Every Crisis Is an Opportunity by Peter Rachleff

[Omaha Steve]

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/rachleff120809.html

This year's Postal Press Association Editors Conference was abuzz with discussion of the Postal Service's threats to close hundreds of' stations. Virtually every editor present knew of one or more stations at risk in her or his own jurisdiction. The wolf which has loomed at the APWU's door for years -- plant closings, job losses, disruptive excessing, economic insecurity, to be followed by the wage and benefit cuts and attacks on retirees' benefits which workers in other industries have experienced -- is now huffing and puffing for real. In my workshop, "Learning From the Past to Conquer the Challenges of Today," we discussed ways to turn this crisis into an opportunity to revitalize the union, to secure its role not only in the workplace and at the bargaining table but also in the community, and to lead the fight to preserve -- if not expand -- public service.

Our workshop revolved around three historical moments: (1) the revitalization of unions in the Great Depression era of the 1930s, using the Minneapolis teamsters as an example; (2) the incorporation and weakening of unions in World War II, the late 1940s, and 1950s; and (3) the attack on unions and their members by business's and government's turn to economic "neoliberalism" in the 1980s. We then discussed what we can learn from these historical moments that we can use in this crisis that we face now, so that we can turn it into an opportunity to rebuild the labor movement and redirect society as a whole.

The architects of the Minneapolis teamsters' struggles picked the right context in which to act. They could feel the energy and hope of working people who had organized the summer 1932 Bonus Army protest in Washington, had elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt president in November 1932, and had begun a militant unemployed movement in city upon city, demanding an end to mortgage foreclosures and evictions and an expansion of relief. In February of 1934, at the depths of a Minnesota winter, they realized that coal delivery workers could hold an upper hand over their employer. Their victory in a three-day strike sent a message to all Minneapolis workers -- that with the right strategy and tactics, workers could defeat anti-union employers.

Having decided that the time was right to act, the activists who built Local 574 from one hundred members in February of 1934 to 15,000 by August, paid particular attention to the roles of rank-and-file members, to the union's relationship with other unions and the community, and to its relationship to the government. The union asked each rank-and-file member to function as an organizer. Unionized drivers and helpers refused to allow their trucks to be loaded or unloaded at non-union warehouses, while unionized warehouse workers refused to load or unload non-union trucks. The union also reached out to other unions, offering them solidarity and receiving support in return. The Minneapolis teamsters became known for their refusal to cross picket lines, and they helped unions like the International Ladies Garment Workers win their own strikes. The union also reached out to the community, helping the unemployed organize in order to receive relief, participating in protests against foreclosures and evictions, and supporting farmers in establishing farmers' markets in the city. The union also pressed the government, at the local, state, and federal levels, to create jobs, to raise minimum wages, and to protect workers' rights to organize. Teamsters Local 574 experienced phenomenal growth not only in numbers but also in power and respect, based on the involvement of their own members, their supportive relationships with other unions and in the wider community, and their demands upon the government. Their experience typified much of what happened to American unions in the 1930s, as they grew from about two million members to fourteen million.

FULL story at link.