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From the Sept/Oct 2003 issue of UDR #148
Student labor activists support union democracy
By Andy
Piascik
Meeting at their annual gathering in New York City in August, members
of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) voted overwhelmingly to support
movements for union democracy. "In a great many unions," the
resolution states, "rank 'n file workers are fighting for stronger
democratic practices within their organizations....Union democracy activists
promote member participation, freedom of speech, and free elections so
that union members can shape and steer the direction of their unions.
USAS recognizes that the labor movement will be stronger when it is democratically
controlled by workers."
The resolution continues: "Therefore we resolve
to make efforts to build stronger alliances with those organizations fighting
for a more democratic labor movement...such as, but not limited to Teamsters
for a Democratic Union, [UAW]New Directions, Labor Notes, the Association
for Union Democracy, etc. We will aim to give these and other organizations
greater opportunities to participate in USAS conferences and gatherings
with the hope of forging lasting bonds between our organization and the
union democracy movement."
Members of USAS, a five-year old organization which has
had chapters at over 200 colleges, have become more aware of workers problems
within unions. Formed by college students in support of workers who produce
hats, T-shirts, and other apparel that bear university logos, USAS helped
create production standards enforced by an industry monitor. USAS has
been involved in living wage campaigns in support of workers on their
campuses. Early on, a close relationship was established between USAS,
UNITE, and several other unions, notably HERE and SEIU. USAS receives
most of its financial support from unions.
The resolution reflects the dissatisfaction of some USAS
members with its serving as a recruiting ground for unions with top-down,
undemocratic strategies. USAS members are drawn to the labor movement
because of their concern for workers rights. But, according to a leading
USAS activist at the University of Wisconsin, upon graduation, some USAS
members have taken union staff jobs and become apologists for, even participants
in, such undemocratic methods. Thus, the union democracy resolution.
The conference included a panel on "Building Democratic
Unions." The speakers were rank and file activists: Christine Karatnytsky,
a member of AFSCME Local 1930, working for reform in DC 37; Josh Fraidstern,
of Rank and File Advocate in TWU Local 100; and Miguel Maldonado, a former
SEIU staffer in Philadelphia who was fired after a local trusteeship was
imposed by the national union. The panel was the first at a national USAS
venue to feature union democracy activists.
A copy of the USAS resolution is available from AUD.
For
the USAS
website
More resources
on the New Unity Partnership of SEIU, UNITE-HERE, LIUNA and the UBCJA:
Local
509 asks questions about democracy in the SEIU
New
Unity Partnership:Sweeney Critics would bureaucratize to organize.
Service Employees: Mass. merger
in Local 888.
Benson's Union
Democracy blog.
Student
Labor Activists support union democracy.
SEIU's Unite
to Win blog promotes discussion of their Proposals for New Strength, and
related issues and plans.
Articles
on the Labor Notes site on NUP from various sources.
See
UDR articles on the Carpenters (UBCJA) for case
studies in merger and bureaucratization.
Several articles on the New Unity Partnership are available on the BC
Carpenters website.
Find articles on the consolidation
of power in the Carpenters union on the main UDR page.
An exchange
on union democracy between Herman Benson and Steve Fraser, on the Laborers.org
website (click on Fraser's name for a link to his article)
Links to rank-and-file websites in the NUP unions: Carpenters,
Hotel and Restaurant Employees,
Laborers, Needle
Trades (UNITE), Service Employees (building
services, public employees).
Father
Haggerty's "Wheel of Fortune" -- the original grand sectoral plan
for the IWW.
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