Californians" lucky" to have such a good friend in Jerry Brown AFL-CIO leader tells rally. Why was she not booed off the stage?

Labor heads and Democrats ensured this went nowhere

I joined a few thousand others at the rally in Oakland Calif yesterday called by the AFL-CIO.  There were numerous rallies around the country and the main theme was "We Are One" meaning we are all with the workers of Wisconsin and other states where the right to bargain is being legislated away.  I first went to a rally at a Wells Fargo bank organized by teachers, members of the Oakland Education Association.  Our intention was to sit in inside but they closed the doors so we sat down outside them. 

I went a short distance from the bank to Frank Ogawa Plaza where the main trade Union rally was being held to see if I could get some reinforcements to come round to the bank but without success. I have to say that they are somewhat depressing affairs.  If it was the first time I had witnessed and event like this it would be different perhaps as it is only natural to be excited and impressed by a large, spirited crowd of working class people.

I should be impressed by the chants of "We are the Union, the mighty mighty Union" but I have heard it all before. Organized Labor is potentially very powerful but that power is held in check by the hierarchy. I have been on too many ineffective picket lines organized and rigidly controlled by the Labor officialdom and their army of full time staff  to not have learned a thing or two. These are not really picket lines at all designed to stop production and force the employers to concede to the workers' demands, but more like 24 hour protests. The best that can be hoped for is to convince the public to boycott and this is the strategy of the Labor officialdom; organize the consumer as opposed to those at the point of production which is what can actually win. 

This leads to a tragicomic situation where low waged workers and their supporters spend a few years picketing hotels and resorts patronized by businessmen and the corporate world imploring them to "do the right thing" and not patronize. In the event the workers are actually on strike (or in many cases locked out by the employers) two weeks of this and they're pretty demoralized as the scabs walk right on in.

We have explained on this blog what lies behind the Union hierarchy's collaboration with the employers; why in the case of the recent struggles in Wisconsin and other areas they agree to limit demands to a couple of issues that only affect them and their privileges, dues check off and the right to bargain while agreeing to all the concessions the employers demand. (check the "public sector" "Unions" and other related tags).  These issues are important to Democrats also as their foot soldiers and a lot of workers' money comes from the Trade Unions at election time.

But I have to admit that yesterday I felt a little angry at my brothers and sisters in the rank and file.  Of course, most of the rank and file of the Unions are not present at these events and there is no real attempt to get them there.  Then there are the vast majority of workers who are non union and there is no attempt to get them there as well.  To mobilize these elements you would have to be seen as waging a serious fight on their behalf.  But it is obvious to anyone if you listen to the speeches that the entire strategy is to mobilize people electorally, the Labor officials' strategy is entirely aimed at electing Democrats in to office.

Back in the 80's there were numerous attempts to change the collaborative policies of the Union hierarchy but all these strikes were defeated.  But even back then, it was almost unheard of at Union rallies to not hear chants of "No concessions" and such things.  Even back in 1984, the AFL-CIO platform called for reducing the work week.  But yesterday the main theme was to protect the right to bargain; what we bargain for is not mentioned because they have already agreed that they will hand over their members' economic livelihoods.  One of the chants included defending law enforcement and our right to be protected.  This is in a town where youth, and black youth in particular, are being  harassed on a daily basis by the police and murdered and incarcerated at alarming rates.

Liz Shuler is secretary treasurer of the AFL-CIO, organized Labor's national body in the US.  She was at the Oakland and San Francisco rallies.  This so-called workers' leader told the crowd that we in California were "fortunate" to have such a "Labor-friendly" governor in Jerry Brown.   "In California we are lucky.  We have a governor who will listen, who will bring workers to the table." she says. Jerry Brown,  is savaging workers livings standards and social services on behalf of Wall Street and the folks that caused the financial meltdown and this Labor official calls him the workers' friend.

This can be very depressing.  It is not simply that it reveals how disconnected the Labor hierarchy is from the members whose dues money pays their obscene salaries.  What is so frustrating is that she can actually say this and not be pelted with rotten eggs. There is no way in the world that Brown could be called a "Labor friendly" politician.  The reason that she can say this and not get booed off the stage is that her audience is the more conservative and better paid section of the working class.  They see their living standards declining but hope among hope that they can make it through retirement and the worst happens to someone else; it a bit selfish really.  When movements of the disenfranchised, the youth  and the mass of the US working class move in to struggle, she will not be able to say such things.

The Labor officialdom has successfully derailed what could have been the beginning of a powerful and historical movement  of the US working class. They have surprised many of us in their ability to remain atop the organized movement despite failing to produce the goods ensuring every strike and attempt by workers to change the situation ends in defeat. What is referred to as "the left" in the US must also share some responsibility as the thousands of people that consider themselves anti-capitalist or belong to one left organization or another have been unable to build any serious left current within the workers movement and the working class as a whole.

There is no doubt that the working class will fight, will overcome the obstacle of its own leadership.  It will be forced to and there are huge explosions ahead as US capitalism continues its offensive against  workers, the youth and the middle class.  These social explosions will not be led but will arise from below at the conditions forced upon us by the system.  They will contain all the contradictions and confusions that accompany great social movements only more so given the absence of a leadership armed with a clear program and strategy for resolving the crises affecting people's lives.

It is a fact borne out by history that the working class will fight and that there is a strong tendency in times like these for workers to seek class unity and overcome social division like race, gender, and religious sectarianism, that are used to divide and weaken us.

This is cause for optimism even though we will not always be able to choose the stage upon which these battles will be fought.