File spoon-archives/aut-op-sy.archive/aut-op-sy_1997/97-03-10.164, message 33


Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 06:10:32 -0500 (EST)
From: Gerald Levy <glevy-AT-pratt.edu>
Subject: Re: Fw: Heat & Bulldust (from Jeremy, ASF Melb)


Jeremy wrote:

> When I ring them up and complain that the heat agreement is being
> flouted they  make sympathetic noises and promise to"get onto the
> company" etc. But a measure of union office's alienation from the
> members is that so far as I  know I haven't persuaded one other worker
> that it is worth 40 cents to
> ring them and explain what is happening."Union,company, all the same"
> people say....and no, this is not the voice of militant syndicalism but
> the voice of apathy and despair. In situations like at Holden, where
> such grass rooots organisation as exists is simply too weak, I see little
> alternative to working with the union. If we had a strong
> anarcho-syndicalist movement it might be different. Admittedly we can
> expect little from the reformist union, but we should make sure we get
> that little.

A few (perhaps too general) thoughts:

This in many ways is a common situation for radicals -- i.e. the
combination of "labor-management cooperation" by the union and "apathy and
despair" from the ranks makes effective trade union organizing and
solidarity something that has to be _re-disovered_ by the membership. That
is, they must re-learn the meaning of solidarity. Yet, the dilemma for
militants, is: what can be done given the above context?

Ultimately, an effective heat agreement will only be won as a result of
solidarity -- rather than unilateral action by the union "leaders." But,
_building_ solidarity can be a difficult process.

My best advice would be for you to seek out other militants at your job
and try to get them together to discuss and strategize about what can be
done. Perhaps, if there is some basic agreement on strategy, an "affinity
group" of sorts could be formed that could put pressure on both management
and the union both in terms of possible actions within the factory and
outside of it.

Jerry



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