At Delphi, a small grouping, "Soldiers of Solidarity" (SOS), sprang up and they equalize the blame between Delphi, GM, and the UAW. Their leader has gone so far to say if the UAW is destroyed, "so be it." They have little following except in the media (the Detroit Free Press, no friend of labor, will go to SOS for quotes before turning to UAW). They offer no real solutions and their approach is to split the union or worse. Autoworkers are not alone in witnessing defeat after defeat for the last 25 years, and there is anger in their ranks. Our criticisms need to go in the direction of solutions and then we have a chance of moving the leadership and gaining credibility from the rank and file.
Comment The UAW, as is other unions like it, caught on the horns of a dilemma, not unlike the period of formation of the CIO and then its splitting from the craft union mode. Unions - primarily those designed for and that took shape to correspond with the need of production modeled on the craft form of labor and the industrial form - mass manufacture, are in need of transformation - or replacement, by organizations more suitable to an economy in flux. New style organizations are most certainly on the horizon, and this does not mean ignoring the immediate problems of say the decision concerning Daimler/Chrysler at the Belvedere plant in Illinois. The trade union movement is heading for a split and nothing can halt this process because it arises as a by product of the technological revolution driving our economy from one mode of production to another. The form of the laboring process is changing - computerization, advanced robotics and a dramatic increase in symbolic work and the life span of an entire infrastructure of production has come to an end. When I entered the industry the life span of a building - not the equipment, was roughly 25 years. This is not the case today. Then there is Daimler/Chrysler a'st Belvedere plant in Illinois. >>The pressures on the UAW can be seen in their agreement with Daimler/Chrysler at the Belvedere plant in Illinois. They agreed to a third shift hired for two years where all workers will be temporary, receive no healthcare until they've completed their 8th month and be paid $18.00 an hour.<< The tentative agreement - nothing has been approved by any authoritative bodies in the UAW yet, - at this writing, is to treat these workers as "throw away workers," an emerging feature of the new economy evolving within the context of the value system. Rather than start these workers with a $15.00 entry rate, the basic standard of the tier wage system in auto, $18.00 is offered to accommodate their "Throwaway" status. Apparently the thinking is to offset this wage rate by lengthening the period of health coverage acceptance. This agreement was taken back to the union by Nate Gooden where it is meeting resistance amongst the International Staff of the Daimler/Chrysler division. A quite reorganization - shift, in the International union staff of the Daimler/Chrysler division is taking place pending Nate Gooden's departure - retirement. The fate of the Delphi workers will in all probability follow that of the Acustar workers. Acustar was Chrysler "small parts division" and had 15 plants and now only three remain. We'll see what happens in the future. Melvin P. _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list [email protected] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
