NYC Labor Takes a Step Backward/WW Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the November 6, 1997 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- NYC LABOR TAKES A STEP BACKWARD By Shelley Ettinger New York One month after the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh, the organized labor movement faces ever sharper challenges from its opponent--the capitalist ruling class. Why call them a "ruling class"? Because the capitalists are not just an owning class; their position astride the economy allows them to control the levers of political life. So the anti-labor attacks take many forms. For example, the bosses are stepping up moves to retaliate against the Teamsters union for its August UPS strike victory. Congress, the Justice Department and the courts are the vehicles for this. In addition, the corporate media spent October trying to turn mass sentiment against railroad workers in advance of a possible Amtrak strike. How can labor overcome the opposition and move forward decisively? By carrying through on its promises to organize the unorganized, deepen alliances with movements of the oppressed, and really mobilize the masses of workers in action. This is how the unions will revive and grow. Labor must not shrink from the task. A STEP BACKWARD Unfortunately, a significant portion of the local labor officialdom in New York has turned in a different direction. On Oct. 22, the New York City Central Labor Council--whose member unions represent 1.5 million workers--announced it had endorsed Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for re-election. That capped a series of union endorsements for the right-wing Republican mayor, led by AFSCME District Council 37 representing 110,000 city employees. Not that there was any reason for unions to side with Giuliani's Democratic challenger, Ruth Messinger. In fact, she undercut any potential support by releasing a "new Democrat" layoff-and-cutback plan as her campaign's centerpiece. Still, few expected New York's powerful unions to back a mayor who never even pretended to be their friend. After the Central Labor Council endorsement became public, progressive unionists' reactions ranged from embarrassment to despondency. New York is the most unionized city in the country. It's also where the gulf between rich and poor is greatest and the unemployment rate is highest. People of color and immigrants make up the majority. Women account for most members of the biggest unions, like the city-employee unions, 1199 Health and Hospital Union, and the United Federation of Teachers. There is a big gay community, and active gay caucuses in many unions. All this confers a strategic importance on New York. At a moment when labor is looking to recruit new members and expand its influence, there's great potential here. In fact, the Food and Commercial Workers union is now organizing grocery-store workers. The Laborers union recently organized some 10,000 asbestos workers, mostly Central American immigrants. But here also is the world headquarters of finance capital--Wall Street. And there's no question that Mayor Giuliani does Wall Street's bidding. He's never seen a company that didn't deserve a tax break. He's certainly never seen a worker who deserved a wage increase. He opposed the living-wage law passed by city council. Four years after he took office, there are 40,000 fewer city jobs. And about the same number of people have been forced into Giuliani's Work Experience Program. WEP--Giuliani's pride and joy--is the national model for workfare. Welfare recipients do jobs formerly performed by unionized city employees--but without the pay or benefits. It's the modern version of slave labor. Above all, Giuliani is the city's top cop. He has given the green light to rampant police brutality. Under his rule, cop killings of Black and Latino youths have become epidemic. When Queens cops raped, tortured and nearly killed Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in August, Giuliani responded, as always, by defending the police. In short, this mayor epitomizes everything the labor movement is supposed to be fighting. Endorsing him goes against the whole thrust of labor's new forward motion. So what gives? Evidently, New York's labor officials are going with a winner. The polls show Giuliani will handily beat Messinger on Nov. 4. The argument seems to be: This is one vindictive, racist, anti-worker mayor you don't want angry at you once he's re-elected. This cynical maneuver won't win anything for labor. It won't help the unions. And it won't save them from having to battle the mayor and his Wall Street sponsors as the class struggle heats up. Election Day will come and go. Afterward, as labor's new momentum picks up steam, there will be no place for those who keep trying to hold back the struggle. Progressive unionists need not despair. What they need to do is step forward and lead, in the process making irrelevant those elements that are unable to do so. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@workers.org. For subscription info send message to: info@workers.org. Web: http://workers.org) ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytlab-10.31.97-13:01:41-14807