Since the mid-1930s, when
U.S. labor unions won legal recognition, the capitalist class has
generally accepted their right to exist. They have always worked hard
to prevent union organizing, weaken existing unions, and destroy
individual unions. But they opted for the gradual erosion of union
power, rather than a full-on frontal assault to eradicate labor
unions as a whole—which they knew could spark a potentially radical
backlash from U.S. workers.
Until now. Acting as a
vanguard force for the ruling class as a whole, right-wing
governors—many associated with the Tea Party movement—have
launched precisely this type of frontal assault. And, as they feared,
it provoked in Wisconsin the most sustained working-class fight-back
in recent memory. It has set the stage for a new round of
life-and-death battles for organized labor.
It would be cliché at
this point to call it a “critical time” for labor. Since
deindustrialization began in earnest in the 1970s, the PATCO defeat
of 1981, and the non-stop employer offensive of the past three
decades, labor has been in crisis. Unions and their supporters long
ago declared that organized labor “is at a crossroads”—so much
so that terms like these no longer carry a punch.
Union density, the
percentage of workers in unions, is at the lowest point in modern
history. With only 7 percent of workers in the private sector
unionized, government employees—37 percent unionized—have
increasingly become the face of organized labor. While many states,
especially in the South, forbid public unions, in the places where
unionization was won, these unions were able to build significant
bases of power and withstand the anti-labor trend.
But, as Gov. Scott Walker
admitted on a prank call—that was recorded and distributed across
the Internet—in Wisconsin he very consciously “dropped the bomb”
on public unions and organized labor more generally. Referencing
Ronald Reagan’s firing of the air traffic controllers as “one of
the most defining moments of his political career,” Walker
explained, “This is our time to change the course of history.” On
the prank call, in which Walker believed he was talking to
billionaire Tea Party funder David Koch, he explained his level of
coordination with anti-union politicians elsewhere: “I talk to
[Gov. John] Kasich every day. John’s gotta stand firm in Ohio [with
legislation that recently banned collective bargaining there]. I
think we could do the same thing with Vic Scott in Florida. I think
[Gov. Rick] Snyder, if he got a little more support, probably could
do that in Michigan.”
The battles to save public
workers’ rights to collectively bargain in Ohio, Indiana and
Wisconsin are just the tip of a nationwide onslaught against
government employees, from teachers to sanitation workers, social
workers, hospital employees, and clerical workers. Where unions’
right to exist is not under direct threat, they are being told to
accept severe concessions in wages, benefits and pensions.
In spite of the right-wing
assault, the situation is not all doom-and-gloom. For a long time,
labor supporters and commentators have predicted a revived labor
movement that would be forced to fight—if only to preserve its own
existence. While we are not quite there yet, the inspiring occupation
of the Wisconsin Capitol, organized principally by students and
rank-and-file union members, has stirred labor unions everywhere.
There is not yet a clear strategy to show the way forward, but
Wisconsin has shown that workers are willing and ready to struggle.
For a whole generation of workers who have never witnessed a strike,
let alone participated in one, this is indeed a promising sign.
That is what makes this
May Day, International Workers’ Day, especially important. At a
moment when labor is searching for strategies to withstand capital’s
offensive, dealing with internal divisions, and needing to project an
alternative vision besides a future of cutbacks and growing
inequality, May Day is an opportunity to show workers’ unity and
collective power. It is a time for labor to show its real diversity
as a representative and fighter for the country’s multinational
working class, unionized or not.
In 2006, Rep. Jim
Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, a close friend of Gov. Scott Walker,
attempted a similar frontal assault on the immigrant community. On
May Day that year, millions of immigrant workers walked off their
jobs in opposition to the racist bill, and to demand they be treated
with dignity. It signaled a new era for the U.S. labor movement.
These marches were not only the largest coordinated protests in U.S.
history, but the most significant workers’ actions—tantamount to
a political strike—to take place in decades.
Much of the labor movement
responded admirably to these developments, and in key cities played a
central role in supporting the immigrant rights protests. In the
1980s and 1990s, as de-industrialization and the growth of the
service sector remade the landscape of the U.S. workforce, the
leadership of organized labor became more diverse, and it officially
broke from its long traditions of anti-immigrant nativism. In the
mass marches of 2006, the marriage of the immigrant rights movement
and labor was finally consummated. It was this relationship that
brought labor unions back into May Day—a truly historic development
given the day’s radical traditions and associations.
The relationship between
the immigrant movement and labor, like all relationships, is not
without problems. But it is critical for radicals to preserve this
unity, and fight for it, as neither movement can succeed without the
other. They are natural allies.
The main weakness of the
immigrant rights movement in 2006 was not internal—it demonstrated
a tremendous capacity to mobilize millions. Its weakness was in the
overall passivity of the broader non-immigrant U.S. working class,
which did not take action in large measure to support the immigrant
rights movement. Had there been broader working-class actions,
immigration reform would have been passed within a week. Organized
labor, despite its weaknesses, provides the largest organizations of
our class, and is uniquely positioned to serve as a bridge to
non-immigrant workers.
A primary weakness of the
U.S. labor movement is that it is portrayed as a “special
interest,” only concerned about its formal membership, and uncaring
about the plight of low-wage, unorganized workers. By standing
side-by-side with the most vulnerable strata of the U.S. working
class on May Day, labor can show how wrong this depiction really is.
Labor is against the
wall right now. May 1st must be a day to rally to its defense, and
strengthen the fight for a united working class.
