From October to December: A union update

A recent article on this site analyzed the recent period in the US that many were calling Striketober. (https://internationalsocialism.net/beyond-striketober-the-class-struggle-today) The purpose of today’s piece is to look at developments since then. The first point to be made is that there are considerably fewer players on the field than there were in October. Most importantly, the large contract at Kaiser-Permanente has now been ratified. (The only unit that didn’t vote to approve the contract was the 1,600 strong California pharmacists’ division.) In addition, the 200,000 member postal workers union has a tentative agreement with the post office.

The strikes of Reno bus drivers, Cabell medical staff, and Sunshine home health care workers in Connecticut are now over. The contract remains open for 14,000 Kroger grocery store workers in Houston but no strike has taken place there. So, December is a quieter month than October for the labor movement. However there have been two important developments: the contract rejection and continuing strike at Kellogg’s and the magnificent victory of the democracy movement in the United Auto Workers referendum.

Strike continues at Kellogg’s

On December 5, Kellogg’s workers voted overwhelmingly to reject the tentative agreement that had been reached with the company and, therefore, the two month old strike continues. The multi-tier wage structure is the central issue in dispute. The company has proposed lifting the current 30% ceiling on the number of lower-tier workers. This obviously raises the possibility of a large increase in the number of workers who will be paid less and receive inferior benefits. Union members rightly see this issue as a line in the sand. They are fighting for the future of all those workers yet to come in the industry.

Management is digging in. They are hiring permanent replacement scabs to take the workers’ job. Scabs arrive at the plant in twice daily convoys of tinted window coaches accompanied by an escort of security SUVs. The small picket lines have not been able to prevent this. Interestingly, Biden issued a statement deploring the hiring of the permanent replacements. This is tactical posturing based on his desire to appear as a friend of labor and “working families”. The company does not appear to have been very intimidated by the President’s statement.

The Kellogg workers are facing a tough fight. The limited number of pickets face a difficult winter as temperatures drop. The holidays are always a hard time to be on strike. The community and other unions have been generous with solidarity gifts of food and supplies. This important work needs to be continued.

Victory for right to vote in the autoworkers’ union

Labor won a sorely needed victory in the court-ordered referendum on direct election of officers in the UAW. The central leadership has been embroiled in a seemingly never-ending succession of corruption scandals. Two former presidents are even currently behind bars.

In this context, the Justice Department ordered a membership referendum on the procedures for electing the President and other key officers. The choice was either the current practice of the convention delegates electing the leadership or to move to direct membership voting. The rank and file opposition caucus, Unite All Workers For Democracy (UAWD), waged a vigorous campaign for one member one vote.

The results were clear and unambiguous. There were 140,586 votes cast. 89, 615 were for one member, one vote and 50,971 for the delegate voting system. This is a real defeat for the Administrative Caucus that has run the union for years. The results are only one example of the leadership’s loss of credibility and authority. The repeated rejection of tentative agreements at Volvo and John Deere are other examples of this situation.

The UAWD is now confronted with a complex situation within the union as the Justice Department and union leadership maneuver over necessary new procedures. The UAW has never had direct election of officers, so there’s a mass of new constitutional and electoral practices to be worked out.

The UAWD victory has a happy twin in the Teamsters Union. The reform forces of the O’Brien/Zuckerman slate defeated the heirs of the Hoffa dynasty in the November election. The new leadership will take office in March. They have pledged to take a much harder line against management, especially in the major 2023 UPS negotiations.

The opposition is not resting, waiting for the March leadership transition. Teamster for a Democratic Union has been discussing strategy in the new situation with its members and supporters. They recently held two highly successful fundraising and discussion meetings in Chicago and New York.

There were about 45 people at the Chicago meeting, divided roughly equally between Teamsters and their supporters in other unions. Prominent activists from Unite All Workers for Democracy, the Chicago Teachers Union, and the SEIU were there. Several thousand dollars were collected. The main theme of the meeting was probably the point made by Sean O’Brien in his stump speech, “If we’re negotiating discounted contracts and we’re negotiating lousy deals, why would any member, anyone, want to join the Teamsters union?”

Union democracy crucial in rebuilding the labor movement

This means that workers will only turn to the labor movement if they see our movement positively changing their daily lives. Therefore, the key to future organizing is taking a hard line against management and showing workers what the labor movement is capable of.

This is the way in which the three themes of this article, management’s hard line in negotiations, the use of the tier pay structure to weaken the working class, and the importance of union democracy, all come together. The American working class and its unions are fighting uphill battles. Many times, the union leadership takes a collaborationist stance towards management. This means that class struggle oppositions need to be built. These oppositions can only move forward if the union is democratic. Union democracy, therefore, is a crucial part of righting the ship of the labor movement. That’s the way the Teamsters and UAW victories help the Kellogg’s workers and all those resisting management today.