Unite All Workers for Democracy, the reform caucus in the United Auto Workers, just won sweeping victories in leadership elections. Now they’re looking to transform the UAW, one of the largest unions in the country, into a democratic fighting machine.
As worker organizing deepens the crisis of the corporatist regime, opportunities open to build a democratic labor regime. The question is whether the resources will be available to support a massive organizing campaign by independent Mexican labor.
There are Contrasting Visions of Unionism Up for Leadership.
About 4000 people will be attending this years Labor Notes conference.
One of Mike’s major contributions was a critical examination of closely linked employer strategies that swept the country in the 1980s and 1990s: lean production, the team concept, and labor-management participation schemes.
It’s the first time in almost a quarter-century that a coalition backed by Teamsters for a Democratic Union has taken the driver’s seat in the international union.
In the auto industry, where most UAW members work, many are frustrated with years of concessionary contracts that have allowed automakers to build a two-tier workforce, with the number of temporary and lower-paid workers ballooning.
What could a labor radical with a doctorate in Marxian economics accomplish in the neoliberal “stop and frisk,” Bloomberg administration? The answer: reform policies he advocated, recalibrating poverty to the benefit of the poor, remain policy today.
Too often, leaders magnify the voices of a very small group of members... This reality reflects significant weaknesses in unions and their organizing practices, and illustrates how shallow and limited our understanding of democracy is.
More important, the agreement calls for a vote of all 400,000 members to decide whether they want direct election of top leaders.
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