Ron Gettelfinger is on CNN at the moment pleading for the government to help the auto industry. He is painting a picture of complete devastation if the Congress doesn't act. He is stirring up protectionist sentiment comparing the incentives "foreign" companies got here. He attacks the government for doing this and abandoning the big three that are the "backbone" of this country. And that if this is not done one or more of the big three could go under by the end of the year.
He talks of "us" meaning the employers and the workers, the Team Concept again. He is making a good argument like all employers would, he is a good ally. Inaction is not an option he says, but he doesn't raise an option that is independent of the capitalist class and that doesn't guarantee the auto investors their profits.
There is no talk of nationalization, even under a capitalist economy, never mind workers control and management in a democratically planned socialist one. He argues for a loan to get "us" the auto industry through this economy, ignoring the cuts and savage attacks that will follow as they will not be attacks on him. He says nothing about the fact that they have just handed billions to bankers. CNN is giving him a lot of time to make the employer's argument and to appeal to workers that if they don't support the bosses getting this money all will be lost, it will be a catastrophe is the word that comes to mind and that has been thrown around. Given this, it is most likely auto workers in particular will support this as they see no other way and no other way is offered, only a solution within the framework of capitalism and that will help survive the very same people who have savaged his members with his help for year.
This crisis has proved that the resources are there and that the capitalist class has forfeited their right to run the auto industry and the economy as a whole.
During the Seattle general strike workers ran that city for a week until it was crushed though a combination of the employers and the Union leaders. But this is an important piece of working class history as it is a glimpse of how workers can run society. Hospitals were run by those that worked in them. Collection of garbage was managed by the workers and the docks were completely controlled by a worker's committee. The Seattle general strike showed us an example of worker's rule, a sort of workers council in a way, and reveals what an alternative social system can look like; the minutes from that committee that ran the docks can still be read. See Jeremy Brecher's book, Strike.
This is history they don't want us to read, our history.
3 comments:
First of all, this blog rocks!
Now on to this:
"There is no talk of nationalization, even under a capitalist economy, never mind workers control and management in a democratically planned socialist one."
BINGO, BINGO, BINGO!! I've been saying this until I'm blue in the face. I'd support any bailout that would erase the big three's management from the face of the earth and install true workers' committees to give meaningful input into the way things should be done. At the very least, the government could benevolently seize and nationalize the big three, fire their entire management staffs and bring in experienced, competent, perhaps retired execs from both the US and around the world, on a contract basis under strict oversight, to set things right.
As it stands, Gettelfinger is using his employees like hostages much like a famous WWI propaganda poster - he's figuratively holding the entire workforce with a knife to their throats in front of Congress and asking 'how much will you give for them?'
It's all so shameful and sick. Gettelfinger understands, of course that whatever happens to the company's employees is really of small import to him. If worse comes to worse, he and his family are still set for life and will not have to worry ever about a roof over their heads or where their next meal will come from or how they will pay the doctor's bill.
The United Auto Workers was once a great powerful and proud union. In the 1930's it took on and defeated GM and the big auto companies and forced them to accept that the workers could unionize and to give better wages and conditions. They did this by mass direct action, surrounding and occupying the plants and mobilizing the rest of the working class in support.
But look where it has come to today.It is humiliating. The leader of this union, Gettelfinger, is up on Capital Hill begging, yes begging, not demanding, but begging along with the Auto bosses for a loan from Congress. Instead of shaming his members in this way he should be touring every auto plant in the country and internationally, organizing mass meetings, proposing a strategy for go slows, occupations and nationalization of the auto and auto supply industry industry. He should be organizing in plant committees and linking these together and organizing these internationally and linking them together.
On the front page of the Wall Street Journal today there was a photo which showed what comes of the policies of the union leaders such as Gettelfinger. It showed a group of retired UAW workers in Detroit standing at their meeting praying for the economy, yes praying, not organizing, praying.
The union leaders policies have de-activated the union membership. They end up thinking that all they can do is pray. The bosses organize politically and organizationally to make sure their policies are carried out. They fire workers from their jobs and where necessary they physically beat and even kill workers to get their class interests carried out. But what do the labour leaders do? They go along with the bosses and help them beg and they get their union members to pray that things will get better.
We need to call things by their right name. The role of the union leaders is cowardly and hopeless. They will never win the workers needs in this way. These policies and these leaders must be rejected.
But also we have to address the union members honestly. Praying for the economy to improve is utterly useless. As is waiting for the union leaders to act. You the rank and file must recognize that things will only change if you take action yourself. This means a change in your way of thinking and acting.
We propose building hands of our Jobs/wages/benefits committees in every workplace and union local and section. We propose linking these up. We propose building these nationally and internationally and linking these up. In this way we can build a powerful independent working class fighting force. We propose that this movement would carry out the mass direct action methods that were used in the 1930's to build the UAW and to win concessions from the bosses, that is mass mobilization, go slows, occupations, and these to be carried out internationally.
Not begging but organizing.
Not praying but fighting.
I read this morning that the charade played in congress over whether to bail out the auto industry bosses or not is almost over.
They will return to the issue after Thanksgiving and the auto execs will have to show them a plan that is "viable" in order to get money. "Until they show us a plan we cannot show them the money" says Nancy Pelosi, the billionaire politician who was born in to money and married more.
But was is a viable plan? They all agree, including the UAW head Ron Gettelfinger, that the big three needs to be more competitive, needs to "streamline". These are death sentence terms for workers.
In the same week, the Mexican government is announcing that its workers need to be more competitive.
So the conditions of the bailout are based on one criteria only: Can you streamline the company so it can compete on the world market and make profit?
This will mean further job losses and attacks on the living standards of those that remain.
A real solution would be to end the ownership of this industry (transportation) by a private clique and for transportation and the resources needed for it to be owned and managed by workers in that industry and the society as a whole.
The little game played by the two parties of capital stress the need for us to build a mass workers party that can challenge the dictatorship that the two parties of big business have over US political life.
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