It is interesting to see Dan La Botz now criticizing Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), of which he was a founding member. At what point did he suddenly realize there were problems? *And how does La Botz explain how it came to play its present role? Did it suddenly develop out of the blue?* Nearly 3 years ago, oaklandsocialist published an article <“O’Brien, the Teamsters, TDU, and the Labor Left: A Controversy“ by Dan La Botz on Medium: https://danlabotz.medium.com/obrien-the-teamsters-tdu-and-the-labor-left-a-controversy-1f9bc32684e3> pointing out these issues. But in fact, the problems go further back than that. TDU was an uncritical admirer of Ron Carey back when he became president of the Teamsters (1991). And TDU took over the leadership of Teamster Local 174 in Seattle. Its most prominent member, Bob Hasegawa, was elected as president of the local. I attended a meeting of TDU up in Seattle at that time and several members complained bitterly about the failure of TDU to vigorously oppose the old bureaucracy. As for Hasegawa, he also went on to become president of the King County Labor Council, which one does not do if one also really opposes the old line bureaucracy. (He now is a Democratic state politician.)
Charlie posted a link to an article critical of Sean Fain of the UAW. La Botz says he's an admirer of Fain, but is Fain really all that different? And why is it only now that La Botz is publishing his differences with TDU? The timing is suspicious: O'Brien really exposed himself when he spoke at the Republican convention. Since TDU is all-in as far as O'Brien is concerned, that puts them in the spotlight also. Over recent decades, we have seen a series of protest movements. One of the most startling things about them has been the general absence of the unions. I was in Ferguson shortly after Michael Brown was killed by a cop. I talked with a UAW member there who told me that his local president told him "this is not our fight". That is the attitude of the union leadership right across the board. Today, Trump is building the base for an all-out assault on the most oppressed layers of society - lgbtq people, immigrants, people of color, and women especially. Yet the entire union leadership does its level best to avoid the issue. In fact, La Botz mentions teamsterlink.org. If you go to their site, you cannot find any mention of the issue nor criticism of O'Brien's appearance at the Republican convention. When will the left stop placing its hopes in reform leaders like O'Brien and even Fain? When will it actually start organizing a rank and file movement that explicitly rejects the entire team concept and everything it represents? And, going further, when will Marxists stop placing their faith in "national experts" like Dan La Botz and Bill Fletcher jr.? John Reimann -- *“Science and socialism go hand-in-hand.” *Felicity Dowling Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#31237): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/31237 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/107458905/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
