Marx on Unions

Knights of Labor

Knights of LaborFormed as a semi-secret society in 1869. Did not admit unproductive bankers, lawyers, doctors, stockholders, gamblers, liquor dealersBecame a public organization in 1879, more directly involved in union activitiesAdmitted women (Mother Jones), blacks and unskilled laborOver 1 million members by 1886, wins several successful railroad strikesDecline: Haymarket Riot, Failed strikes after Pinkerton and militia repression, AFL woos away skilled workers

International Workers of the WorldIWW (Wobblies)Founded in 1905, organized textile workers, migrant farmworkers, lumber workers, Industrial unionism, faith in the rank and file rather than leadershipFree speech campaignsThe general StrikeCrippling Repression, especially after their opposition to WWI and during the red scare that followed

From the IWW CharterThe working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life. Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the Earth. ... Instead of the conservative motto, 'A fair day's wage for a fair day's work', we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, 'Abolition of the wage system.' It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism.[4]

American Federation of Labor(AFL)Founded in 1886 Samuel Gompers 1886-94, 1895-1924Craft Unionism, skilled workersConservative unionism plain and simpleWorks for the best deal for workers within the systemNo support for a labor (or other) partiesInstead.."reward your friends and punish your enemies"

American Exceptionalism

1. Working Class Divisions: Immigration, Race2. Liberal Culture3. Early Extension of Voting Rights4.No Feudalism5. Employer/State Resistance**Radicals crushed: Knights of Labor /IWW

U.S Union Membership as % of the Workforce

Union Membership (in millions)

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) 1935-1955Industrial vs. Craft UnionismSignificantly more militant than the CIO, with a large left (including communist) presenceSit Down strikesMajor victories: auto, steel, rubber, longshoremen

The Wagner Act (1935)

1. Explicitly guaranteed the right to join a union

2. Required employers to bargain with recognized unions

3. Allowed a majority vote of employees to empower a union to negotiate for all employees

4. Created the National Labor Relations Board to enforce these rules and to supervise elections.

The Taft-Hartley Act (1948)1. Allows the president to order a 60 day cooling off period before a strike.2. Allows right to work laws 3. Bans the Closed Shop (Only union members hired)4. Bans secondary strikes and sympathy boycotts..5. Allows for court injunctions against mass picketing6. Holds national unions liable for the actions of their members (such as wildcat strikes breaking a contract) 7. McCarthyism-hits union radicals hard (many of whom are, in fact, communists.) Particularly aimed at radicals in the CIO.

Voss and FantasiaRelational AnalysisMaterial Conditions:

The System of Rules Governing Unions

The Balance of Power between Workers and EmployersType of Person:

Bureaucrat, Strongman, Militant

Symbolic:

The Place of Unions in the Public Imagination

Special Interest or Social JusticeConsumer or Worker

Business/Push Button UnionismMaterial Negotiation and Enforcement of Long-Term ContractsGrievance resolution based on legalistic contract languageFocus on servicing existing union membership-- Cooperative relationship with employers-- Distance from the Rank and File-- Antiradicalism

Type of Person: Bureaucrat or Strongman

Symbolic Unions as special interests

Labor and the Cold WarFunded by USIA USAIDAmerican Institute for Free labor Development in Latin America (AIFLD), Asia-American Free Labor InstituteAfrican American Labor Center.

1983 National Endowment for Democracy Labor, Business, Republican and Democratic Parties

In the 1980s, roughly half of the AFL-CIOs budget came from the state department.

InterventionGuatemala 1954Chile 1973Central America 1980s Kissinger-KirklandSouth Africa Buthelezi, Attempts to undercut anti apartheid Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the rest of the liberation movement.

Solidarity Poland

Support for conservative, sometimes pro-business unionsAttempts to undercut their more leftist rivals

What happened?

Corporate Counter AttackEmployee Based Welfare StateGlobalization

Corporate CounterattackNumber of Decertification Elections 1969 2931975 5161983 922

Number of Labor Violations1970 10,0001975 16,0001982 32,000

Number Fired for Union Activity1970 8,0001975 11,0001982 18,000

The unsustainability of the private welfare state: Healthcare cost per vehicle

GlobalizationU.S.--from 1950-1990international trade went from 9% to 25% of U.S. GNP

Foreign Direct Investment from 5% of U.S. GDP in 1970 to 30% in 2000

10,000 Pontiac LeMans Early 1990s3,000 to South Korea for labor and assembly1,750 to Japan for advanced components750 to Germany for styling and design engineering400 to Taiwan for small components250 to Britain for advertising and marketing services50 to Ireland and Barbados for data processing

Leaving about 3,800 to U.S inputs

Impact of GlobalizationExit and Threat of Exit Maytag Galesburg

Heightened competitionInvestors finally got news from Maytag that they can cheer today: The home appliance maker said it was going to close a facility in Galesburg Illinois and lay off 1,600 workers, or about 8% of its total staff. The announcement sent shares of Maytag soaring by more than 7%. What Wall Street liked is that Maytag is finally moving its production to a low cost country....

Social Movement Unionism1. Organize from the bottom up2. Rely on Corporate Campaigns3. Willing to look beyond routine NLRB path to recognition4. Strong Orientation to Social Justice5. Creative and Innovative in Style 6. Self-Expanding Sees actions as part of a long term process

What might this mean in practice? You are trying to organize janitors