Dockworkers Threaten East Coast Strike, Reject West Coast Deal

Bloody Thursday, San Francisco, West Cost Ports Strike, 1934

Dockworkers from Massachusetts to Texas are threatening to strike on Sunday, in what would be the first East Coast port shut down since 1977, a two-month work stoppage that cost retailers billions of dollars (see New York Times). The threat has so worried the corporate bosses that they are demanding Obama block the strike by invoking the Taft-Hartley Act, as Bush did in 2002 to end a West Coast port strike.

The anti-labor Taft-Hartley Act, which passed in 1947, banned the General Strike, solidarity or sympathy strikes, and secondary boycotts. It prohibited closed union shops and opened the door to “right-to-work” legislation. President Truman, whose veto was overridden, called it an “intrusion on free speech.” The law also permits the president to obtain a strike-breaking injunction by claiming that national security is threatened by the strike, which is what corporate leaders want Obama to do.

Many believe that Obama will resist these demands because of his supposed strong ties to the labor movement, pointing to his hands off response to the recent Chicago teachers strike as evidence. However, Obama did not need to intervene in Chicago. His crony Rahm Emanuel applied plenty of pressure on the union, including the threat of obtaining an injunction against the strike. Furthermore, the AFT has consistently served Obama votes (also see here), stymied strikes and brokered sellout contract deals (also see here) that have shoved his corporate “reform” policies down the throats of teachers. The contract that the Chicago Teachers Union finally accepted was no doubt due in part to pressure from Randi Weingarten and the AFT, which had urged the Chicago Teachers Union to avoid striking in the first place and which refused to support the teachers with strike pay.

The ports strike is substantially different than the Chicago teachers strike. Most significantly, a shutdown of the schools has very modest and tangential impacts on profits, while a port shut down is projected to cost retailers millions of dollars a day and Obama’s allegiance to capital is far stronger than his ties with labor. Retailers and other corporate leaders are further fanning the flames by claiming that a port shut down could devastate the economy, particularly in conjunction with the tax increases and spending cuts that will come with the fiscal cliff or any compromises to avert it.

The East Coast dock workers, who belong to the International Longshoremen’s Association (in contrast to their fellow workers on the West Coast, who belong to the ILWU), had been in contract negotiations for nine months, before talks fell apart on December 18. One of the main sticking points is “container royalty payments,” which the shipping companies want to freeze for current employees and eliminate for future employees. These payments averaged $15,000 per employee last year. Aside from the fact that this would lead to stagnation in take-home pay, it would also hurt long-term organizing efforts and solidarity by driving a wedge between old-timers and new members.

While long shore unions are seen by many as among the strongest in the country, they have been losing membership over the past 50 years just like most other unions. These jobs have been lost primarily because of automation. New Jersey and New York employed 35,000 longshoremen in the 1960s and today the number has dwindled to 3,500. They are also far less militant than they were in the 1930s, when the ILWU emerged on the West Coast in the wake of a bloody 83-day strike that killed several longshoremen. 

Engraved Billy Club from Battle of Smith Cove, Seattle (image from Wikipedia)

Meanwhile, on the West Coast, the ILWU voted Monday by 93.8% to reject the Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association “last, best and final” offer. The grain handlers association now plans to lock out the dockworkers and bring in scabs. The Oregonian reports that the owners of Portland, Vancouver and Puget Sound terminals have spent months preparing for a battle on the waterfront, “lining up troops and assets like chess pieces.”

The West Coast grain terminals implementing the lockout handle 25% of the U.S. grain and 50% of its wheat exports, according to the WSWS. Their owners are demanding the same concessions made by the ILWU in Longview, Washington to the EGT (Export Grain Terminal). The EGT contract was a pretty mediocre deal for the Longview dockworkers, particularly in light of the brutality and repression they suffered by police during their struggle. However, the recent vote indicates that the rest of the West Coast dockworkers are unwilling to accept such losses to workplace rights and working conditions.

Detroit Wild Cat Strike Shuts Down 2 School Districts

They say Michigan’s new Right to Work (RTW) law is now a done deal. That didn’t stop thousands of teachers and other union members from taking the day off to protest at the state capital this week. In Detroit, so many teachers called in sick that two school districts, (Taylor Public Schools and Warren Consolidated Schools), were closed for the day, according to Detroit News. Detroit Public Schools (DPS) remained open, though Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) President Keith Johnson did urge members to go to Lansing.

The state’s new RTW bills would make it illegal to require employees to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of employment. This would significantly reduce unions’ ability to raise funds to support their members, while allowing freeloaders to reap the benefits of union-negotiated contracts without providing any material support for this service. RTW states have lower wages and lower union membership than other states.

Pundits and many union activists are accepting the new RTW laws as a fait accompli. However, the fact that two unions were able to easily shut down their districts with wild cat sick outs demonstrates the power teachers and other workers actually have to force a reversal of the laws. While it may be illegal for teachers to strike in this situation, the law cannot stop teachers from exercising their rights to take days off for medical or personal necessities. Such actions can be organized informally and done on a rotating basis (i.e., rolling sick outs) to minimize the loss of individual sick days, while maximizing the impact.

On the other hand, workers need to get over their fear of breaking the law. Civil disobedience has a long and important history in this country, especially in the labor movement. Strikes and unions have both been illegal in the past, but workers still formed unions and continued to engage in job actions, often getting arrested and beaten in the process, and occasionally getting killed or deported. Breaking unjust laws (e.g., any restriction on the right to strike) in the name of improving personal and collective liberties, as well as working and living conditions, is both necessary and just.

Class War: A National Wave of Anti-Worker Repression

Across the nation the attacks on workers is growing, and it’s not just by Republicans, either. The ruling class smells blood and fear and is getting cockier each day. As Walker and others strip away collective bargaining rights and other union protections, the mainstream union leadership has all but given up, telling workers to go back to work and not to make any trouble. This is exactly the kind of message that riles up the rich for further attacks. They can see that their prey is weak and unwilling to resist. They recognize that the time is ripe to go for the jugular.

The Republicans are preparing to destroy unions entirely. They hate unions’ ability to negotiate higher wages, which cuts into profits. They also hate unions’ ability to raise large sums of money for their Democratic allies. The Republican goal is the destruction of unions and the Democratic Party. The Democrats, on the other hand, desperately need unions and their resources and votes, but they, too, want to see a decline in the power at the workplace. The Democrats, after all, are also part of the ruling elite. They too have large investments on Wall Street, successful law partnerships and appointments on boards.

Partial Rundown of State Attacks on Labor

• Arizona has several bills on the table that will lead to a virtual police state for workers. SB 1350 blocks public employees from being a member or officer of any committee of any political party or running for office. HB 2367 bans collective bargaining entirely, including wages and applies to all public workers, including public safety employees (i.e., cops). SB 1363 outlaws all opposition to corporate abuses, including pollution or safety violations, by banning picketing, mass assembly and secondary boycotts. SB 1563 prohibits sickouts, work to rule or any other job actions that could slow down profits or services.
• In California, Republicans are refusing to allow a measure onto the June ballot that would extend regressive taxes unless the legislature slashes public employee pensions. In order to make it onto the ballot, Gov. Brown needs two-thirds of lawmakers to approve it, something that will not occur without some Republican support. Even if the measure does make it onto the ballot and is approved by voters, Brown still plans to slash $500 million each from the UC and CSU university systems, $400 million from community colleges, $1.5 bilion from Cal-Works (welfare-to-work program) and $1.7 billion from Medi-Cal, which will result in a lot of people losing their jobs and health care. (If the tax extensions don’t pass, an additional $5 billion may be cut from K-12 education).
• Connecticut has legislation pending that would block binding arbitration from awarding raises whenever unemployment is more than 7%. A sister bill would tie these raises to the Consumer Price Index. Gov. Molloy is collaborating with unions to freeze wages, add furloughs, and cut health benefits.
• Florida’s SB 830 would prohibit automatic dues check-offs by unions, thus starving them of resources and limiting their ability to organize (which is what they should be doing) as well as lobby (which is what they’re spending most of the money on). HB 7005 slashes unemployment benefits. Gov. Rick Scott also plans to fire 8,100 state employees.
• Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal plans to fire 14,000 state workers and slash K-12 spending by 5.6% and university spending by 10%, resulting in additional job losses for teachers and professors.
• Hawaii passed a law preventing unions from negotiating employer contributions to health care. They also have pending bills that would increase employee contributions to health and pensions, and one that would kill Medicare Plan B reimbursements for retired government workers.
• Indiana is trying to pass “right to work (for less)” legislation.
• Michigan is pushing a new law that would allow the governor to dissolve local governments and school boards and rip up existing workers’ contracts when he decides they are in financial trouble.
• Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton wants to slash state employee pay by 6% and is eliminating subsidized health care for 7,200 poor adults.
• Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman is demanding freezes in state employee pay and education spending.  He would also slash Medicaid and punish anyone who tries to use it without being gainfully employed.
• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wants to increase state employee contributions to their health plan by 30% and double their contributions to their retirement plans.
• Ohio’s SB 5 would end collective bargaining for public sector workers.
• Pennylvania is cutting $1 billion from K-12 education and $600 million from their university system and freezing state employee pay. Gov. Corbett also wants to freeze teacher pay. 1,500 state workers will lose their jobs, as will countless teachers and university professors. Thousands will also lose health coverage under his budget plan.
• In Tennessee, SB 1033 criminalizes all forms of union or employee opposition to corporations. Another bill prevents workers and their unions from donating to political parties and candidates. SB 1032 bans strikes and all other forms of job actions, including work to rule and other “slow down” tactics. The punishment for those who break this law would be fined $1,000 per day and any union representing those workers would lose its right to collect dues for the entire state. Other pending bills would block teachers from negotiating working conditions.
• Texas plans to slash education spending to 23% below their own state-mandated levels, and fire up to 100,000 teachers.
• Washington has bills pending that would amend their Constitution to allow pay cuts for public officials during an economic crisis. Gov. Gregoire plans to cut $1 billion from education.
• Collective bargaining for public sector workers is being attacked through legislation in Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.

Beating ‘Right to Work (For Less)’

Labor Victory (image by HarryStaab)

The wave of government attacks on unions that has been growing across the country has the ultimate goal of abolishing unions entirely. Unions drive up wages for workers, which is a good thing, but it pisses off bosses to no end. Unions are also major contributors to the Democratic Party, which pisses of Republicans (and a lot of bosses) to no end, too. One of the tactics being used to destroy unions is to enact “Right To Work” legislation, more aptly named “Right To (Work For Less”) because it has the tendency to drive down wages by making it harder for unions to organize and maintain membership and to collect dues from existing members.

In a remarkable victory for workers in 1978, the National Right-To-Work Committee’s Missouri initiative was defeated by a 3-2 margin. Missouri Republicans have been at it again, trying to put together new “Right to Work (For Less)” legislation last year. 12 other states are also threatening to pass similar anti-union and anti-worker legislation.

In a recent piece in Labor Notes, Jerry Tucker, one of the organizers who helped defeat Missouri’s 1978 attempt at Right to Work (For Less), discusses some of the lessons from that campaign. I’ve included just a few excerpts, with my commentary in italics:

“Missouri in 1978 looked like a good target for the “right-to-work” forces. An industrial union stronghold with many characteristics of a Southern state, a RTW victory there could have a domino effect. Missouri would put organized labor’s unity and power to the test. Initial polls showed RTW passing by a 2-1 majority, and even union members were 51 percent in favor. State labor officials favored a legal strategy, and had no plan to reach union members—much less the communities beyond labor. We had to turn that around.”

It is significant that RTW seemed initially to be a done deal. The mainstream union bosses today are much too quick to look at data like this and accept it as a fait accompli, rather than buckling down for the tough fight. The fact that so much of the public today seems to be buying the anti-union rhetoric and jumping onto the anti-public sector worker bandwagon is very similar to the fact that 51% of Missouri’s unionized workers initially supported RTW. When overwhelmed by propaganda from the bosses, it is sometimes difficult see the truth buried underneath.

“The United Labor Committee, a statewide body with representatives from the AFL-CIO, UAW, Teamsters, and Mine Workers, raised $2.5 million to run the campaign against right to work. Twice the committee requested donations from member unions equivalent to 50 cents per member. Some unions asked locals or internationals to cover the donation. Some, like the UAW, went directly to the membership—which had important benefits. Members were educated about the campaign and gained a personal stake once they reached into their own pockets.”

Similar fundraising efforts may need to be replicated today. However, with a much smaller percentage of the workforce currently unionized, this will be much less effective than in 1978. The face to face meetings with members was probably much more significant than the actual money collected as it has the potential to amplify the message each time a member learns the facts and gets inspired to be more active. One of the most efficient uses of limited union funds today is to train and mobilize large cadres of organizers who can go out and meet with workers face to face, including non-unionized workers, whose support is desperately needed in all fights for labor rights, wages and benefits.

“Rank-and-file unionists were the mainstay of the campaign. In fact, some couldn’t seem to do enough, and at the outset thought their leaders weren’t doing enough. While the labor committee was still ramping up, members were acting on their own. They set up meetings, visited the merchants with whom they did business, painted signs on their cars, and worked the polls. . . New member organizing spiked upward for several years afterward.”

The last line here is important. Getting workers excited and motivated is key to winning a campaign. Keeping that energy going after the campaign has ended is always a challenge. People want to go back to their lives. They may feel burned out. They often believe that their activist work is done. Right now, there are so many attacks on workers that it is crucial to build up the excitement and mobilize workers to fight these attacks. The energy is certainly growing, especially in states where Republican governors have made explicit threats (e.g., Wisconsin, Ohio, Idaho, Indiana, Tennessee). These threats are still looming. There have not yet been any decisive victories for workers (except, perhaps in Illinois, where legislation to ban public sector workers from striking was withdrawn). So the struggles must continue.

What if we win? What happens next? Will we allow all that excitement and energy to wane and then wait for the next attacks? A much smarter strategy would be to start making long-term plans and looking at bigger, more impressive goals. The short-term strategy must obviously be to protect our rights to strike and collectively bargain, but it should also include protection of wages and benefit. No more one step forward and two steps back. Medium term goals must include recruiting more workers into unions and building union strength back up to its previous levels (or higher). Once we defeat the local anti-union initiatives, non-union workers will see the power and benefits of being in a union, while those who were active in the struggles will feel empowered and feel motivated to help in the organizing.

Medium-term goals should also include fighting for improvements in living standards. Each year the productivity of American workers increases, while profits soar, yet our living standards have steadily declined and the wealth gap has increased. We should demand higher wages, much higher, combined with higher taxes for the rich, not only to erase the budget deficits, but to turn them into surpluses that can be used to fund education, health and social services.

Long-term goals should include fighting for an end to poverty, and to wealth, as well as an end to bosses and to wage slavery itself. We should be organizing for shorter workdays and longer vacations and weekends. We should be fighting for universal health care, housing and food, an economy that prioritizes human needs, not bosses’ greed.