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The Michigan Socialist | News |
Labor News
Small struggles; large lessons
Notes on the
contract struggle at Parsec, Inc. — Part One
By MARTIN SCHREADER
Editor, the Michigan Socialist
The Organizer is the newsletter of the Workers Democracy
Caucus, a Union organization based among the membership of
National Production Workers Union, Local 707 in Detroit. |
| To view
copies of The Organizer, visit the home page of the
Detroit Socialist Party, a
local organizing committee of the
Socialist Party of Michigan. |
1. I HAVE ALWAYS been a believer in the old saying
that large things come in small packages. From my experiences, this
is as true for lessons in the class struggle as it is for anything
else.
Sometimes the small struggles and battles that
sections of the working class engage in are the best schools for
education and drawing out important lessons. They can sometimes
provide a “hot house” environment for drawing out important
principles and methods that can, with obvious modification, be
applied to larger struggles. In this sense, these small struggles
become dress rehearsals for the greater battles to come.
This was the case with the recent contract
struggle at my job. I work for Parsec, Inc., a subcontractor for
railroad companies like CSX, Canadian Pacific and Norfolk Southern.
The yard where I work has a small workforce (about 20 unionized
workers and a few non-union mechanics) and a predominantly African
American composition with a significant presence of women.
2. OUR LAST CONTRACT was a four-year deal, and a
complete sellout. For that time, we did not receive raises. Instead,
we were given an annual bonus “in lieu of raises.” The benefits were
decent, but did not have dental or vision coverage (the latter being
a must for workers forced to use computers). Some of the contract
language sounded impressive, but the Union did little or nothing to
stand up to the management and enforce it.
When it came time to negotiate a new contract,
some of the workers who had been through the last round had become
cynical and did not think much could be gained. On the other hand,
some of the newer workers had never been through the experience of
contract negotiations and were inclined to trust the Union
bureaucrats.
It was between these two groups that a core of
militants began to cohere around a basic platform of membership
control and workers’ democracy. In fact, the group took the name,
“Workers Democracy Caucus,” to emphasize that fact.
The experience of the WDC provided the first
lesson: the importance of an organized opposition. Even though the
WDC was a small caucus, its organized presence changed the framework
of the discussion that had been taking place (which was little more
than a replay of previous contract negotiations).
(For those interested in learning more about the
WDC, please contact the author via the Michigan Socialist.)
3. EVEN THOUGH OUR contract expired in
mid-December, contract negotiations did not begin until after the
New Year. In the meantime, my co-workers found themselves facing the
Christmas season with little means to give their children a happy
holiday. To make matters worse, it was about the same time that we
all learned that, if there was to be a strike, the Union could not
even begin to make up for the financial hit most of us would take.
This led the WDC to approach the Socialist Party
of Michigan for assistance. Thus, the Workers’ Defense Fund was
established. It was the WDF and the SPMI that made it possible for
my co-workers to give their kids a good Christmas. In addition, the
WDF became the nerve center for building support among other unions,
collecting money and goods that could be used to provide for workers
during a strike.
This experience provided a second important
lesson: organizing cannot be confined to a single arena or separate
from non-workplace/community activity. If the WDC had not sought to
support our brothers and sisters outside of the job, or had not
begun to build support in the community and the working class in
general, it is doubtful we could have been as moderately successful
as we were.
4. WHEN IT CAME time to discuss and finally vote
on the contract, it was a surprisingly open and democratic
discussion — even if the arguments of the Union bureaucracy at times
sunk to the lowest levels, including threats against members of the
WDC by the bureaucrats and management.
The first vote by the membership on the contract
was historic. For the first time in its 17-year history, the
membership voted down a proposed contract and sent it back for
continued negotiation. The membership had listened to and read the
arguments, and voted according to their beliefs.
The week after the vote was a real roller-coaster.
There was not a day during that week when I did not receive a phone
call from the CEO of Parsec, Inc., either pleading with or
threatening me (sometimes in the same breath). The Union officials
were no different, alternating between threats and appeals for
workers to approve the contract.
Ultimately, the membership decided to accept the
deal, with the understanding that WDC members would maintain their
opposition stance. The reason was that it was mutually understood
that more organization and preparation were needed to take on all
the forces aligned against us (which included the Big Three
automakers).
In this sense, the document signed was less of a
contract and more of a “cease-fire” between the Union and Parsec.
5. THIS PERIOD OFFERED the most lessons. Far from
what we are often told by both labor “experts” and their left-wing
appendages, workers employed by subcontractors are (or can be) just
as militant, and can learn just as much, as their more
“aristocratic” brothers and sisters.
As well, workers do not need to be “led” as much
as offered a guide to self-action; the workers often raised their
voices in opposition to management and the Union officials without
members of the WDC even being present.
But, for me, the most valuable lesson learned was
the importance of a working-class leadership.
That is, if working people are going to be freed
from the shackles of wage slavery, it is going to be the workers
themselves that do it — not a circle of “enlightened” leftists or
some other “leadership team” from outside the working class.
In the next issue of the Michigan Socialist,
we will continue this discussion by looking at how these lessons
apply to future struggles |
