Among vast portions of the labour aristocracy, solidarity is replaced with a stasi-like defence of the status quo; loyalty is redefined to mean blind allegiance to the governing officialdom, rather than to the dues paying membership and their constitution; and workplace and union democracy is no longer a goal, but a potentially treasonous nuisance. To enforce these redefined “values” the bureaucracy purges non-conforming ideas and individuals in a swift, coordinated and merciless way. Not the kind of modus operandi folks like me signed up for. Definitely not the kind that is capable, in its current state, of building a better world.
These are just the internal symptoms or mechanisms, if you will, by which the workers' army finds itself today, for the most part, in utter denial of the severity and urgency of the threat to working people, our democracy, and our world. This is how they manage to remain virtually silent against the ever- encroaching corporatist police-state, bankster control of our economies, the violations of our civil liberties, and the intensifying wars of aggression, while desperately clinging to electoral parties that will do little more than further enforce the status quo, hopefully sparing some space or security for the labour bureaucracy that supports the party most.
Sadly, this is not the story of just one union. Over the past 20 years I have been a member, activist, leader, national and international union representative in six private and public sector trade unions and I can solidly say that the sun is about to set on the labour movement unless the people take back their unions, specifically their centralized labour bureaucracies. Occupy them.
Everybody knows that union density and power has been on a steady decline for the past 30 years. Like a fighter past his prime, we spend alot of time remembering and reminding others our past battles and achievements – the eight hour work day, employment insurance, and social security to name a few.
Trade union policy papers endlessly blame this decline on the severity of the neo-liberal attack on the social welfare state, unions and workers' rights and encourage ways to address this by supporting progressive politicians, organizing the unorganized and encouraging young workers to “get involved”.
While these external forces are formidable, they do not answer the question of what role the union bureaucracy or officialdom itself plays in facilitating this orderly march backwards of the very people they are charged with the responsibility to represent and whose interests they are compelled to advance. Wasn’t it Canadian Labour Congress President Bob White who said: “You don’t need a union to help you march backwards”?
The alternative is to Occupy our labour bureaucracies. There are many good leaders and fighters besieged within its web, as well as battalions of researchers and lawyers who for too long have had their work substituted for real struggle. Resurrect this standing army of the working-class by holding its leaders accountable. The good ones will applaud and welcome you. The ones that have got to go will organize against you. Steer the troops away from its tragic path towards a future independent of the agenda of the elites, of their electoral parties, open to all types of ideas of alternative economies and sustainable ways of living, committed to direct democracy and the working class values of community, mutual support and protection.
There is no need to organize a formal opposition. Just speak the truth, do right by your principles, represent your membership with all you've got, and you will find yourself surrounded, as though by magic, with many powerful opponents inside and outside the union. It is in this way that you will discover your allies, as well.
Wherever possible, unleash the power and creativity of the membership and reach out to the public with the basic assumption that everyone is a potential ally. We are, after all, the 99%. Solidarity is a living thing. If you don't occupy it, it dies and so will our hope for a better world. Read More>>>
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