Introductory Note: About a month ago, I had posted an update on the situation in my Union in regards to the upcoming contract. A lot has happened since then. I know that, because of the witchhunting carried out by certain DU participants, I had said I was not going to post any more information about it here. However, after some consideration and discussions with other long-time DUers, I decided it's best to keep posting here ... and the witchhunters can go to hell. -- MartinBrothers and sisters:
Over and against the wishes of the management and the bought-and-paid-for Union officials, the membership of my Union voted down the proposed contract placed in front of them, 10-6 (two of the six being the Union officials). The proposed contract was little more than a complete concession to management, and passing it would have made our economic and personal situation at the yard even worse than it is. (For an analysis of the proposed contract, see this issue of
The Organizer.) After decisively voting down the contract, and adding insult to injury, the membership told the Union officials that they did not want them doing the next round of negotiations, but instead wanted me to head them up.
Now, this is significant for two reasons: 1) this Union has never, in its over 17 years of being at this yard, voted down a contract; 2) this massive rejection and call for me to take over negotiations came without me being at the meeting.
Yes, you read that right: I did not attend the meeting. It was a major gamble, but I felt that my absence was necessary. Let me explain. In the week prior to the meeting, I had been subjected to a sustained and concentrated attack by the Union officials. They spread lies and rumors, slandered me and the Workers Democracy Caucus, and even made open threats to my job, health and life. It was obvious to me that their next steps -- being the mob-run Union that they are -- were physical violence and an attempt to derail the actual vote.
So, the day before the meeting, I wrote a letter to all those with whom I work, explaining the situation, countering the lies and slander, exposing the threats and intimidation, and ending with a call for my brothers and sisters to stand on principle, to recognize the power that is in their hands, and to use it the way they see fit (and that my physical presence should not matter if they really believed that the contract was unacceptable). At the meeting itself, the Union officials tried to continue the lies and slander, but the membership quickly set them straight.
So now it begins. The clock ticking toward a decent contract, or a strike, begins now. And it has happened in the best and most important way -- with the workers standing up for themselves, and accepting responsibility for their own future.
If you want more details, please feel free to contact me.
Martin
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