A New Union Movement and Anti-Racism
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- Published on Thursday, 13 August 2015 22:30
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1153 .... August 14, 2015
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A New Union Movement and Anti-Racism
Interview with Michael Yates
Michael Yates is an economist, labour educator and activist, editor of the magazine Monthly Review, and author of Why Unions Matter among many books. In this interview he talks about the crisis of the labour movement, its relationship with the anti-racist movement, FightFor15 and much more. He was interviewed by Juan Cruz Ferre for the LeftVoice.org website, where it was first published.
Juan Cruz Ferre (JCF): In the latest edition of your book, Why Unions Matter (2009), you depict a grim situation of the labour movement in the U.S.; record-low unionization rates and the reluctance of union leadership to engage in class-warfare were some of the main features. Has this scenario changed at all since then?... Do you see any signs of labour movement revitalization?
Michael Yates (MY): In terms of the willingness of labour leaders – AFL-CIO officials and those at the top of individual unions – to engage in class-struggle unionism, the answer is no, the situation today is similar to that in 2009. These people often talk a good game, but their actions belie their words. Strikes are extremely rare, and concession bargaining is still common. Allegiance to the Democratic Party is still the rule, no matter how anti-labour the Democrats are. The issues that would indicate a shift to a more class-conscious unionism would be bargaining shorter hours, weakening of management rights clauses, an end to no-strike agreements, control over the labour process, and the like. A commitment to union democracy and labour education would be essential, but this seems unlikely. As does an abandonment of the mindless patriotism so common in labour circles. Of course, there are exceptions, and we read about these in Labor Notes and in the essays of people like Steve Early. There are militant locals in unions and even a couple of national unions give us hope, such as the United Electrical Workers.