Labor rally kicks off organizing
Million Worker March set for October
Special to Workers World
San Francisco
Can labor organize an independent mass
mobilization to address the broad range of problems facing the
multinational working class here? Though many hurdles need to
be overcome, the answer being given is a resounding "Yes!"
On Feb. 26, Local 10 of the Inter na tional Longshore and
Warehouse Union (ILWU) in San Francisco proposed a bold
initiative: a Million Worker March on Washington. This plucky
union is well-known nationally for its leading role in class
warfare and in struggles against U.S. imperialist wars. The
leaders have educated, organized and defended their rank and
file in a period of unprecedented hostility from Washington and
Wall Street.
The local union passed a resolution that the call be
forwarded to "unions, labor councils and labor organizations,
as well as other organizations to which workers belong whether
organized or not, so they can take similar action to organize
this march as soon as possible." At a kickoff rally here on May
22, they set the date for the march: Oct. 16.
The May 22 rally sent a strong message that it was time to
take the road of independent class struggle and break labor's
traditional ties to the Democratic Party. Clarence Thomas, an
executive board mem ber of ILWU Local 10 and a nationally known
African-American trade union leader, issued an appeal to
support the Million Worker March: "This is a Call to working
people to unite and mobilize around our own agenda. For the
past decade we have been subject to an unrestrained corporate
assault. This is the moment, this is the time for us to advance
our own demands, our own needs and to proclaim a political
agenda in our own vital interests." He and Trent Willis,
another member of Local 10 ILWU, chaired the rally.
Thomas recently returned from a fact-finding contact with
Iraqi workers and unions who are besieged under the brutal U.S.
military occupation. He attacked the occupation and appealed to
the U.S. labor movement to support these sisters and
brothers.
The rally of around 250 participants represented a diverse
group, primarily trade union leaders from many parts of the
country. From New York, Brenda Stokely--a leader in AFSCME
District 1707, a nationally known African-American woman and a
strong opponent of the Iraq war--gave a passionate and
uplifting talk.
Chris Silvera, secretary treasurer of Teamsters Local 808 in
Long Island City, N.Y., and chairperson of the Teamsters'
National Black Caucus, reflected the sentiment of the rally.
"Now you can sit around and wait for Kerry to do something. But
we are going to Washington to shake the house. We need to take
back our country, take back our rights and rip up the Patriot
Act."
Among the many speakers was Walter Johnson, secretary
treasurer of the San Francisco Central Labor Council. The base
of support for the project so far is the West Coast labor
movement, including undocumented representatives such as the
San Francisco Day Laborer Program, community organizations and
anti-war representatives.
Individual endorsers included long-time fighters for civil
rights and in the anti-war struggle like Dick Gregory, Danny
Glover and Casey Kasem. Orga nizers from Baltimore, St. Louis,
Los Angeles, New York, Charleston, S.C., Cleve land and seven
other cities agreed to set up centers to build the march.
The labor councils of Charleston, S.C., and five other
cities around the country endorsed the proposal.
A call to the rank and file
This call comes at a most opportune time. It is an appeal to
the rank and file, to the disfranchised, the oppressed who
labor in the fields, the factories, the mines and the offices.
It is a reminder that they have a collective power, a power in
numbers that can resist the relentless assault on their living
conditions.
It is a call to action against the banks and bosses, led by
President George W. Bush, who has written off the workers,
organized and unorganized.
The Wall Street Journal had gloated on Jan. 23 that
"Membership has been in decline since the Reagan years, but the
latest report shows a more dramatic fall than usual ... Unions
don't seem to have the allure that they once did, especially
for younger workers ... All of which must depress John Sweeney
who took over the AFL-CIO some years ago promising organizing
... [The] shrinking labor movement has lost clout in the real
economy."
The gloating is generated by the overall growth of profits
resulting from layoffs, downsizing of wages and benefits,
privatizing and outsourcing, which continue unabated without
significant resistance. For 1,488 companies tracked by Dow
Jones & Co., net income in the first quarter was $159.2
billion, up 23 percent from the first quarter of 2003. (Wall
Street Journal, May 28)
These corporate profits are achieved on the backs of the
workers, especially through increased productivity, two-tier
concessionary contracts and reduced wages and benefits. In the
race to the bottom that generates these huge profits, the top
leaders of the official labor movement have so far shown
neither an independent policy nor a strategy of action to
rescue the besieged sisters and brothers.
Workers restless over reliance on Democrats
The failure of AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and his
executive board to mobilize the rank and file to fight for a
substantial piece of the exorbitant profits has set a bad
example for both the organized and unorganized, who are
searching for a way out of the many horrors deluging them.
The Sweeney leadership is tied to the program of the
Democratic Party and Sen. John Kerry. However, there is growing
concern among the rank and file--who are still supporting the
AFL-CIO's "anybody but Bush" pro-Kerry campaign--that it
ignores their issues and concerns. Swee ney has shown no
inclination to criticize Kerry or demand that he represent
labor's needs.
Recently, Kerry failed to show up for a critical Senate vote
on the extension of unemployment benefits, a life-and-death
issue for the millions who have exhausted them. It needed 60
votes to pass. The amend ment failed by one vote. Kerry knew it
would be close but decided it was more important to continue on
the campaign trail, posturing as the champion of the people and
lauding the virtues of his differences with Bush.
The Democratic Party is nothing more than a "loyal
opposition" to the self-serving, openly pro-big-business
Republican Party. The election campaigns of the two capitalist
parties show an interest only in getting votes, spending
hundreds of millions of dollars to outdo each other and
bedazzle the people with ads, television commercials and
monopolized media expo sure. Neither candidate can solve the
crisis of imperialist wars for markets and profits or the
relentless drive to exploit the workers and oppressed here.
Once again, the workers and the oppres sed face the choice
of a lesser of two evils.
In the United States today over 13 million workers, coming
from many different nationalities, are organized into 66
affiliated unions. They are primarily low-paid and
service-oriented. Many are women. There are differences among
the AFL-CIO officials on a number of issues. Can this immense
rank and file pressure the more progressive wing of the
leadership to support the Million Worker March on
Washington?
The May 22 kickoff rally here ended with a Mission
Statement: "Why will we be marching on Washington? Only our own
independent mobilization of working people across America can
open the way to addressing our needs and our agenda."
History has confirmed over and over again that all profound
social, economic and political change starts from below. The
Million Worker March on Washing ton is a beginning--a
significant step in building a movement of multinational
workers and oppressed nationalities in a classwide, independent
struggle that can generate a genuine, anti-capitalist
fightback.
Reprinted from the June 10, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
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