We are seeing an increasing level of interaction between traditional labor unions and Occupy groups. I for one, see this as a decidedly positive development, but it is not without potential conflicts and problems. Today's New York Times has an interesting piece on the subject.
Occupy Movement Inspires Unions to Embrace Bold Tactics
Organized labor’s early flirtation with Occupy Wall Street is starting to get serious.
Union leaders, who were initially cautious in embracing the Occupy movement, have in recent weeks showered the protesters with help — tents, air mattresses, propane heaters and tons of food. The protesters, for their part, have joined in union marches and picket lines across the nation. About 100 protesters from Occupy Wall Street are expected to join a Teamsters picket line at the Sotheby’s auction house in Manhattan on Wednesday night to back the union in a bitter contract fight.
On the west coast locals of the port workers in the ILWU have been building closer relationships with Occupy groups in Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles. Occupy Seattle has supported the union in a local labor issue and elsewhere there have been some cooperative actions in things like foreclosure defenses. The was support by individual union members for the general strike sponsored by Occupy Oakland, but none of the unions formally endorsed it.
It is the theme of income inequality that builds the strongest bridge between the two movements. That of course has always been a basic issue for union movements. At their peak in the mid 20th C they were an effective in reducing inequality. The decline in their power has coincided with a period of rising inequality. Many of the middle class progressives who are a major force in the Occupy Movement are just waking up to income inequality and its direct impact on their lives. Two different cultures are meeting each other and they are not entirely comfortable talking to each other.
Organized labor has always been focused on being organized. The labor movement and the union movement have been synonymous. Organizing workers has always been about getting them into unions that were run under the tight control of elected representatives, negotiating contracts with employers and keeping all in order. The union forms an intermediary between the workers and the employer. Unions now represent less than 8% of the workers in the US private sector. They have been on the defensive for many years and have become a shadow of their former power.
The Occupy Movement has attracted a group of generally young people who come from a different background and tradition. Some of the core organizers are convinced anarchist who are inclined to reject hierarchical organizations with permanent leaders. The movement has been inclined to focus on broad concerns like income inequality, political corruption and the domination of the financial elite. They have shied away from making commitments to specific programs of policy and action.
From the NYT article:
“The Occupy movement has changed unions,” said Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. “You’re seeing a lot more unions wanting to be aggressive in their messaging and their activity. You’ll see more unions on the street, wanting to tap into the energy of Occupy Wall Street.”
Unions have long stuck to traditional tactics like picketing. But inspired by the Occupy protests, labor leaders are talking increasingly of mobilizing the rank and file and trying to flex their muscles through large, boisterous marches, including nationwide marches planned for Nov. 17.
Such an infusion of energy is almost certain to be beneficial to unions. However there are real questions about the future of such alliances.
Arthur Brown, a mental health worker who is one of the founders of Occupy Buffalo, where 50 people camp out each night, said the Occupy movement badly needed labor’s backing if it is to change the nation’s policies and politics.
“Young people started this movement, but they can’t finish it,” Mr. Brown said. “They don’t have the capacity or the experience to finish it. We really need the working class and union folks, the older folks, the activists from the ’60s. ’70s and ’80s, to help make this a full-fledged movement that will change the political landscape of America.”
But some Occupy protesters worry that organized labor might seek to co-opt them.
Jake Lowry, a 21-year-old college student and an Occupy participant, said: “We’re glad to have unions endorse us, but we can’t formally endorse them. We’re an autonomous group and it’s important to keep our autonomy.”
When the participants in the Occupy Movement talk about avoiding having it coopted by traditional political organizations that makes a lot of sense to me. I am inclined to think that the contribution they are making is to make the American public aware of the reality that the system is seriously broken. They won't accomplish that by campaigning for a broken system. However, building that awareness is going to require focusing on specific examples of the effects of the broken system and the impact of those effects on the lives of ordinary people. Wall Street is an abstraction. Foreclosed homes and lost jobs are not.
Small groups of people defending their occupation camps from bureaucrats and police have symbolic power. However, it will be necessary to move beyond the symbolic to the practical. Alliances with other groups and communities will be necessary to accomplish that.