Cynic Direct Action Blog

Posted: 28 Nov 2008 07:35 AM CST

By Black Workers for Justice

“Layoffs” at their highest point in years . . . . “Mortgage/ Credit Crisis” with Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac failing one day… today Merrill-Lynch and Lehman Brothers failing…tomorrow which one next? All help to point out the interconnection of the financial crisis to all sectors of the global economy. The CORPORATE-OWNED MEDIA and their profit-driven news outlets refer to it as a “financial crisis” instead of an “economic crisis” to give the impression that it is mainly a problem involving the banking system and not the entire profit-driven capitalist system that impacts all working people, their families, and communities. They are hoping that we working, poor, and oppressed peoples sit by silently. . . .wait and see how things work themselves out.

It shows how “profits before people” capitalism, without saying it, is not in the best interests of the majority of the peoples of the world. Events now easily allow us to examine how greedy capitalism concentrates the control of the economy in the hands of a small rich ruling class made up of the owners of big banks, corporations and financial institutions. With this continuing CRISIS we clearly see that the US government is controlled by this small and powerful “capitalist ruling class” of owners using their political influence to direct the government (through its “paid-for representatives”) to use money that should provide for healthcare, education, and jobs etc. to bail out the big powerful banks and corporations of the ruling class. They do this so that the capitalist system and profits for the super-rich are maintained at our expense as workers and oppressed people throughout the USand globally.

History reveals that the USand all capitalist governments will do anything to protect its system of profits for the super rich, including making wars for the control of oil and cheap labor markets. Or using the police and jails to protect businesses before rescuing people affected by disasters like Hurricanes Katrina. Or contaminating communities with disease-laden industrial dumping. Or fighting hard to stop workers from forming trade unions that unite and empower them to directly challenge the injustices of the corporations and government institutions that exploit working people and their communities. Just look at our long history as workers and oppressed people.

Workers are taught that this same capitalist system is the basis for freedom and prosperity. We all know from our history and direct experiences that the prosperity has not been for the working class whose income barely allows us to exist…to pay expensive medical bills, rent or own a home, buy enough gas to get to work. A prosperity that doesn’t even grant us workers, and retired or unemployed workers as well, a cost of living raise to keep up with rising living expenses. A prosperity which requires that we work longer hours and second jobs to have a relatively decent way of life but little time to enjoy it because we must always be thinking about how to get ahead and keep our heads above water.

When the government bails out these big capitalist institutions and their rich owners, it means that the resources and programs needed by the masses get cut. It means that workers are pitted against each other, competing for the scraps that are left, intensifying racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-immigration and religious intolerance to take attention away from the real source of the problem. Their tactics divide working people so that we cannot unite to challenge the rich capitalist power and control over governments and our lives.

Social movements of working and oppressed people fighting for quality education, decent jobs, affordable housing, universal healthcare, environmental justice, an end to unjust wars and for many other democratic and human rights must become stronger and more active as it involves more young people. Trade unions must contribute more to the broader social movements, seeing struggles at the workplace as a leading part of their larger struggles in society to build power for working people.

UE150 has an important role to play in building a fight-back workers movement against conditions, policies and powers that sacrifice decent working conditions, quality healthcare and public services, and denies worker and human rights on the job and throughout society. This movement must also struggle against unjust wars that continue the destruction of human life and countries and that divides the world¢s peoples. The Mental Health Workers Bill of Rights Campaign and the Workers Bill of Rights struggles in Raleigh and Charlotte cities are part of this fight-back movement that must be further developed throughout the state.

The strike of the Moncure workers in Sanford, the struggles of the, Freightliner, Smithfield and FLOC workers to build rank-and-file democratic unions must be developed and supported as part of this workers fight back movement. The struggle for collective bargaining rights for public sector workers is critical to empowering workers to challenge the shifting of funds and resources away from workers and human needs to bail out those who only want to make a profit. These struggles need to be united into a rank-and-file led workers alliance.

This crisis makes clear that trade unions must encourage and engage their members to use their organizations and resources to support the larger struggles of working people, to be active in struggles against oppression, to learn more about the economy and society and to be willing and prepared to challenge capitalism no matter what label the media, owned by the big capitalist corporations, give to those speaking out.

Barack Obama, who has has made change the cornerstone of his campaign, must be challenged and supported to speak out against this crisis and to put forth real alternatives that empower working people, place major restrictions and regulations on the use of government funds to bail out banks and corporations, oppose these unjust wars that, in addition to killing for profits, take major resources from the needs of working and poor people and communities in the US.

Unions that spend time making deals with the corporations and don’t engage their members dis-empower the workers. UE150, while small with limited resources compared to most other unions, has an engaged rank-and-file membership trying to find creative ways to challenge injustice and give voice to the rank-and-file. It is not mainly a lobbying organization with consultants spending most of their time wining and dining legislators, framing out legislation they hope would be acceptable to those in power.

The “social justice trade unionism” of UE includes a history of standing up against the forces of capitalism. We must learn more about social justice unionism and the history of struggle of unions like the South West Workers Union and UE. We must and will continue this tradition as we build the NC Public Service Workers Union UE-local 150 widely throughout North Carolinaand eventually throughout the South.

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