Monday, July 25, 2005
Daddy Was A Union Man...
Well, not really. But I'm of two minds about the impending schism in the American labor movement.
The Teamsters and SEIU have some very good points about the decline of membership in unions, and the seeming indifference to this 300-pound gorilla shown by the leadership of the AFL-CIO. However, I think that abandoning the political aims of the group in favor of organization as the only goal shows a great myopia about the current political attitude towards labor.
Living in Tennessee and working in Georgia have pretty much shown me the face of Union-hostile America. There are active unions in the area, to be sure, but new employees and young employees have grown up hearing about how corrupt unions are, and have been fed that line by politician after politician who is in bed with corporate interests.
In the end, a schism seems unnecessary, but hotheaded union people, especially Teamsters and SEIU folks, have a way of going off the deep end. My own views on the SEIU are skewed from when I was spammed (and really, phished, wince they used the college logo) by them over and over and over when they stole the alumni e-mail list of my college. They were trying to organize the part time grad students and shame the college for using non-union steelworkers on some sub-sub contract. When I sent an e-mail to SEIU asking them to take me off of their list, I got an angry e-mail back from someone accusing me of "abandoning my school loyalty for corporate greed" and other choice words.
So, anyway: The issues need to be addressed, but a schism won't help the situation at all.
The Teamsters and SEIU have some very good points about the decline of membership in unions, and the seeming indifference to this 300-pound gorilla shown by the leadership of the AFL-CIO. However, I think that abandoning the political aims of the group in favor of organization as the only goal shows a great myopia about the current political attitude towards labor.
Living in Tennessee and working in Georgia have pretty much shown me the face of Union-hostile America. There are active unions in the area, to be sure, but new employees and young employees have grown up hearing about how corrupt unions are, and have been fed that line by politician after politician who is in bed with corporate interests.
In the end, a schism seems unnecessary, but hotheaded union people, especially Teamsters and SEIU folks, have a way of going off the deep end. My own views on the SEIU are skewed from when I was spammed (and really, phished, wince they used the college logo) by them over and over and over when they stole the alumni e-mail list of my college. They were trying to organize the part time grad students and shame the college for using non-union steelworkers on some sub-sub contract. When I sent an e-mail to SEIU asking them to take me off of their list, I got an angry e-mail back from someone accusing me of "abandoning my school loyalty for corporate greed" and other choice words.
So, anyway: The issues need to be addressed, but a schism won't help the situation at all.
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