We are not powerless.
The phenomenon of militant workers employing bold tactics to win rights does not lie in the distant past, but is taking place right now as you read this.
The class war is not over. It is just beginning.
Those holding the political, media and economic reins from Manhattan to Washington to Dublin to Paris like to portray the declining state of workers in those societies as something as inevitable as death. Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of bond giant PIMCO, coined the term "New Normal" to characterize lower wages, high unemployment and a declining standard of living as something to be expected despite ever-increasing productivity and advancing technology.
These Masters of the Universe and their hirelings are lying. There is nothing inevitable about our political and economic circumstances because we still hold great power in our hands.
Are you too realistic and cynical to believe it? Are you expecting me to cite you some ancient history about the IWW at the turn of the last century or the CIO in the 1930s to pump up your hope?
Well, you're wrong. I'm going to tell you a tale that begins in November, 2008 and continues right up to the present moment. It takes place right here in the United States, in Chicago and Taunton, Mass, and it provides examples of personal courage, tactical canniness and class solidarity that rival any stories from John L. Lewis's coal fields or Walter Reuther's auto factories.
Republic Windows
The story begins as the neoliberal economies of the old "West" are in freefall. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are being lost every week in the United States. Among them is a small window factory in Chicago called Republic Windows. The workers sniff that something is wrong when they notice equipment being moved out of the plant. Wisely, they talk among themselves, contact their union and begin to plot a strategy.
(Important note: what follows for the next few paragraphs is drawn from an excellent 20-minute video produced by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE). The video provides a history of the Republic Windows takeoever as told by the workers and union representatives who took part. If your hope is waning, you must see this video to witness the strength, courage, wisdom and humor of these workers.)
It's a little unclear where the initiative lies. The union officials tend to portray what comes next as an idea that originates in the union bureaucracy and is supported by the workers. The workers recall it more as a spontaneous action later supported by the union. What's clear is that the rank-and-file workers are ready to take bold action, and the union bureaucracy is there ready to support them with a strong campaign fought with help from the union's political, labor, foundation and media allies.
The workers are called in by the factory's management and told that the plant is being closed. They are handed some paperwork and told to leave.
The workers refuse. They scatter around the plant to make it more difficult for security or police to remove them. Management is thrown off guard and decides to abandon the factory for the time being. The workers organize themselves to maintain the plant's equipment and provide security. On the outside, the UE is rounding up support from friends in politics, labor, community organizations and the media.
The plant's employees, a real rainbow coalition with many strong spokespersons, are determined and united. The UE cleverly exploits the excuse the company gives for closing the plant: Bank of America refuses to extend them credit to continue operating. In reality, the legal entity that owns that plant is being allowed to go bankrupt so that operations can be moved to a non-union factory elsewhere. Chicago area Congresspersons Gutierrez and Schakowsky voice their support, along with Illinois Treasurer Giannoulias. Jesse Jackson arrives at the site, delivering food for the occupiers. The UE organizes a rally outside Bank of America headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. Thousands gather outside a BoA bank in the Loop, including members of a wide and varied group of other labor unions. A young President-elect is asked about the occupation in a press conference and puts his imprimatur on the righteousness of the workers' cause.
At first, Bank of America and the shadowy management of Republic Windows hang tough, but the owners have violated the law by failing to give the required notice of the plant closing with the purpose of skipping out on required severance and vacation pay, along with health benefits. They fingered BoA as the cause, pitting the Capitalists against each other.
Who will pay? Will it be the workers as usual?
Not this time. After a couple of days of negotiation, with public awareness mounting, the workers win. They get their back pay, their vacation pay, their severance pay and their medical benefits. They vote to accept the offer, and walk out of the plant triumphantly.
But there's more. A rapidly growing window manufacturer in California, Serious Materials, buys the plant, re-employs the workers and negotiates with the union. Vice-President Biden even drops by to congratulate everybody.
Workers took direct action with the support of their union. Others saw the need/opportunity for solidarity. The workers won a victory that was very significant for them personally, and workers in general gained an example.
The UE's New Strategy and Haskon/Esterline in Taunton, Mass
Plant closings continue around the country. In Taunton, Mass, a plant now manufacturing seals for military and civilian airplanes, in existence for 80 years, was announced to be next in line for closure by its owner, Esterline, based in Washington state. Esterline is highly profitable, making $120 million even in tough 2009, and its CEO makes nearly $7 million, but it's tired of dealing with the UE that has represented the plant's workers for 60 years, so it's moving operations to non-union plants in California and Tijuana, Mexico.
The UE, in the wake of their success in representing the workers of Republic Windows, has decided to take a more aggressive stance toward plant closings. In their post-Republic Windows international convention they adopted a "Stop Plant Closings" policy statement that includes a mix of political, collective bargaining and direct action goals, including:
# Calls on locals to bargain aggressively for strong contract language to prevent or delay plant closings or product line movement and for good benefits in the case of a plant closing;
# Encourages all UE locals to develop "contingency plans" in the event of a closing, including, but not limited to, researching which political bodies have authority to exercise eminent domain and, if there is no such body, campaigning for the creation of one...
# Encourages all locals faced with a closing to analyze the circumstances of the shutdown, and to pursue whatever strategy is necessary to keep the workplace operating or provide a sufficient closing settlement for the workers, including taking private-sector workplaces by eminent domain if the owner is unwilling to sell at a fair market price to people who will keep the workplace operating
The UE is now pursuing that strategy at the Haskon/Esterline plant in Taunton.
First, the UE began collective bargaining with the company over a right to purchase in addition to the customary severance pay issues since these employees will lose their jobs with Haskon/Esterline no matter what. The company initially appeared receptive to the idea of selling the plant and its equipment, promising to give the union and the workers "first option," but when the union pressed its demands for the three months of paid healthcare required by Massachusetts law, the company turned nasty, reducing its severance offer by an amount equal to the cost of insurance and scheduling an auction to sell of the plant equipment for December 14.
The UE charged the company with "regressive bargaining" with the NLRB, a matter that still awaits hearing. At the same time, they began lobbying the Taunton city council to consider exercising eminent domain to keep the company from selling the equipment without which the workers would have no hope of keeping the plant open and preventing this from happening to where some of them have worked for more than 30 years.
The UE also mobilized public support with a April march in Taunton. Following the Republic Windows model, they tried to enlist as much political support as possible. Barnie Frank, much to his credit, actually came to the march. Frank went further and pledged an effort to get Defense Department support for providing any potential new company with contracts under a federal provision that reserves a certain percentage of defense contracts for "small business." John Kerry and even Scott Brown issued statements in support of keeping the plant open.
At first, the contacts with the Taunton council were encouraging. A majority of council members voiced support for using the city's eminent domain authority to prevent the company from selling the equipment for scrap and taking off for Mexico. The voted to obtain a legal opinion on the idea and make a final decision in two weeks. On Wednesday, however, the city solicitor weighed in with her opinion that:
I don’t think we can acquire that equipment by eminent domain," said city solicitor Jane Estey. And if the city were to do so, she said, "We could get stuck with the stuff.
(Thanks for your solidarity there, Jane. Lawyers, huh?)
The workers await a final vote from the council while they pursue "whatever strategy is necessary," as urged by the UE policy statement.
The Take
The new UE strategy is similar to that pursued by workers in Argentina and documented by Naomi Klein and her husband in their documentary, "The Take." Faced with widespread plant closings in Argentina following their neoliberal-induced financial collapse, workers seized plants to prevent the owners from selling equipment and lobbied local municipalities to use expropriation (similar to eminent domain) to put ownership of the factories in workers' hands.
The strategy was quite successful in keeping plants open and workers employed in Argentina. Naomi Klein updates the process in Argentina and worldwide here.
What will happen in Taunton? Will workers occupy the plant or take other direct action to prevent the sale of equipment? If they do, will politicians, community leaders and media be as supportive of their actions the way they were with Republic Windows workers?
More generally, these "take" strategies present some interesting questions for anti-capitalists that we could discuss in the comments.
Does using "eminent domain" violate principles of anti-authoritarians?
Should eminent domain be used in lieu of direct action or in combination with it as the Argentinian workers have done?
Which of the UE's strategies in Chicago and Taunton have worked and which have been less effective? Has too large a role been given to politicians?
A Recommendation
Feeling bereft of hope that this squeeze being put on us by the Capitalists can ever be stopped? Convinced that Americans are hopelessly seduced by propaganda to the point that they are unable to stand up for themselves?
Watch that UE video and see the faces and hear the words of the Republic Windows workers. Then watch "The Take." You'll be reminded of the strength of the human spirit.
ADDENDUM: Previous Anti-Capitalist Meetup Diaries
Go here for a complete listing of Anti-Capitalist Meetup diaries to date.