Are We at a Tipping Point?
Mark Brenner
Labor Notes
June 27, 2012
http://labornotes.org/2012/06/are-we-tipping-point

The last four years have been enough to turn even the
most true-blue union activist just plain blue. We are
facing some very uncomfortable arithmetic.

Despite 16 million members and $10 billion plus in dues
revenue, labor's reach is dwindling. In most industries-
even bastions like auto and construction-we don't
control enough of the market to win decent contracts, so
we're not attractive to new members.

Are we at a tipping point, where unions are no longer
able to play their historical role of creating a shared
working-class common sense? Can we still influence
conditions for all?

If ever there was a window into unions' limited reach,
it was the heartbreaking outcome of the June 5 recall
vote in Wisconsin. When President Obama and the national
Democratic machine declined to weigh in, it was a scary
reminder of just how willing our supposed allies are to
ditch us.

But as Jim Cavanaugh discusses here, we have to admit
that the union-backed candidate lost because of our
inability to convince our own members that this was a
referendum on the value of unions, and that they were
worth protecting. 

	FUTURE TENSE: LABOR NOTES 400 The changes in the
	labor movement, the economy, and politics since
	the first issue of Labor Notes came out in
	February 1979 have been profound.

	For our 400th issue, Labor Notes asked several
	activists to address what happened to labor-and
	what we should do given the spot we're in.

	Download the entire package.
	[moderator: down load that package here -
	http://labornotes.org/files/pdfs/LN400FutureTense.pdf]

Twenty-five percent of union-member voters chose Scott
Walker, and 38 percent of all those from union
households did the same.

We have far to go to return to the days when the labor
movement defined the world view of the working class.

MISSED CHANCE

For a few short months after the 2008 financial
meltdown, the glaring problems with our economic system
were laid bare. Everyone could see that bankers and
billionaires were to blame.

But when corporations write the rules, they can also
throw out the rulebook when it's convenient. They
shifted the debate to handwringing over The Deficit,
aided by the very real budget crises in cities and
states across the country.

That's where labor missed an opportunity. The good
soldiers at the top of the labor movement took their
cues from President Obama; they didn't lead a people's
movement to rein in the speculators and tax the rich.
Instead of linking a fight for jobs with a plan to save
us all from climate disaster (which would have meant
more stimulus), the president wanted corporate-friendly
health care reform.

Labor lined up-even when Obama broke his campaign
promise not to tax benefits.

With no daylight between labor's top brass and the Obama
agenda, there was no room to reinforce the country's
initial common sense about what went wrong with the
economy and how to fix it. 

BLAME THE BUS DRIVER

This left pundits, politicians, and far too many members
of the public free to point the finger at teachers, bus
drivers, and other government workers, blaming their pay
and pensions-and their unions-for budget deficits. Why
should city workers enjoy a decent retirement when most
workers were one paycheck away from losing it all?

The have-nots were pitted against the have-a-little's,
leaving the 1% to have it all.

When Republicans took control of the House in 2010 and
anti-union conservatives like Scott Walker moved in to
governors' mansions, conservatives started rolling out
their elimination campaign for unions.

But their assault doubled as a working class wake-up
call.

The Wisconsin uprising, last August's rowdy strike of
45,000 against Verizon, the recurring short strikes by
California health care workers, the militant actions of
Longshore union members in Washington state to protect
their jobs-2011 was the year the labor movement shook
off its haze and started fighting back.

Of course, Occupy was the game-changer, taking aim
squarely at the 1% and succeeding where unions had
stumbled, by turning national attention back onto those
responsible for the economic collapse. And Occupy also
reinforced what was once common sense in labor circles,
that direct action pays. 

FIGHTING <does not equal> WINNING

"We need to fight like our unions' lives depend on it."
It's less hyperbole and more a statement of fact every
day. That's led to more openness, with unions embracing
allies ranging from worker centers to Occupy.

But fighting is not the same as winning, and, frankly,
neither companies nor mayors and governors were
impressed enough to slow down their offensive. This year
could be called the year of the lockout.

Despite last year's uptick in struggle, not enough
unions are taking advantage of leverage they do have,
even when facing profitable employers. The Service
Employees' latest agreement with Kaiser Permanente all
but guarantees retiree health care cuts five years from
now. The Teamsters are about to open bargaining with UPS
nearly a year early-foregoing the leverage of a strike
threat.

Things are no better in the public sector, where too
many leaders and members continue to act as if they can
keep their heads down and ride out the storm.

In California this spring, most public sector union
leaders were not ready to wage an us-versus-them battle
over taxes, sandbagging a popular initiative to tax
millionaires in favor of a "shared sacrifice" tax pushed
by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown.

In the Teachers union, President Randi Weingarten keeps
trying to woo Bill Gates and other billionaires-the 1%
of the 1%-who believe they'll be the saviors of
education by demonizing teachers. 

WHERE TO TURN?

It's grim. Where should we focus?

Leverage matters. Unions should be sparking struggles
that affect large numbers of people in key positions,
like teachers, parents and students, or where workers
wield outsize economic power, as in the retail supply
chain.

Nurture the sparks, which may grow into flashpoints. We
never know what will set off a larger conflagration.
Where people are fighting back-like Station casino
workers organizing in Vegas, or Chicago teachers
readying to strike-go all out with solidarity. And work
with, educate, and learn from Occupy members.

Isolation is death. Make it a priority to make
connections outside your corner of the labor movement.
When other unions have locals at your employer, hook up
and start a council. Start a monthly breakfast of
progressive union leaders-or rank and filers-in your
city.

Make your union hall a center of community activity,
places where a multitude of causes are welcome, from
anti-foreclosure fights to environmental justice. Learn
from unions like SEIU Local 26 (see here) and share
space with groups fighting wage theft or organizing
immigrants.

When unions adopt the attitude that defending members
can't be done without lifting up everyone, we've
regained half the reputation we need to reclaim our
space at the front of the working class.

National unions aren't stepping forward, so locals must.
Don't ask for permission. Just do it. Today national
leaders are less able to or less inclined to stop you,
as the Madison teachers discovered when they struck at
the start of the Wisconsin uprising.

Aim at the true culprits. Make every fight into a fight
about the 1%. Don't let our enemies make it a narrow
battle about work rules or wages.

Make it clear that our goal is to take power out of
corporate hands. It's the perfect time to ask hard
questions about the system we're in-capitalism-and why
it's leaving so many of us further and further behind.

Understanding how things work, or don't work, is
critical to raising our sights, not just for a bigger
and better labor movement, but for a world we deserve.

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