Socialists and the Labor Movement

Introduction: The unions are the only mass organizations that working people have to fight on their behalf at this point in history, and it’s crucial that they be up to the task. With the bosses waging an ever-increasingly fierce war on working people, we need a labor movement that can fight back and win. That is why we believe in working within the unions to try and win them to a class struggle program. We call for the labor movement to break from the Democratic Party and form a labor party, to uphold the principle of an injury to one is an injury to all, to adopt an internationalist perspective, to organize the unorganized, oppose government intervention in the unions, and to establish genuine rank & file control.

We’ve set up this page to report on developments in the labor movement, post articles on the lessons of past labor struggles, and explain the role that Marxists believe the working class will play in the coming revolution.

We also recommend regularly checking out the www.kclabor.org website!

Labor Movement News & Views:

Do ‘Buy American’ Schemes Save U.S. Jobs? Does "Buy American" mean "Buy Union," as many of the labor tops say? It should be obvious at the outset that the two slogans are quite contradictory, particularly in a country where a mere 7 percent of the private sector is unionized. continued

Obama & Auto Bosses Slam Chrysler, GM Workers: After the White House rejected a financial rescue plan by General Motors and Chrysler as not drastic enough, President Barack Obama put it bluntly to the automakers. To receive an additional $17.4 billion in federal bailout funds that they requested, Obama said on March 29, U.S. automakers must become "much more lean, mean and competitive." That only meant one thing—break the back of the United Auto Workers (UAW), one of the most powerful unions in the U.S. labor movement. continued

When is a Withdrawal Not Really a Withdrawal? The new U.S. administration's promised withdrawal from Iraq seems to be best described by the French term, "valse hesitation," a dance that involves constantly starting and stopping and never moving very far. In fact, some aspects of it are not real change at all but only a rose by another name. continued

Fund Workers’ Needs, Not Banks & Billionaires: As part of his plan announced March 30 to "save" GM and Chrysler, President Barack Obama demanded that autoworkers give back even more of the wages and benefits they had won from the corporations in years past. continued

Employee Free Choice Act – Pluses & Pitfalls: The trade-union movement leadership, in both the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win Federations, has been engaged in one of the largest lobbying efforts in recent memory aimed at pressuring Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). EFCA would reform labor law in order to make it easier for workers to join a union. continued

Nationalize the Banks Under Worker’s Control: Simultaneous with the announcement of his 10-year budget plan, Obama rolled out new bank bailouts. Obama announced on Feb. 26 that he was considering giving $750 billion or more to banks. And he said that $250 billion more would be held in reserve, based on a conservative estimate of what the government could lose I the course of spending that $750 billion on assets that might never regain their value. continued

Workers’ Action Program to Confront the Crisis: The liberals propose to tweak the Wall Street Bailout on behalf of the amorphous “taxpayers” living on a mythical “Main Street.” Revolutionary socialists, in contrast, start from the needs of flesh-and-blood workers, and rely on their class power to challenge ruling class attacks. continued

Archived Articles:

Obama & Auto Bosses Slam Chrysler, GM Workers

http://www.socialistaction.org/goodman26.htm

On the Chrysler Contract

http://www.socialistaction.org/goodman27.htm

Employers Use Crisis to Get Union Concessions

http://www.socialistaction.org/bernt2.htm

Boycott Stella D’oro

http://www.socialistaction.org/goodman28.htm

Working Class Paris: The Musical

http://www.socialistaction.org/caldwell-smith42.htm

Report on the May Day Protests