An analysis piece from Workers Power..........

[socialist_n_TN]

on alternative labor organizations. It's about half my writing and about half another comrade, with collective editing. It's long, but I think it's a good read and it deals with a subject that not too many people have heard of. I think this might be the first Marxist analysis of this phenomena in the US.

http://www.workerspower.net/alternative-labor-organizations-on-the-rise-the-complications-and-the-promise

[mike_c]

1. reading now, but I wanted to say that the first thing that comes to mind...

...is the nascent but growing living wage movement in my community, which emerged in response to Walmart opening a store here paying poverty wages to employees. They approached our Central Labor Council for an endorsement of a ballot initiative, which we happily gave them. While their specific target is big box retailers moving into the community like Walmart, Target, and so on, they've begun to focus attention throughout the community upon poverty wages amid corporate profits and the predatory management practices that foster the creation of low wage, no benefit McJobs.

on edit-- I thoroughly enjoyed your article. Thanks for posting it.

You reminded me that one reason my own union is so dynamic and, for want of a better term, "not stuffy" is that there are few class distinctions within the membership. It's an academic professionals union-- we represent California State University professors. We work hard to obscure any class distinctions associated with academic ranks, and the union leadership is very much drawn from the rank and file. And if there's a progressive union anywhere on the planet, it'll be made up of academics, LOL. We fight hard for our members and for our students.

[socialist_n_TN]

2. Thanks for reading mike and thanks for the kind words.........

One thing we tried to bring out in the article was how much more unrestricted these orgs are compared to regular unions. That's why they are important. Until Taft-Hartley is repealed, unions and, by extension, the entire working class will be hamstrung. These guys don't have the same restrictions against political and solidarity strikes as regular unions do. They just have to muster the will and the organization.

Academic unions are great, especially for the times we live in now, but as a Marxist I feel we've got to go beyond academia and into the working class as a whole for raising consciousness. People actually expect academic unions to be "left" whereas the UAW for instance, is still the "business union" model. When those types of unions take a left turn on a consistent basis, THEN workers will start making some noise and progress against the capitalist aggression.

Another advantage of these ALOs is especially important IMO and that's the fact of their "industrial" union model. IOW, no craft lines to interfere with solidarity. That's also an advantage that the UAW has too. But no matter what the advantage IS, you have to be able to use it AS an advantage.

Thanks again mike and keep on keeping on with the union you're affiliated with. The more organized we ALL are, the better chance we have of fighting back and I think that academic unions are the point of the spear of the working class as far as raising consciousness. And at this point in time, raising consciousness is job one.

[PETRUS]

3. Bookmarking for later - thanks for posting. nt

[ctsnowman]

4. Bookmarked for later.