Taken from Talking Points Memo Rosenfeld’s latest contribution to this here book club is especially timely. For the past few weeks, the liberal commentariat has been having one of its perennial debates over whether the labor movement is dying and, if so, whether we should mourn its passing. This particular iteration of the old back-and-forth was kicked off by Bloomberg View columnist Evan Soltas, who argued that American unions are as good as dead and that’s pretty much okay. According to Soltas, the primary function of unions is to promote the narrow interests of their dues-paying members and “provide a […]
Mar
11
Tribute to Bob Crow
The Trade Union Left Forum is saddened by the death of Bob Crow, and wishes to express its condolences to his family, and to the members of the RMT and workers more generally, which he led with such ability, courage and dedication. He showed clear principled leadership to his members, defending and advancing there interests and that of our class. Under his leadership, membership of the RMT increased by more than 20,000 embracing workers ranging from seafarers and rail staff to cleaners. He was admired by large sections of the British working class. Bob stood out among trade union leaders […]
Feb
19
Defend public wealth: resist privatisation
“We have to get beyond sectoral interests and look at the common good, to defend the very idea of social ownership as an alternative to the anarchy and chaos of corporate monopoly capitalism.”—Extract from the TULF’s pamphlet Robbing the People’s Wealth. This January the Trade Union Left Forum met in the TEEU offices and agreed to launch a campaign in defence of public wealth and opposition to privatisation. Members and activists from a range of unions, public and private-sector, shared their experiences of the scale of privatisation that is under way and the loss to the public of valuable assets […]
Feb
16
Solidarity – More Than Just Support
What is solidarity? The dictionary definition online said “mutual support within a group”. Not very dramatic, rousing, or uplifting I agree. But it is still one of the most important, yet sadly underused, tools of the trade union movement. A prime example of the need for solidarity is what was happening in Ireland coming up to the Christmas period, regarding the media portrayal of the ESB workers and their then-threatened strike action. They were being labelled as “selfish”, “greedy”, “holding the country to ransom”, just because they were standing up and fighting for their rights to reclaim the pension deficit […]
Feb
15
Professional and Industrial Organizing Scores Banner Year
“You heard a common theme from many of our speakers – if we stand still, we die. If we don’t change what’s not working, then we are condemning ourselves to a slow death.” – President Edwin D. Hill at the 38th International Convention, Vancouver 2011 Change. It’s inevitable. But progress comes only through perseverance, doubling down and refining your efforts. This year, organizing in the professional and industrial sector — comprised of utilities, telecommunications, manufacturing, government, broadcasting and railroad — has helped thousands of workers raise their voices for fair pay, decent benefits and the added dignity that comes on […]
Feb
11
National Wage Control or Union Won Increases?
It seems that IBEC and the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) are both calling for some kind of new centralised national wage/income agreement to control pay, as some would put it, in the ‘national interest’. The two leading figures from these organisations (Danny McCoy and Kieran Mulvey respectively) have all in recent weeks made noises about the possibility of a national agreement between union, employers and the Government on pay and income with the Sunday Business Post going as far as suggesting informal discussions have already commenced on this. Is this signs of a tip in class power or is this […]
Feb
07
A Communist Vision of Trade Unions: A Review
Review of Toni Gilpin, “Left by Themselves: A History of the United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers Union, 1938-1955” Volumes I and II (Ph.D dss., Yale University, 1992) From 1947 until 1955, Local 236 of the United Farm Equipment and Metal Workers Union (FE) at the International Harvester company’s plant in Louisville, Kentucky, exemplified a union run according to the Communist vision of trade unionism. One of its officers, an African-American, James Wright, who subsequently served as an organizer for the United Electrical Workers (UE) and still later as a regional director of the United Automobile Workers (UAW), called the […]
Jan
20
Calling all Electricians NATIONAL STRIKE February 2014
Please click on the Download button below to view the leaflet.
Jan
13
The only option is class struggle
In March 2013, Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, spoke at a conference held in Chicago. His remarks were on the plight of working people in the USA and the continued inability of the labor movement to gain new members and reverse its downward trend. In preparation for the AFL-CIO convention in September 2013, the top leadership has issued a call for a discussion on what they have termed, “new models and new ways to gain representation and represent workers.” Trumka detailed some of the major problems facing unions and working people which included a declining membership, reduced retirement security, […]
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