What's your opinion of pending union split?

[prolesunited]

Poll question: What's your opinion of pending union split?

Unions to boycott AFL-CIO
Teamsters, others break ranks before Chicago talks

In a mark of organized labor's badly broken solidarity, four major unions Sunday said they would boycott the AFL-CIO's constitutional convention in Chicago, and three appear poised to bolt the federation that has loosely bound most of the nation's unions together.

Officials from the 1.3 million-member Teamsters and the 1.8 million-member Service Employees International Union, the AFL-CIO's largest union and the spark behind the reform-minded rebellion, said they would meet Monday and announce their plans.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0507250164jul25,1,2440889.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

More stories here:
http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&gl=us&ncl=http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/World/GG26Wd09.html


I know there are a lot of important issues on the table right now, but I think we really need to be paying attention to this. With workers actually losing ground on wages and benefit, how is this fragmentation going to play out?

Overall, what's your opinion of unions? What do you think should be done to strengthen their role?

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Obviously, the union tactic of the past 30 years has not worked.

If a split is needed to re-invigorate the union movement, so be it.

We can't afford to continue to fight using the corporatists' tools -- they have the money, they don't have the votes. The answer to that is build up union membership, use the solid voting block of the unions and give up on the lobbying.

[napi21]

2. Agreed! I don't know exactly what's going on inside the uniont,

but something has to change to invigorate the union membership!

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. absolutely

[quisp]

4. unfortunately unions are viewed as

corrupt and as bad or worse than corporations.

I hope a split will force labor to get back to organizing workers.

[unrepuke]

5. I used to belong to the Teamsters here in L.A. They never did

much for us. Were hand in hand with management, not with us workers. Corrupt? You betcha!

[Bluzmann57]

6. Please do not judge all Unions by the Teamsters

Hoffa endorsed bush in 2000. That is all you need to know about the Teamsters Union. Nothing at all against my brothers and sisters who are rank and file members, but the leadership of that Union should be changed.

[mntleo2]

13. I think He is Saying Corrupt

...meaning that they care more about managment than they do their workers. I have seen that too. Look I came from WOBBLY people. I learned the songs, I listened to the talk I heard "Unions right or wrong!" I walked the walk for many years with unions. Yeah right UNION rights, not worker's rights. Now I am one who says I am for WORKERS rights, not unions rights.

Unions need something to make them understand they should go back to their roots and care for their workers more than they do for a bunch of corporate whores who would step on their own grandmothers if it got them more money in their bank accounts. Unions cannot have presidents who are golfing buddies with corrupt labor hating presidents, like Sweenie is with Bush. They cannot help with coups against legally elected presidents like Sweenie did for Bush against Chavez in VZ.

Chavez said the oil profits should go to all VZs because their nation's resources should go to all the people, not just some foriegn international cabal. Sweenie helped install a oil CEO in Chavez' place during the coup, btw. How coincidental....The AFL-CIO said the VZ workers were "too radical" because the workers revolted for the crappy treatment and pay they got. What the hell???? Too radical??? They should have talked to Jimmy Smith my long dead WOBBLY friend. He would have told them what was "too radical" all right! He refused to back down, he saw radical, he was radical until the day he died, THAT is radical. In the 1980's when not many people were looking or caring about labor issues, Jimmy was in his 90's and I saw him at the Federal Building in Seattle carrying a sign about justice for all workers. He predicted if we did not keep watch the corrosion of worker's rights would happen and he was right. He said we would be back to square one and he was right. A lot of people went about shaking their heads at Jimmy and thinking he was someone who would "never be happy". No, Jimmy was ahead of his time. Jimmy knew from his past what the future held. THAT is radical. God!

I do think Chavez is not all there in some ways, but Chavez was elected democratically by over 60% of the people. To see a union leader participate in such undemocratic behavior is disgusting and it points to the way unions have been really thinking behind closed doors about their paying constituents as well. They pretend to care about democracy, but in reality they would prefer to take it all for themselves and sell the shop to make sure at least they keep theirs ~ damn everyone else. BTW Z magazine wrote about this whole VZ thing and Sweenie almost 4 years ago.

I am sad about the unions split, but I saw it coming and I am hoping it will wake some idiots up especially unions officials who seem to think the union exists to accomodate them, not for them to represent others. Since they stand in between the worker and the law often, they need to get off their fat butts and get to work for their constituents. There are no more tomorrows now. they forgot what their job was supposed to be about. This stuff will happen if you forget what your job is.

My two cents worth

Cat In Seattle

[prolesunited]

17. Thanks for your response

and welcome to DU. :hi:

[Habibi]

7. I say yea

Let the "dissidents" (as they were called on NPR this morning) work to bring in more union members. That's key, imo. And let the AFL-CIO folks do their politicking. Disparate goals don't make for a very effective organization; let each faction do what it is most passionate about.

[jzodda]

8. Split Right ON!!

Its about freaking time

The union movement is almost DEAD in this country. Time to burn down the house and start to rebuild something new from the ashes. What good has the unions done for the average worker in the last 20 years? NOTHING

Most workers today are not even protected anymore.

[Lefty48197]

15. You have GOT to be kidding

Union members earn much more money than their non-union counterparts. The union wages also pull up the wages of non-union workers around them. Therefore, the unions have raised the wages of workers, union and non-union alike.

[kevsand]

9. This split will not accomplish anything.

You've all been sold a bill of goods. This isn't a revolution, it's just another naked power struggle between two equally corrupt egomaniacs. Anyone who's willing to put down the kool aid should read this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4185521

[jzodda]

11. Wow very good article

Very interesting read.....

I take back what I orginally posted as its obvious I didnt know what I was talking about :)

I posted that mostly in anger at the fact that Unions are so weak in this current society

[two gun sid]

10. I think it will be the death of the two Unions leaving ...

the AFL-CIO. I wish they would stay and work for the change they want inside the AFL-CIO structure. I think Teamsters and SEIU are selling their rank and file membership to the Repugs.

[Tommymac]

12. The Stern Unions (splitting off) want to donate to Rethugs?

:wtf:

Look at what happened to the Log Cabin Repubs if you want to see the viablility of the "joining them to reform from the inside" strategy...it's a loser.

[ArkDem]

14. Basically, the government worker unions (NEA and the like)

have taken over the AFL-CIO. The decisions they make are at odds with the private sector unions. SPLIT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Lone_Wolf]

16. I think it is a good thing...

You can bet that the Average Joe Union Worker is going to look at how hard his union fights (whther it is the Teamsters or the AFL-CIO) and compare it to the other. People will want their union to be under the umbrella of the federation that fights the hardest.

It would be nice to see the IWW have more of a presence in the US. We could learn a thing or two from organized labor in other parts of the world. In general, American unions are not as strong as their counterparts in other countries. No doubt this is because of the hostility the US government has had for unions. For instance, the CIA probably recruited the Mafia to hijacked organized labor in the US. In this arrangement, The Mafia got rich, it kept Socialism out of the US, and unions got a bum rap for being crooked.

[prolesunited]

18. Frankly, I'm surprised by the number in favor of this is so high

I certainly hope it works out. In awhile, I'll go find the article in the Progressive by Barbara Einrich in which she lays out some interesting strategies for growth.