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On 6/13/2003 2:37:58 AM j7915 wrote:
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Hello Bob, no I am not saying that we should all join a political party. The point I am trying to get across is that at least here in Tulsa, 60% of the TWU vote for political candidates for reasons far removed from their paycheck, and then they complain that the union''s support of politicians, that the membership will not vote for, is not getting us the pay or job security we want.
None of the GOP representatives in the Oklahoma congressional delegation, and the lone Democrat have to listen to the union''s position on anything. They know that the TWU membership does not speak with an overwhelming voice for issues that are really at the heart of unionism, and our jobs.
The suprise is that the AFL-CIO is doing even as well as they are. What with the Democrats intimidated into inactivity by all the propaganda and flag waving going on.
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I spoke with Roger Taus today about the FAR 145 Memo the he put out. He said that Inhone (however its spelled) a Republican was very helpful. The point is there are Republicans that are very hostile to labor and others that are not.
If the Democrats are that easily intimidated then they need to be replaced, like our union leadership.
If we have to count on friendly Republicans instead of our own union leaders for anything positive then we need new leaders.
While I agree that the political arena is important it is not the sole means to our getting what we need. Great leaders of the past did not rely solely on passive electoral politics to make change. They went out and made the effort to sell their message to the population or used civil disobedience to appeal to the average Americans sense of fair play. Unfortunately many of todays union leaders like to use difficulties or supposed difficulties in the political arena as an excuse for their lack of action. Its a handy excuse. In the meantime they really have no motivation to lead for change, they live a comfortable existance with six figure salaries, homes in exclusive areas, free cars etc. Its easy for them to sit back an accept the status quo while writing a few speeches about how the members are at fault for not voting how they tell them to. We are supposed to be a "labor union" not just a PAC. The fact is, even if every union member did vote exactly how their leaders told them to it would not change most electoral results. Even if it did the union leaders would simply think up another excuse for their lack of action.
If unions can not even get the "goodwill" of their own members how can they expect to get the goodwill of the general population? The lack of confidence that the members have in their unions is not half as disturbing as the lack of confidence that Union leaders have in their members.
This feeling is promoted by union leaders. When I went for training I remember being told what a thankless job we have all agreed to take instead of what a priviledge we have been given.
If being a union rep is thankless then you are not doing it right.
But this mantra has a purpose. It allows the International to isolate the elected representative from the membership. It draws them into their web with the temptation being that coveted "appointment". A job with no timeclock, weekends off, holidays off , vacation and all you have to do is repeat whatever the International tells you to. Believe what ever they tell you to. Sell what they tell you to.
Reinforcement is important between these people who for the most part started off with noble intentions. This reinforcement about how undeserving and ungrateful the members are helps to ease whatever guilt they may feel as they sell out those whose money they take every week. This lack of confidence often developes into a thinly vieled contempt as was revealed to me in a discusion I had with Mike Bakala who said that the problem with the labor movement was in the weakness of the members who only knew how to take and took everything for granted. When I explained that much of what he claimed that was taken for granted was just taken away from them with the full endorsement of the union he went on to talk about how bad bankruptcy was and how he had been through it and" believe me, you dont want to go through that". At the time I was sitting in his nice office on Broadway, looking at pictures on the wall of his luxruious home and boat. I said "Well you survived, so will we but I cant see giving everything away with out a fight". I said that in conversations I''d had with former Pan Am workers most said that they wish that they had never given any concessions as it just dragged out the inevitable, in the end costing them more in lost earnings. "I told him that the leaders have failed us and thanks to them I can no longer consider this my career, its just a job, until I find something else. They had destroyed the careers of thousands of other workers as well. We have all been through layoffs but this was worse, losing the money but still providing the labor. But what do they really care? They rarely face the members, collect their six figure salaries and other perks and get to sit and look down Broadway.
