Subject: Fwd: Thoughts on SEIU Threats to Democracy and the attack on UHW
Check out this speech Bill gave on the struggle within seiu, and the wider impact it will have on us?and ?the labor movement and the struggle for worker member run unions, or what I call class struggle unionism.?I agree we must focus to defeat?McCain and the Republican agenda, but we can not be silent?on this seiu?corruption scandal and attack on democratic unions. When they fired me and?over? dozen hard working committed, staff (many former members recruited to staff) from the old SEIU 660, we were told by some??to keep?quiet and not go public for the sake of the?union and the movement, that was a big mistake I wont make again. ?You can also see more articles we have written on SEIU at:? www.fightbacknews.org Subject: Thoughts on SEIU Threats to Democracy and the attack on UHW Former top SEIU staff leader, Bill Fletcher, speaks out against Andy Stern, the Captain Ahab of the labor movement. Who will investigate Ahab? Does anyone in Ahab's inner circle have enough courage to step in and stop Ahab from destroying the union? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Transcript of Bill Fletcher's speech to UHW Leadership Conference, Sept. 5, 2008 Fletcher: Good morning. Audience: Good morning. Fletcher: I am really excited to be here with you. I want to say, though, that when Sal was saying that a panel of academics was going to be addressing you, I started chuckling. My job trajectory is a little bit unorthodox and very hard to define. In fact, I've had discussions with my wife and she says, "Bill, there is no one job for you." And I said, "Well, Candice, what does that mean?" And so she looks at me and as pointed as a guided missile, she says, "You're a trouble maker."[laughter, applause] So I'm here to increase the trouble. Distinguished leaders and members of United Healthcare Workers West, I am absolutely honored to be here, but I must tell you that I smell the smoke of bridges that are burning or have burned between me and many of my long-time friends in SEIU, friends who believe that loyalty to an organization means silence in the face of wrong. But being here today with you [applause] - being here today with you to express my solidarity with you and your Local was essential and paying the price unavoidable. An organization I have loved, for which I have worked, and of which I am a member is in crisis, and silence is not an option. [applause]You know, in thinking about the crisis in SEIU, and it is a crisis, I found myself thinking about the story, Moby Dick. Now, you know that story. Captain Ahab and the whale. But I want to just summarize it and relate it to today's situation. Captain Ahab, and I don't even know what his first name was ... but Captain Ahab was once upon a time a very normal person. However, he was injured by this whale. And at that point he developed this obsession with destroying the whale. An absolute obsession. No matter what the cost to destroy the whale. He takes his ship out into the sea, and everyone warned him to not take on this whale. But, no. Nothing could stop Ahab with his obsession. He was prepared to sacrifice the lives of his crew and the ship that he sailed in order to destroy the whale. And, as you know, Ahab did not destroy the whale. The whale destroyed Ahab. The whale took Ahab down. [applause] And in taking Ahab down, it also destroyed Ahab's prized ship. One would hope that leaders today, having read Moby Dick, having watched Iraq and Afghanistan, would think twice before walking into a situation that is laden with disaster, where they know they cannot win. [applause] Your union launched a debate, a debate that the union movement has needed for years. The debate has been terribly caricaturized by those that say there's this thing called "justice for all unionism" versus "just us unionism," with your union allegedly representing the latter. More recently a former colleague of mine in SEIU described your Local as upholding something he calls neo-business unionism. As we're seeing in the political scene, where McCain and Palin have gone out of their way to mock, malign, and misrepresent what Obama and Biden are saying, whoever gets to the mic first often gets to set the tone. What I would suggest is that, yes, there are two different models of unionism, but not the way that they're being described at 1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW (in Washington, DC). On the one hand, there is the model of a non-profit, counter-corporation, upholding many good and noble things, indeed. But this organization is shaped in such a way that talented experts, committed to a particular dream and permitting little descent, operate on the basis of what they and they alone believe to be the interests of the members, sort of the way that AARP operates, where they have a completely unaccountable leadership and a passive membership. On the other hand, there is a model of the union as a workers' organization, meaning not just that the union operates in the interests of the workers, but that the union must be of the workers, where the workers make the decisions, decisions like picking leaders [applause], decisions like ratifying contracts, decisions like how to conduct mergers, and being emissaries, emissaries of social justice in the larger world. The counter-corporation . . . Audience: [one woman screams] Thank you. The counter-corporation view is appealing, particularly if you are convinced that you and you alone know the answers. Your struggle [that of United Healthcare Workers-West] has been characterized by some as a battle between Sal Roselli on the one side and Andy Stern and Anna Burger on the other. As if you could give them boxing gloves and they would settle the matter. But this simplistic view disrespects you. It disrespects you, the members of UHW [applause] and also misses a larger point. Are we building unions committed to advancing the battle for social justice in the work place and communities, or are we building counter-corporations, that when they've achieved sufficient size and strength, can then sit down with the employers and play "patty cake?" These are really different visions of unionism. Does one believe that the working class has interests distinct from and at odds with the employer class? Or does one believe that we're all part of this thing called "Team America," marching out on the stage, holding hands with the likes of Wal-Mart, pleading, and pleading with them to stop kicking our asses? The employer class as a group could not give a damn about us, other than to remove us from the stage so that they can gain more profits. No, sisters and brothers, your struggle is not about Sal, Andy, Anna, Jerry, Joan, Stephen, Jorge or anyone else. Yet in battles for democracy and change, those who dissent are often written off o r their issues are personalized. In the United Auto Workers, which Nelson Lichtenstein just mentioned, some years ago my friend and colleague, Jerry Tucker, who was a regional director, was demonized by the UAW leadership when he attempted to lead a reform effort. They would say, "If Jerry had only done it this way," "If he'd only done it that way, there would be no problem." But the issue, as Jerry will tell you, was not about Jerry; it was about the reform movement. In your situation, it's not about Sal. It's not about Joan. It's not about Jorge. It's about the issues you're raising. [applause] I was asked to draw some historical examples. There was a saying once that history repeats itself: The first time it's tragedy; the second time it's farce. The example that I want to give has to do with the union that I was a part of, and for which I worked, known as District 65 [Distributive Workers of America], which was an independent union that then later affiliated with the United Auto Workers and now has completely ceased to exist, having been absorbed by the UAW. District 65 was once a proud union. It was one of Martin Luther King's favorite unions. It was led by people who saw themselves as progressive. They took progressive positions on absolutely everything. They believed in putting resources into organizing before many other unions were articulating it. Yet for all their talk, the leadership absolutely feared dissent, and they suppressed it. The culture was such that people were often fearful of speaking with anyone that was described as a dissident. The ruling group did not want competitive elections. They always wanted unanimous agreement. They created a situation where there was no debate and there was no competition. You were either with the program or you were out. Ultimately they collapsed. The atmosphere where questions could not be asked, along with the unwillingness of the leadership to expand and welcome younger people and more diverse opinions, dovetailed with a severe finan cial scandal, which discredited the leadership and brought the organization down. A financial scandal which, by the way, could have been prevented had the great leaders been questioned rather than feared. Let me close with these words. Ahab, to go back to Moby Dick, was not a bad person. However, his all-consuming hatred for the whale, his obsession with destroying the whale, the humiliation he experienced, drained him of his humanity and drained his perspective. He refused to accept that just maybe his path was misguided. He was prepared to bring the entire ship down in order to destroy Moby Dick. Sisters and brothers of United Healthcare Workers West, in these difficult moments we need you to be the standard bearers of the flag of a different form of unionism. The battle in which you are engaged is the battle being watched across this country. Your voices echo and must not be shut down. Stand tall. You are not alone. [applause] Let resistance be your watchword and social justice be your eternal calling. Thank you very much. Looking for spoilers and reviews on the new TV season? Get AOL's ultimate guide to fall TV. 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