  
unity, solidarity, and majority will illegal. Workers must take back  
our fundamental democratic right to strike!
Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)

Working people in the U.S. are severely handicapped by the low  
numbers now represented by labor unions and the dismal state of those  
unions as fighters for the rights of their members. And now workers  
are faced with soaring unemployment.

But that does not weaken the resolve of the capitalist class to  
destroy any remaining power workers can muster in their own defense  
without breaking the law.

We now have the prospect of the "Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)"- 
H.R. 8002-passed by the House in 2007. While Obama has vowed to sign  
the bill, it has not passed the Senate yet. It amends the National  
Labor Relations Act to establish, "...an efficient system to enable  
employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to provide  
for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during  
organizing efforts, and for other purposes."
The honey

Basically, EFCA guarantees that whenever a majority of workers files  
a petition or fills out cards to be represented by a union; and if  
the Board (National Labor Relations Board) confirms that a majority  
of the employees has, indeed, signed valid authorizations to be part  
of that union, and they are not already represented by another union;  
then the union becomes the bargaining representative for those  
workers. No secret-ballot election is necessary.

If all these provisions are met, the NLRB must certify the labor  
organization as the worker's representative.

This is a step forward since it does make it easier to establish  
union representation thereby diminishing the ability of the bosses to  
pressure workers who want to join the union.

Secret-ballot union elections invite management threats to pro-union  
workers and frequently result in intimidation tactics such as firing  
workers involved in union activity.
And now, the poison

EFCA also states that whenever a union is established under the new  
guidelines, both the boss and the union must participate in  
collective bargaining for the purpose of establishing an initial  
agreement.

They have ten days after receiving a written request to commence to  
bargain collectively and must make every reasonable effort to  
conclude and sign a collective bargaining agreement.

If after a 90-day period, beginning on the date on which bargaining  
begins, the parties have failed to reach an agreement, either party  
may notify the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service [FMCS] (an  
agency of United States Government that handles arbitration and  
mediation of labor disputes and contract negotiations), of the  
dispute and request mediation. Whenever such a request is received,  
FMCS must promptly communicate with both parties and attempt to bring  
them to agreement.

However, if after the expiration of another 30-day period (beginning  
on the date on which the request for mediation is made to FMCS; and  
after the 90-day period in which they first failed to come to  
agreement), the FMCS is still not able to bring the parties to  
agreement by conciliation, the FMCS must refer the dispute to an  
arbitration board that they establish in accordance with their own  
regulations and settle the dispute. And, under EFCA, this decision is  
binding for two years.

In effect, what EFCA does, is give workers a false sense of security  
by, on the one hand, making it easier for them to form labor unions,  
while at the same time taking away the basic right to strike in case  
workers can't reach an agreement with the employer. Instead, workers  
must accept the decision of government-binding arbitration.

It effectively takes away the democratic right of workers to withhold  
their labor in solidarity with one another even at a specific jobsite  
-let alone general strikes across industry already prohibited by Taft- 
Hartley. It's as simple as that.
What's democracy got to do with it?

Of course working people support the part of EFCA that makes it  
easier to form unions but should oppose the prohibition of the right  
to strike when the employer refuses to reach an agreement with the  
majority of workers on the job. We can't leave it up to the  
government since this is a government of, by and for the bosses.

These laws are not only anti-labor; they're anti-democratic in the  
most profound sense, since they prevent working people, who are the  
majority, from acting in unity and solidarity with one another. True  
democracy for the majority of the people-working people and their  
allies-is at the very heart of universal human freedom and equality.

At the most basic level, democracy is the right of the majority to  
act on their own behalf -to carry out the wishes and desires of that  
majority. This kind of democracy is scarce-if it even exists in the  
world today. But it is humanity's most basic human right and it's  
working people's most powerful tool.

Clearly, American democracy-any capitalist system-is not democratic.  
The majority does not get to decide on issues like more schools vs.  
more war; or more money to the sick and the poor vs. more money to  
the banks; or whether workers should get raises and better benefits;  
or whether they have the right to keep their job or not, any more  
than they have the right to dictate how much bonus money the CEOs pay  
themselves.

Working people get no choice in these matters. Workers get to choose  
which capitalist boss will rule them. That's capitalist democracy!

There's very little democracy in the unions; none in school except  
for the election of class president or some such; and certainly  
there's no democracy on the job. The boss rules.

And on the rare occasion where we do get a popular vote on a  
particular issue, like the various antiwar propositions that have  
been on ballots across America (which have passed by a strong  
majority,) they are not binding, but simple statements of opinion of  
the majority of voters.

They are important because they are an expression of the wishes of  
the majority of working people, and, they have moral power because of  
it; but the politicians don't have to listen to or abide by those  
sentiments. We working people have the right to express our wishes  
but not to carry them out! And that is not democracy.
The road to freedom is a democratic one

The right of the majority to rule must be raised at every level of  
our society. From the right of parents and teachers to determine how  
best to teach children-and get the resources to do so; for the right  
of all to have access to free and accessible healthcare, housing,  
jobs; for the right of the majority to use tax dollars for the things  
the overwhelming majority of human beings need; instead of war and  
the preservation of a system of slavery based upon the rule of a tiny  
minority over the overwhelming majority of working people.

At every opportunity we must reject the choice of voting for some  
capitalist candidate who is supposed to "represent" the supporters'  
interests and instead, demand that we vote on the issues!

Let's vote on whether to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan;  
or whether to use drones to bomb Pakistan; or whether to send  
billions of dollars of financial aid and weapons such as white  
phosphorous to Israel to use against the Palestinian people; or  
whether to give trillions of dollars to the banks while spending much  
less for everything else.

An article by Ali Mir, entitled, "Notes on a Meltdown, and a View of  
the Other Side," that appeared in Samar magazine November 10, 2008  
illustrates the vast sums of money involved in the bailout of the  
banks as opposed to the "stimulus" package for everyone else:3

"...so I tried to figure out what a trillion was. I knew it had 12  
zeros after the 1, that it was a thousand billion or a million- 
million, but I couldn't for the life of me understand what a trillion  
dollars might look like. So I imagined a magic machine that spits out  
a $10 bill every second, all day and all night long. Nice thought. In  
the first minute in my fantasy world, I would have $600. In the first  
hour, $36,000. In the first 24-hour day, $864,000. So far, so good.  
But as I kept up the calculation, and as the enormity of the numbers  
dawned on me, I began to dismay. I realized that after one year of  
this enterprise, I'd have a mere $315 million or so. It would take me  
three years to get close to a billion. I'd need to collect for more  
than 3,170 years to walk away from my machine with a trillion  
dollars. If I had been a contemporary of Jesus Christ, I still  
wouldn't be two-thirds of the way there!"

We must demand the right to make decisions about where this money  
should go for ourselves, as working people-the people who  
collectively contribute the most to society as a whole-potentially  
the most powerful class in the world, the majority. Much more  
powerful than the capitalist class, if, and only if, workers are  
allowed to carry out the will of their own majority.

The majority must take control of the economy. All corporate books  
must be opened for review so we can see clearly where every penny of  
profit has gone. All profits should be taxed one hundred percent and  
used to fulfill the needs of the majority whose blood and sweat  
created that wealth.

One of the most troubling aspects of the economic crisis today is the  
loss of jobs. Job creation should be under the democratic control of  
the majority of workers themselves.

The production of goods should be based upon need. Once the  
production levels are adjusted to meet those needs, if there are  
still workers without jobs, hours should be cut back with no  
reduction in pay until all those without jobs have them-and at the  
same rate of pay. We must do away with two and three-tier contracts  
that condemn the next generation of workers to poverty.

All safe, mechanical or other upgrades that increase production rates  
should also be reflected in fewer working hours for all-again, with  
no reduction in pay. Automation and reduction of menial and  
repetitive labor under these conditions is a goal to look forward to  
for all working people. The long-term goal being to create more  
educational, creative and leisure time for all.
Consequences for pollution and war

Democratic, on-the-job worker's councils should be set up to oversee  
the end of pollution of the environment, in the workplace and society  
at-large.

If a corporation, through accident, negligence or on purpose, causes  
economic, physical or material harm to humans, wildlife or the  
environment, the cost of reparations should be one hundred percent  
the responsibility of the corporation and must come out of their  
profits and not out of the pockets of the workers.

Since war is the most polluting of all capitalist endeavors, all  
resources used for the development, manufacture, production, or  
experimentation; or any actions relating to the war machine must stop  
immediately; and all those resources be used to fulfill the needs of  
the people, the lack of which are the basic causes of war in the  
first place. Our goal as a worldwide, democratic majority of workers  
should be to rid the world of war and all weapons.

All the funds used to bail out the banks should be turned over to  
bail out working people because we have the right, as the majority  
that creates that wealth with our labor, to determine where that  
money should go!

These are just some of the things we working people, as a majority,  
should be able to do.

Working people must implement our basic democratic rights by uniting  
together to demand them as our inalienable rights! This includes the  
right to withhold our labor until the demands of the majority are  
met! Now that's democracy!
Where do we stand now and what do we do?

The ruling classes throughout history have divided working people  
from one another.

Domination through slavery, brutalization and forced obedience has  
produced the capitalist rulers of today. They seem to have unlimited  
resources to bring death and destruction with impunity. As long as  
working people can be singled out, scapegoated and divided from one  
another anything goes for the U.S. dominated, world capitalist ruling  
elite.

The latest division of the world is along the "Axis of Evil" as  
outlined by the last president and reinforced and supported by the  
new president. These peoples are marked as terrorists and are fair  
game for U.S. ruling class lethal military action. In fact, anyone,  
anywhere can be labeled a terrorist and can be "taken out."

In our inner cities this same philosophy is at work. The police  
routinely target the poor-even shoot them in the back and then claim  
they were "gangsters" or "drug dealers." They execute them in the  
streets, and in front of cameras. This is what happened to young and  
unarmed Oscar Grant this past New Years Day, 2009; and to countless  
others that go unnoticed because they weren't caught on camera.

Working people must join together and demand that these attacks stop.  
We must demand that the government act on behalf of the wishes of the  
majority by immediately bringing to justice all those BART police who  
were present and aided in the blatant murder of Oscar Grant-and all  
who have carried out state-sponsored atrocities and executions  
against the innocent and unarmed, including not just the entire  
police force, but the capitalist warmongers themselves responsible  
for the murder of millions.
Working people must act in our own behalf and take the power that is  
rightfully ours

But for working people to be effective in carrying out our will as a  
majority, we must organize ourselves democratically into our own  
organizations independent of the capitalist-minority ruling class.

We must organize ourselves democratically and in our own defense on  
our jobs, in our communities, in our schools and in our own  
organizations especially. Only in that way will we, as a majority, be  
able to gain the power through our unity to win our rights.

With real democracy on our side, and with unity and solidarity, these  
rights are ours for the taking!

Most importantly, to be effective, the masses of working people have  
to be involved in the decision-making process itself from the ground  
up, not from the top down. This means we must take democratic control  
of all aspects of our lives.

This means that the rank and file of the unions must make democratic  
decisions about their contracts and not leave these things up to the  
union bureaucracy or up to anti-labor laws; or up to conniving  
politicians; but we must demand the power to carry out our own will.

And this must include the right to run a factory in such a way as to  
produce the best product, under the best working conditions and under  
workers' democratic majority rule. Ultimately it means the right of  
the majority to rationally and safely produce goods and services to  
satisfy the needs and wants of all and not for the private profit of  
the tiny few.

Majority rule is our power. But it only works if all workers have the  
right to discuss and vote on the issues that concern us and then,  
carry out our own free will as a democratically and independently  
organized, self-constituted majority.

We workers have been estranged from true democracy and must learn to  
grasp its power for our own.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft-Hartley

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_Free_Choice_Act

3 http://www.samarmagazine.org/archive/article.php?id=269

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