The logical challenge to the nonviolent philosophy of activism is the one asking if we'd be nonviolent if our community or families were being attacked. My personal answer would be, of course not. My immediate reaction would be to defend my community, my family and myself. Even the beloved Gandhi speaks about this situation and says much the same.
The difference between protecting ourselves against attack and initiating violence against others is the difference between morality and immorality. Being the aggressors takes away any moral standing we may have had in a struggle. That's not to say being assertive isn't a moral path. Nonviolent resistance is probably the ultimate form of assertiveness.
Nonviolent resistance doesn't mean passivity. It is the direct opposite of passivity. Nonviolent resistance doesn't mean sitting in streets being ceremoniously arrested in a plan worked out ahead of time with the police. It means taking to the streets to resist the oppressor and the agents of oppression like the police.
For too long the activist movement has wanted to play by the rules of the oppressor in their resistance. They've bowed to getting permits to allow them the "right" to march against oppression. They've coordinated with police to ensure things are "orderly" when the resistance is meant to bring disorder to a failed system. Activists have allowed police to be part of their strategy in resistance. This leads me to the analogy of inviting the fox into the henhouse to help plan a defense against the intrusion and violence of the fox.
Nonviolent resistance can and should target the icons of oppression. Companies like Shell, Halliburton and Fox are all complicit partners in oppression. Wal-Mart and other corporate giants have oppressed workers since the founding of their companies. Political action groups like AIPAC have bastardized access to elected officials and bought public policy. Foreign policy has been dictated by companies and organizations that make huge profits from the policies of never-ending wars.
Martin Luther King and the civil rights workers targeted Woolworths' refusing to seat blacks at their lunch counters. They didn't target the federal government or local government first. They started at the local and corporate level. They started at the level that would ignite the flame of perceived injustice being carried out in the everyday lives of people oppressed.
The flame was lighted by Rosa Parks being forced to stand when empty seats were available in the "white only" part of the bus. She was tired from working hard and for wages that hardly paid the bills. She challenged an oppressive and injust law by taking a seat in the "front" of the bus. Her arrest clearly highlighted the oppression of the segregated South. Her simple, noviolent action was heard around the community and around the nation.
The differences between the civil rights movement and the current movement are dramatic. The eventual diversity of the civil rights movement compared to the current activist movement stand out. The strategies of organizing locally and building by actions that address local issues are different from the march and rally shows against national policies today.
But the issue is Iraq and Afghanistan....Israel and Palestine the movement says. Those issues are surely foremost in a global sense but they trickle down to our local communities. Young men and women are induced into the military locally because they can't find adequate jobs or education. The money for such programs go into the war machine. Crippling the war machine has to be done by preventing it from taking our young people in a back door draft. Crippling the war machine has to be done by insisting local companies take precendence over huge corporate giants that contribute heavily toward war. Crippling the war machine has to be done by demanding local officials refrain from supporting the war economy. It has to be done by fighting for those oppressed locally so they can be enlisted to move on a grander scale against the larger oppressors.
It certainly isn't hard to find local oppression. Police brutality, substandard housing, substandard wages, substandard schools and the ongoing decline of inner cities while rich oppressors flee to the suburbs are but a small example of local injustices and oppression. The most oppresed locally and nationally are people of color and those of non-European ethnicity. Supporting this diverse population only makes sense to build any activist community. It's like planting seeds in the spring to see the the harvest in the fall. If we plant the seed of community caring and support that comes from all sectors of the community we have a rich harvest of activists.
Unfortunately, professional activists from the old Vietnam era movement has taken root and failed to remember the diversity needed to get the attention on the national level. Martin Luther King rallied his followers to join against the war. The Black Panthers were included in the movement. The Brown Berets and LaRaza were part of the movement.
Today we seem to work in separate issue groups that seldom acknowledge the need to connect all the issues as part of the overall oppression going on in this nation and around the world. Gay rights are part of human rights. Immigration rights are part of human rights and the labor struggle. Police brutality is part of racism and violence toward the disenfranchised. Police brutality is part of overall fear to dissent and challenge oppression and injustice. The issues are all interconnected and the activists should be as well for a movement to actually be effective.
Nonviolent action and resistance is not passive. It is assertive and doesn't back down even when violence is directed toward it. I feel strongly about protecting myself and others against violence directed toward us. I'm not going to sit at the curb and allow myself or others to be brutalized without attempting to stop the attacker. But I won't join in the planned attack of others to effect a temporary victory for change. That mentality of retaliation and reprisal is the problem we see in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and Gaza, among other places in the world. Violence truly does beget violence and I can't work with organizations that include violence as part of the strategy of effecting change. I did that once. It was called the Marine Corps.
Wednesday, December 31
Tuesday, December 30
I'm Not Endorsing The Path of Violence
As death continues to reign in Gaza, the Israeli army prepares for invasion and the US and allies stand idly by with the same old refrain...."Israel has the right to defend itself". The new face of change, Obama, is included in this Greek chorus of the ongoing tragedy being carried out.
The rationale for killing over 300 and destroying entire communities by accounts of the mainstream media is 7 dead Israeli citizens from the rocket attacks of groups in the Gaza strip. The truth, of course, is Israel is challenging the new President's loyalty to Zionist causes before he even takes the oath of office. The invasion and bombings were every bit as planned as was the war in Iraq. It was inevitable Israel would start the violence once again and continue it until they get what they want; a government they can control rather than one "democratically" elected.
Of course, the US can't condemn Israel's actions since they are so much like the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. The military strategy is simple; pound the target area with bombs and artillery killing indiscriminately to soften things up. Once the chaos, death and destroyed infrastructure is completed, the ground troops aided by helicopter gunships and on call air support enter and occupy. It's the Falllujah strategy. It was refined in Vietnam and carried over to the Middle East.
We fool ourselves, however, if we think voicing our outrage will do much more than validate that we care about the inhumanity of our biggest ally in the world stage. I don't say we shouldn't voice outrage however futile it is. I do suggest we not forget the great urgency we have to build a stronger coalition of activist that spans all cultures and ethnic groups.We have AIPAC and the military industrial complex to overcome to have our voices heard. Only when the numbers reach the scale of the Vietnam moratorium days or the days of Dr. King will the reasonable voices of peace and justice be heard.
I've worked with many activists in my 60 years of life. The most effective have been the men and women who decried the violence of all sides of conflict. The continued killing of those people caught between the two or more political forces at war isn't true revolution or peace and justice. The eye for an eye mentality so often demontrated by the warring sides is a vile repudiation of peace and justice for anyone.
I've been a participant in this insanity of war. The code was retribution for any of our Marines killed by the other side. If a sniper in a village killed one of us, that village was likely to disappear and evacuation of the innocent wasn't part of the deal. My Lai wasn't an isolated incident of war. That fact is finally coming out forty years after the war in Vietnam.
Retribution and revenge killing is common in wars. If I am to offer my support for the insurgents of Iraq, Afghanistan or Gaza, I'm forgetting the concept of peace and justice. Killing and destruction may make us feel good if it is inflicted on the "bad guys" but we give up a large chunk of our humanity to feel satisfaction about killing other humans.
I read and hear anarchists, liberals, progressives, Marxists, socialists and others talk enthusiastically about the struggle with the thinking violence is a logical tool of the struggle. I hardly ever hear that from the combat veterans who have gone that route. Young idealists with rage and frustration in their heart are misdirected in thinking violence will get them peace and justice. They're quick to recall Malcolm X and other radical figures in the past but forget Malcolm came to the conclusion violence wasn't the path.
Rhetoric about violent revolution is one thing, carrying out violence against a stronger and larger force is another. Entering the battle with spears against tanks, artillery and air power may be brave of those who actually engage but it's pretty damn stupid and a waste of life.
I've heard young radicals talk a good story of resistance and struggle but seen them disappear when heads started getting bashed. I've seen vocal leaders encourage their followers to act in violent ways but they always seem to be missing when the violence they encouraged happens. I've listened to impassioned speakers encourage others to resist and act but the only part they take is their words. They don't face the guns or the prisons. They seldom even risk arrest.
I'm not inclined to listen to rhetoric of phonies encouraging us to act violently, to resist and risk prison or to confront the oppressors if they don't walk their talk. And there's a lot of them out there. Now, folks like Kathy Kelly, Roy Bourgeois, Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and Jackie Hudson walk the talk and do it nonviolently. Their voices are strong and determined.
So, salute the leaders of violent means of change if you choose but don't expect things to change all that much. The power of the gun is a false god that leads only to more violence.
The rationale for killing over 300 and destroying entire communities by accounts of the mainstream media is 7 dead Israeli citizens from the rocket attacks of groups in the Gaza strip. The truth, of course, is Israel is challenging the new President's loyalty to Zionist causes before he even takes the oath of office. The invasion and bombings were every bit as planned as was the war in Iraq. It was inevitable Israel would start the violence once again and continue it until they get what they want; a government they can control rather than one "democratically" elected.
Of course, the US can't condemn Israel's actions since they are so much like the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. The military strategy is simple; pound the target area with bombs and artillery killing indiscriminately to soften things up. Once the chaos, death and destroyed infrastructure is completed, the ground troops aided by helicopter gunships and on call air support enter and occupy. It's the Falllujah strategy. It was refined in Vietnam and carried over to the Middle East.
We fool ourselves, however, if we think voicing our outrage will do much more than validate that we care about the inhumanity of our biggest ally in the world stage. I don't say we shouldn't voice outrage however futile it is. I do suggest we not forget the great urgency we have to build a stronger coalition of activist that spans all cultures and ethnic groups.We have AIPAC and the military industrial complex to overcome to have our voices heard. Only when the numbers reach the scale of the Vietnam moratorium days or the days of Dr. King will the reasonable voices of peace and justice be heard.
I've worked with many activists in my 60 years of life. The most effective have been the men and women who decried the violence of all sides of conflict. The continued killing of those people caught between the two or more political forces at war isn't true revolution or peace and justice. The eye for an eye mentality so often demontrated by the warring sides is a vile repudiation of peace and justice for anyone.
I've been a participant in this insanity of war. The code was retribution for any of our Marines killed by the other side. If a sniper in a village killed one of us, that village was likely to disappear and evacuation of the innocent wasn't part of the deal. My Lai wasn't an isolated incident of war. That fact is finally coming out forty years after the war in Vietnam.
Retribution and revenge killing is common in wars. If I am to offer my support for the insurgents of Iraq, Afghanistan or Gaza, I'm forgetting the concept of peace and justice. Killing and destruction may make us feel good if it is inflicted on the "bad guys" but we give up a large chunk of our humanity to feel satisfaction about killing other humans.
I read and hear anarchists, liberals, progressives, Marxists, socialists and others talk enthusiastically about the struggle with the thinking violence is a logical tool of the struggle. I hardly ever hear that from the combat veterans who have gone that route. Young idealists with rage and frustration in their heart are misdirected in thinking violence will get them peace and justice. They're quick to recall Malcolm X and other radical figures in the past but forget Malcolm came to the conclusion violence wasn't the path.
Rhetoric about violent revolution is one thing, carrying out violence against a stronger and larger force is another. Entering the battle with spears against tanks, artillery and air power may be brave of those who actually engage but it's pretty damn stupid and a waste of life.
I've heard young radicals talk a good story of resistance and struggle but seen them disappear when heads started getting bashed. I've seen vocal leaders encourage their followers to act in violent ways but they always seem to be missing when the violence they encouraged happens. I've listened to impassioned speakers encourage others to resist and act but the only part they take is their words. They don't face the guns or the prisons. They seldom even risk arrest.
I'm not inclined to listen to rhetoric of phonies encouraging us to act violently, to resist and risk prison or to confront the oppressors if they don't walk their talk. And there's a lot of them out there. Now, folks like Kathy Kelly, Roy Bourgeois, Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and Jackie Hudson walk the talk and do it nonviolently. Their voices are strong and determined.
So, salute the leaders of violent means of change if you choose but don't expect things to change all that much. The power of the gun is a false god that leads only to more violence.
Monday, December 29
Your Friendship Is Cancelled Unless You Agree With Me
Just wondering this morning about recent comments from people on "facebook" about the Israeli slaughter in Gaza. I fully agree we should all be outraged by the overt aggression against an entire group of people for the actions of fanatics claiming religious cause for their actions. The fanatics firing rockets into civilian areas of Israel are no more religous than the fanatic Zionists claiming to protect Judaism in Israel. These are not religious people! Zionism is not Judaism and the self proclaimed Islamic warriors who kill babies and innocents with bombs aren't true followers of the Muslim faith.
I recently had the temerity to give the opinion being outraged without an activist group of great diversity is like going to a wilderness and screaming our displeasure. With a Zionist Congress and Presidency, a media that is primarily slanted toward Zionism and the power given AIPAC just being outraged activists won't bring any changes. The outrage from reasonable people won't be heard or taken seriously until there is a larger and more powerful coalition of many groups of people expressing outrage.
I also refused to go along with the thinking that Hamas is without some responsibility of the violence going on in Gaza and Palestine. Thinking fanatics on one side killing children are "freedom fighters" and fanatics on the other side killing children are aggressors misses the point of why we should be outraged.
The fanatics of both sides, or all sides, that continue to perpetuate violence have trapped the majority of the people in Palestine and Israel in constant violence and fear. They hold the Palestinian and Israeli people hostage with their hatred and violence. And they hold the world hostage because the American government continues to rubber stamp and supply the Zionists in their aggression.
There is no doubt Zionism had a master plan to displace the indigenous people of Palestine to create a "Jewish homeland". That movement began at the beginning of the 20th Century. David Ben-Gurion and others continued to formulate plans to achieve the reclaiming of the "homeland" until WWII presented them the perfect opportunity. The fanatics of Zionism saw the Halocaust as an opportunity to justify stealing Palestinian land for their own.
The hatred and religious fanaticism has gone on for centuries at the expense of innocent people desiring peace and the chance to dream of the future. And the hatred is a double-edged sword where Zionism posing as Judaism and terrorists posing as Muslim freedom fighters take anybody in the way with them into the bloody abyss of violence.
Apparently some took exception to such thinking when posted on a thread decrying the current atrocities in Gaza. My friendship on "facebook" was "canceled" by the person who made the original post. Unfortunately, we've known each other for a few years and I continue to be a great supporter of the person who "cancelled" me as a friend.
It seems immature to believe we can overlook the violence of one side killing children and innocent people and condemn the other doing the same. Since the cycle of violence is centuries old and there's arguments by both sides who started things, both sides deserve our condemnation for perpetuating violence trapping a majority of people wanting peace.
I strongly believe the American people should pressure their government to end the free pass to the Zionists running the Israeli government. I'm outraged American taxpayers fund a large part of the Israeli military from jets to rifles. I'm sick of AIPAC using financial influence to further the cause of Zionist aggression.
I'm just as sick of fake religious leaders using the Muslim religion to further their part of the violence. I'm sick of the fanatics who would blow up babies and innocent school children who claim to be freedom fighters. They are no better than Zionists claiming to be fighting for Judaism. And it is naive and foolish for American liberals and activists to perceive the perpetrators of violence against Zionism by way of killing innocents as freedom fighters as much as it is foolish and racist for supporters of Israel to think mass violence against an entire people for the actions of a few fanatics is acceptable.
Cancelling my "friendship" because I happen to see the need for both groups of murderers to be held responsible for their vile deeds is childish. Closing ourselves off from honest debate about this issue when we disagree with someone doesn't help us grow as a person it makes us ideologues and apologists for one group's violence and misdeeds.
I think if we were to ask the Palestinian people, the Israeli people or the people of Iraq and Afghanistan what they want most it wouldn't be the death of one another. I think they would want lasting peace and opportunity to see their families grow and thrive. I believe that to be the common desire of most humans. I think the eye for an eye mentality of killers claiming religious or nationalistic reason is no longer accepted by most people.
I recently had the temerity to give the opinion being outraged without an activist group of great diversity is like going to a wilderness and screaming our displeasure. With a Zionist Congress and Presidency, a media that is primarily slanted toward Zionism and the power given AIPAC just being outraged activists won't bring any changes. The outrage from reasonable people won't be heard or taken seriously until there is a larger and more powerful coalition of many groups of people expressing outrage.
I also refused to go along with the thinking that Hamas is without some responsibility of the violence going on in Gaza and Palestine. Thinking fanatics on one side killing children are "freedom fighters" and fanatics on the other side killing children are aggressors misses the point of why we should be outraged.
The fanatics of both sides, or all sides, that continue to perpetuate violence have trapped the majority of the people in Palestine and Israel in constant violence and fear. They hold the Palestinian and Israeli people hostage with their hatred and violence. And they hold the world hostage because the American government continues to rubber stamp and supply the Zionists in their aggression.
There is no doubt Zionism had a master plan to displace the indigenous people of Palestine to create a "Jewish homeland". That movement began at the beginning of the 20th Century. David Ben-Gurion and others continued to formulate plans to achieve the reclaiming of the "homeland" until WWII presented them the perfect opportunity. The fanatics of Zionism saw the Halocaust as an opportunity to justify stealing Palestinian land for their own.
The hatred and religious fanaticism has gone on for centuries at the expense of innocent people desiring peace and the chance to dream of the future. And the hatred is a double-edged sword where Zionism posing as Judaism and terrorists posing as Muslim freedom fighters take anybody in the way with them into the bloody abyss of violence.
Apparently some took exception to such thinking when posted on a thread decrying the current atrocities in Gaza. My friendship on "facebook" was "canceled" by the person who made the original post. Unfortunately, we've known each other for a few years and I continue to be a great supporter of the person who "cancelled" me as a friend.
It seems immature to believe we can overlook the violence of one side killing children and innocent people and condemn the other doing the same. Since the cycle of violence is centuries old and there's arguments by both sides who started things, both sides deserve our condemnation for perpetuating violence trapping a majority of people wanting peace.
I strongly believe the American people should pressure their government to end the free pass to the Zionists running the Israeli government. I'm outraged American taxpayers fund a large part of the Israeli military from jets to rifles. I'm sick of AIPAC using financial influence to further the cause of Zionist aggression.
I'm just as sick of fake religious leaders using the Muslim religion to further their part of the violence. I'm sick of the fanatics who would blow up babies and innocent school children who claim to be freedom fighters. They are no better than Zionists claiming to be fighting for Judaism. And it is naive and foolish for American liberals and activists to perceive the perpetrators of violence against Zionism by way of killing innocents as freedom fighters as much as it is foolish and racist for supporters of Israel to think mass violence against an entire people for the actions of a few fanatics is acceptable.
Cancelling my "friendship" because I happen to see the need for both groups of murderers to be held responsible for their vile deeds is childish. Closing ourselves off from honest debate about this issue when we disagree with someone doesn't help us grow as a person it makes us ideologues and apologists for one group's violence and misdeeds.
I think if we were to ask the Palestinian people, the Israeli people or the people of Iraq and Afghanistan what they want most it wouldn't be the death of one another. I think they would want lasting peace and opportunity to see their families grow and thrive. I believe that to be the common desire of most humans. I think the eye for an eye mentality of killers claiming religious or nationalistic reason is no longer accepted by most people.
Saturday, December 20
Bend Over, America
The American worker no longer has to wonder what will happen in these times of economic crisis. Already city and state governments are trying to balance their budgets on the back of their employees. Here in Denver, the mayor has asked the police, fire and sheriff department employees to take a 2% wage decrease or face possible layoffs. This follows rancorous wage negotiations between the city and police just last year which finally ended with a modest increase over a multi-year time.
The sheriffs just got their first significant increase in many years and a new city jail is well on the way to completion despite efforts by some to divert the money to programs that could intercede to stop incarceration, treat drug and alcohol addictions and improve schools; all proven preventative methods to avoid the ever growing imprisonment of a certain population of citizens. That would be people of color. With staff cuts, the new jail will immediately be short of qualified staff to adequately do the needed duties.
My guess is John Hickenlooper, the Opie acting mayor of Denver, has the cynical plan of going after the “heroes” who wear flag pins on the job first before the next request of city employees in other areas. If the badge guys and gals accept the decrease in wages they become role models for the rest of the work force.
There is no doubt in my mind the rest of management in all areas of the work force will be following the plan of making cuts on the backs of workers. Local government will also continue the trend to cut budgets in the safety net of Medicaid clients, the homeless, mentally ill and all other programs of human services. The weakest and poorest of this nation just don’t have advocates and political action committees like AIPAC and the defense contractors.
Over 400 billion dollars have bled from the American treasury to “bail out” Wall Street, automakers, insurance giants and other corporate giants but the American worker will have to face the foreclosure threat with less in their pay check. Health insurance will become more costly and families will have to choose between food or paying for catastrophic illness and injury. Elderly Americans will have to choose between food and life-saving medications. The mentally ill will have to choose between psychosis and relapse or paying co-pays that take away their monthly grocery money. And, we must ask where is the money for the alleged bail out going? Certainly not to the citizens most in need. Not even to the middle class families facing foreclosure and needing to go to the local food banks.
I’m sorry, why is it the American people don’t want to organize their workplaces? Is it because they can’t get enough abuse from the bosses who will continue to get bonuses from CEOs who continue to make obscene amounts in salary more than the average worker? Is it because they can no longer afford health and dental insurance? Certainly becoming homeless wasn’t what the workers felt came with their jobs.
All these dilemmas and many more continue to face the workers as they continue to be targeted as the problem in the economic meltdown. None of the greedy corporate masters are going to have to be responsible for their key roles in causing the meltdown. No politician allowing the regulation free world of Wall Street will pay for their role in the largest theft in history. The war machine continues to suck the life out of the American citizen and there appears no end is in sight. The bad economy favors reenlistments and new enlistments as jobs become impossible to find for the inadequately educated American students.
First there was the fear Wall Street was collapsing and taking a majority of American pensions with it. Then, it was either bail out or the end of the American economic system. Then, the Big Three automakers came to DC begging for financial aid. When it appeared a deal was done, anti-union Senators reneged because the UAW wouldn’t accept further concessions of pay and benefits. The finger was pointed at the workers while the malfeasance and criminal tactics of brokers, traders, politicians and the wealthy was pushed aside.
Since it worked so well against the UAW, the next step was to blame the rest of the workforce. That effort has started in earnest and soon we’ll all feel guilty about failing our country in a time of need, bend over, and take it like we always have done in the past.
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
Denver VVAW member
The sheriffs just got their first significant increase in many years and a new city jail is well on the way to completion despite efforts by some to divert the money to programs that could intercede to stop incarceration, treat drug and alcohol addictions and improve schools; all proven preventative methods to avoid the ever growing imprisonment of a certain population of citizens. That would be people of color. With staff cuts, the new jail will immediately be short of qualified staff to adequately do the needed duties.
My guess is John Hickenlooper, the Opie acting mayor of Denver, has the cynical plan of going after the “heroes” who wear flag pins on the job first before the next request of city employees in other areas. If the badge guys and gals accept the decrease in wages they become role models for the rest of the work force.
There is no doubt in my mind the rest of management in all areas of the work force will be following the plan of making cuts on the backs of workers. Local government will also continue the trend to cut budgets in the safety net of Medicaid clients, the homeless, mentally ill and all other programs of human services. The weakest and poorest of this nation just don’t have advocates and political action committees like AIPAC and the defense contractors.
Over 400 billion dollars have bled from the American treasury to “bail out” Wall Street, automakers, insurance giants and other corporate giants but the American worker will have to face the foreclosure threat with less in their pay check. Health insurance will become more costly and families will have to choose between food or paying for catastrophic illness and injury. Elderly Americans will have to choose between food and life-saving medications. The mentally ill will have to choose between psychosis and relapse or paying co-pays that take away their monthly grocery money. And, we must ask where is the money for the alleged bail out going? Certainly not to the citizens most in need. Not even to the middle class families facing foreclosure and needing to go to the local food banks.
I’m sorry, why is it the American people don’t want to organize their workplaces? Is it because they can’t get enough abuse from the bosses who will continue to get bonuses from CEOs who continue to make obscene amounts in salary more than the average worker? Is it because they can no longer afford health and dental insurance? Certainly becoming homeless wasn’t what the workers felt came with their jobs.
All these dilemmas and many more continue to face the workers as they continue to be targeted as the problem in the economic meltdown. None of the greedy corporate masters are going to have to be responsible for their key roles in causing the meltdown. No politician allowing the regulation free world of Wall Street will pay for their role in the largest theft in history. The war machine continues to suck the life out of the American citizen and there appears no end is in sight. The bad economy favors reenlistments and new enlistments as jobs become impossible to find for the inadequately educated American students.
First there was the fear Wall Street was collapsing and taking a majority of American pensions with it. Then, it was either bail out or the end of the American economic system. Then, the Big Three automakers came to DC begging for financial aid. When it appeared a deal was done, anti-union Senators reneged because the UAW wouldn’t accept further concessions of pay and benefits. The finger was pointed at the workers while the malfeasance and criminal tactics of brokers, traders, politicians and the wealthy was pushed aside.
Since it worked so well against the UAW, the next step was to blame the rest of the workforce. That effort has started in earnest and soon we’ll all feel guilty about failing our country in a time of need, bend over, and take it like we always have done in the past.
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
Denver VVAW member
Monday, December 15
A Dying Labor Movement Wounds Us All
It certainly is no surprise the Congressional prostitutes of “big business” have targeted UAW as the problem in recent hearings and meetings to bail out the “Big Three” auto-makers of the US. And, of course, the non-union states catering to the Japanese auto-makers had Senators leading the charge against union members in the former "industrial states".
It has been clear for some time Republicans, and many of the so-called progressive Democrats, have done their best to bust the unions of America in an attempt to further erode the rights of workers and fatten the wallets of the multi-national corporate world.
The saddest part of the discussion about unionism in America is that the corporate world is succeeding in the dismantling of unions. Unions now make up less than 25% of the workforce in the US. But we can’t put the blame entirely on the lackeys of the rich oligarchy. For some unfathomable reason the American worker tends to put more faith in the bosses of the world than other workers who seek some equity and justice in their work for CEOs making 500-1,000 times more in salary than the average worker.
For some reason American workers are stuck on the idea of paying dues “to work” as an affront to them but meekly allow the bosses of Wal-Mart to continually abuse them and deny them a living wage. They allow foreign automakers to reduce benefit packages for healthcare and retirement plus tie the retirement into a volatile stock market. For some reason American workers think the bosses will treat them fairly while the union will cause them to get laid off.
The recent uprising by the Republic Window workers in Chicago is a classic example of the union versus the non-union workforce. Republic management gave the 250 workers less than a week’s notice the company was going out of business. To make matters worse the vacation/sick pay and promised severance pay in the union contract wouldn’t be paid by management because their financier, Bank of America, refused to put up any more credit for the company.
Unbeknownst to the union workers, at first, was the fact Republic was closing the union company at the same time they were opening a new company in another part of the country friendlier to business interests. The new code of the time for “friendlier to business interests” means, of course, unions aren’t welcome. Sure enough, the new company, Echo, was opened as a non-union shop without the “high” wages and expensive benefit package that meant all workers could afford health insurance and dental.
The 250 workers at the defunct Republic decided they weren’t going to put up with the rip off of vacation and severance pay they had legitimately earned. They were especially enraged Bank of America was withholding money to pay Republic’s workers the money due them. Bank of America had just received over 25 billion dollars in the “bailout” program to save America from economic disaster. And, like the many fat cats receiving the money intended to open up credit to businesses, Bank of America was holding on to their billions to make their own bottom line look good to investors.
The workers of Republic took over the closed company’s work place with a sit in. Word of their revolt soon reached the media and spread like a wildfire across the nation. A worker revolt in America was a surefire story because it was very unusual any worker in this nation stood up for themselves against the corporate masters. Union leaders attempted to arrange meetings with Bank of America and Republic management but Bank of America failed to meet the union leaders.
A strange thing began to happen, though. Americans identified with the injustice of the 250 workers of Republic facing unemployment without notice and without being paid for what they had rightfully earned. As usual, politicians came into things late, once they saw the public was outraged and the political fallout could be a problem. Soon President-elect Obama was calling for justice to be served for the workers. Only a few days later Bank of America changed course and negotiated with the union leaders to have the workers paid what was owed.
The uprising by the union members against Republic and Bank of America is an example of a strategy that needs to be used by all activists and the American worker. It was clear the worker was morally right in taking their stand against the company and the financier. Publicity of the injustice struck a note with most Americans facing similar situations of unemployment and loss of benefits. Bank of America had a choice of looking like the evil money grubbers they truly are or defusing the outrage by doing what was right. They paid the workers to avoid the negative image being seen by so many.
Only a few days after Bank of America paid the union workers of Republic the money they had rightfully earned, BOA announced layoffs of 35,000 workers across the nation. Happy holidays, Bank of America workers! Where’s the union to protect you from losing accumulated vacation and retirement pay? Weren’t the billions of dollars provided Bank of America intended to stimulate the economy? Apparently keeping Americans working isn’t part of such a plan.
Soon after the bailout GM, Ford and Chrysler CEOs came before Congress asking for their own bailout package. The first trip to Congress saw them arriving in three separate corporate jets. Nothing like flaunting their power and wealth to impress the public and Congress of the great need for bailout. Pressured by already angry constituents who saw the 250 billion bailout of Wall Street as a scam for the wealthy, Congress feigned outrage toward the auto-makers. The bailout was refused until the CEOs were prepared to provide a detailed plan on how the money they asked for would be spent and assurances the plans would include alternative fuel cars.
It was sickening to watch members of the prostituted Congress chastise CEOs of corporate America that often times buy favors from them. Their outrage was simply incongruent with the facts of political campaigns and political action committees. Drama Queen Pelosi and others looked like poor actors in a small town theatre production.
Now, there was certainly nothing wrong with scolding the CEOs of the “Big Three” and demanding a spending plan but we have to wonder why the same standards weren’t demanded of AIG and all the other Wall Street types when they received far more than the automakers were asking.
The 250 billion plus bailout of Wall Street firms basically came with no strings attached. There was a hopeful expectation the money would be invested in reopening lines of credit for business and helping home owners refinance from onerous loans causing record foreclosures. Of course, Wall Street failed to meet any such expectation. Instead they continued to schedule bonuses for management, prepared golden parachutes for themselves (just in case) and openly went off to luxurious retreats at warm resorts.
Rep. Barney Frank has since gone on national television programs like 60 Minutes saying “you can’t make anybody do what they don’t want to do”. Since Frank is head of a committee on banking and finance he wields great power but he’s disingenuous in his attempt to say there were conditions in the legislation for the 250 billion dollar bailout he, Paulson and Bernacke worked out. The carte blanche bailout of the rich was more a sell out than a bailout.
As we look around the landscape of the crashing American economy we can see the obvious greed factor as one of the major causes for the collapse. We can see hedge funds and selling short practices causing artificial wealth for the suckers hoping to invest in a fair marketplace. All the while, Wall Street became like a big crap game in some New York alley. Bettors put bets on the failures of certain companies in order to win huge sums of money. They used the ruse of calling such bets hedges or insurance but any gambler could tell us Las Vegas casinos run the same schemes.
So, along come the automakers asking for their payday in order to keep hundreds of thousands of union workers employed. At first the arrogant CEOs totally failed to include the UAW in the request for the bailout. Why would they want to include the workers that made their product in any plea for financial help?
On their second visit to Congress, the CEOs came by hybrid cars and had a plan. They included the UAW in negotiations with the Senate once the House passed a bill giving the automakers an original assistance package of 12 billion to tide them over until the Obama Administration took power.
Once the bill got to the Senate, Republican Senators decided they had the perfect opportunity to further weaken unionism by demanding the UAW concede lower wages and benefit packages as a good faith sign of “doing their fair share”. The UAW leadership balked at further wage and benefit concessions. Already they had offered future concessions in addition to the wages and benefits lost in the past twenty years to help keep the factories open. The CEOs had made a public spectacle of offering to accept only one dollar salary for the upcoming year to show their good faith. Of course, they had already prepared their finances for golden parachutes and offshore accounts.
Much is made of the average cost of labor being approximately seventy three dollars an hour for the Detroit automakers. The truth is the average worker’s wage at GM, Ford and Chrysler is around twenty five dollars an hour before benefits. The benefits have been consistently cut over the past two decades. The figures being spewed by anti-union politicians in bed with big business included money being paid workers already retired and the astronomical salaries of CEOs and management. In no other nation does an executive of a corporation make a salary a hundred times more than an average skilled worker.
Many say we should allow the American automakers to go bankrupt since they have mismanaged their business. Truthfully, the CEOs and management of the “Big Three” know they can’t lose either way. With bankruptcy, union contracts can be dismantled, pensions can be stolen and the smaller suppliers won’t be paid. The template has already been forged by the airline industry when they used bankruptcy as a tool to either destroy or fatally weaken their unions. Union members lost over half their accumulated pensions and they saw benefits shrink for healthcare. Wages remain stagnant and seldom match increasing costs of living.
And, of course, the union haters of the Senate blame the failure to give the automakers a financial bailout on the unions. The blue collar worker is being blamed for the problems with the economy not the greedy and cynical tycoons and brokers who have built the house of cards bound to crash on Wall Street.
I can only wonder how the brokers betting for companies to fail and then manipulating stocks to accomplish the failures sleep at night. I wonder how they can pose as patriotic while they systematically and deliberately drive companies out of business causing countless men and women to lose their jobs. And, then the same criminals have the gall to seek bailouts to rescue them from their own destructive practices and their prostitutes in Congress go along with the biggest rip off in American history. But, of course, the blame goes to the worker.
The American workers have become foolish sheep who continue to believe management is their ally despite every indication management will abuse and use them until they decide to excuse them from the workforce. Health benefits continue to decline with over 40% of Americans uninsured. Pension funds in 401K and 403K programs have lost 40-50% of their value in the crooked stock market of Wall Street. Job security is worse than any time since the Great Depression. Two wars bleed our youth and the money from our treasury while making enemies around the world. The failed economy has been a boon for enlistments and reenlistments. Treaties of globalization have devalued the wages of all workers worldwide.
The American worker wants to believe the villain is the union taking dues from their pay but fail to see the only reason their pay is where it’s at is because unions negotiate higher wages for union shops and the threat of unionism forces non-union shops to concede higher pay for their workers to stave off possible organizing. But big businesses, along with their lackeys in Congress, have created large campaigns to vilify and nullify unionism as Marxist, socialist and evil incarnate. And few Americans have any clue what the general principles of Marxism and socialism really are.
American workers need to understand the conspiracy against them is one which will indenture them to corporate power even more than it already does when the unions are destroyed. There are more than financial costs at stake for big business. They want total control of the worker. Breaking up the labor movement is the biggest step toward that goal.
Destruction of the middle class is already well under way. The oligarchy of America grows even bigger and stronger while the American worker foolishly thinks management has their best interests in mind by protecting them from the plague of unionism. Rising unemployment and covert and overt ageism, racism, misogyny and homophobia in the workplace are all signs management has no intention of allowing “undesirables” any power.
Undesirables are those who desire and seek economic justice such as a living wage with benefits to avoid total financial havoc in case of illness or damaging accident. Undesirables are those who want workers to have some security in the latter years of their lives in form of pensions that are stable and not dependent on the stock market.
I foresee a time when the workers of America will be not much better off than the Chinese or Thai slave laborer. I see workers being looked at as interchangeable parts that are thrown away when no longer able to do enough or when making too much. These things are already happening today. Only the labor movement has kept total management oppression of the workers from happening. When we kill the movement we kill ourselves as free people in the workforce.
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
Combat veteran
Former union nurse and pipefitter
It has been clear for some time Republicans, and many of the so-called progressive Democrats, have done their best to bust the unions of America in an attempt to further erode the rights of workers and fatten the wallets of the multi-national corporate world.
The saddest part of the discussion about unionism in America is that the corporate world is succeeding in the dismantling of unions. Unions now make up less than 25% of the workforce in the US. But we can’t put the blame entirely on the lackeys of the rich oligarchy. For some unfathomable reason the American worker tends to put more faith in the bosses of the world than other workers who seek some equity and justice in their work for CEOs making 500-1,000 times more in salary than the average worker.
For some reason American workers are stuck on the idea of paying dues “to work” as an affront to them but meekly allow the bosses of Wal-Mart to continually abuse them and deny them a living wage. They allow foreign automakers to reduce benefit packages for healthcare and retirement plus tie the retirement into a volatile stock market. For some reason American workers think the bosses will treat them fairly while the union will cause them to get laid off.
The recent uprising by the Republic Window workers in Chicago is a classic example of the union versus the non-union workforce. Republic management gave the 250 workers less than a week’s notice the company was going out of business. To make matters worse the vacation/sick pay and promised severance pay in the union contract wouldn’t be paid by management because their financier, Bank of America, refused to put up any more credit for the company.
Unbeknownst to the union workers, at first, was the fact Republic was closing the union company at the same time they were opening a new company in another part of the country friendlier to business interests. The new code of the time for “friendlier to business interests” means, of course, unions aren’t welcome. Sure enough, the new company, Echo, was opened as a non-union shop without the “high” wages and expensive benefit package that meant all workers could afford health insurance and dental.
The 250 workers at the defunct Republic decided they weren’t going to put up with the rip off of vacation and severance pay they had legitimately earned. They were especially enraged Bank of America was withholding money to pay Republic’s workers the money due them. Bank of America had just received over 25 billion dollars in the “bailout” program to save America from economic disaster. And, like the many fat cats receiving the money intended to open up credit to businesses, Bank of America was holding on to their billions to make their own bottom line look good to investors.
The workers of Republic took over the closed company’s work place with a sit in. Word of their revolt soon reached the media and spread like a wildfire across the nation. A worker revolt in America was a surefire story because it was very unusual any worker in this nation stood up for themselves against the corporate masters. Union leaders attempted to arrange meetings with Bank of America and Republic management but Bank of America failed to meet the union leaders.
A strange thing began to happen, though. Americans identified with the injustice of the 250 workers of Republic facing unemployment without notice and without being paid for what they had rightfully earned. As usual, politicians came into things late, once they saw the public was outraged and the political fallout could be a problem. Soon President-elect Obama was calling for justice to be served for the workers. Only a few days later Bank of America changed course and negotiated with the union leaders to have the workers paid what was owed.
The uprising by the union members against Republic and Bank of America is an example of a strategy that needs to be used by all activists and the American worker. It was clear the worker was morally right in taking their stand against the company and the financier. Publicity of the injustice struck a note with most Americans facing similar situations of unemployment and loss of benefits. Bank of America had a choice of looking like the evil money grubbers they truly are or defusing the outrage by doing what was right. They paid the workers to avoid the negative image being seen by so many.
Only a few days after Bank of America paid the union workers of Republic the money they had rightfully earned, BOA announced layoffs of 35,000 workers across the nation. Happy holidays, Bank of America workers! Where’s the union to protect you from losing accumulated vacation and retirement pay? Weren’t the billions of dollars provided Bank of America intended to stimulate the economy? Apparently keeping Americans working isn’t part of such a plan.
Soon after the bailout GM, Ford and Chrysler CEOs came before Congress asking for their own bailout package. The first trip to Congress saw them arriving in three separate corporate jets. Nothing like flaunting their power and wealth to impress the public and Congress of the great need for bailout. Pressured by already angry constituents who saw the 250 billion bailout of Wall Street as a scam for the wealthy, Congress feigned outrage toward the auto-makers. The bailout was refused until the CEOs were prepared to provide a detailed plan on how the money they asked for would be spent and assurances the plans would include alternative fuel cars.
It was sickening to watch members of the prostituted Congress chastise CEOs of corporate America that often times buy favors from them. Their outrage was simply incongruent with the facts of political campaigns and political action committees. Drama Queen Pelosi and others looked like poor actors in a small town theatre production.
Now, there was certainly nothing wrong with scolding the CEOs of the “Big Three” and demanding a spending plan but we have to wonder why the same standards weren’t demanded of AIG and all the other Wall Street types when they received far more than the automakers were asking.
The 250 billion plus bailout of Wall Street firms basically came with no strings attached. There was a hopeful expectation the money would be invested in reopening lines of credit for business and helping home owners refinance from onerous loans causing record foreclosures. Of course, Wall Street failed to meet any such expectation. Instead they continued to schedule bonuses for management, prepared golden parachutes for themselves (just in case) and openly went off to luxurious retreats at warm resorts.
Rep. Barney Frank has since gone on national television programs like 60 Minutes saying “you can’t make anybody do what they don’t want to do”. Since Frank is head of a committee on banking and finance he wields great power but he’s disingenuous in his attempt to say there were conditions in the legislation for the 250 billion dollar bailout he, Paulson and Bernacke worked out. The carte blanche bailout of the rich was more a sell out than a bailout.
As we look around the landscape of the crashing American economy we can see the obvious greed factor as one of the major causes for the collapse. We can see hedge funds and selling short practices causing artificial wealth for the suckers hoping to invest in a fair marketplace. All the while, Wall Street became like a big crap game in some New York alley. Bettors put bets on the failures of certain companies in order to win huge sums of money. They used the ruse of calling such bets hedges or insurance but any gambler could tell us Las Vegas casinos run the same schemes.
So, along come the automakers asking for their payday in order to keep hundreds of thousands of union workers employed. At first the arrogant CEOs totally failed to include the UAW in the request for the bailout. Why would they want to include the workers that made their product in any plea for financial help?
On their second visit to Congress, the CEOs came by hybrid cars and had a plan. They included the UAW in negotiations with the Senate once the House passed a bill giving the automakers an original assistance package of 12 billion to tide them over until the Obama Administration took power.
Once the bill got to the Senate, Republican Senators decided they had the perfect opportunity to further weaken unionism by demanding the UAW concede lower wages and benefit packages as a good faith sign of “doing their fair share”. The UAW leadership balked at further wage and benefit concessions. Already they had offered future concessions in addition to the wages and benefits lost in the past twenty years to help keep the factories open. The CEOs had made a public spectacle of offering to accept only one dollar salary for the upcoming year to show their good faith. Of course, they had already prepared their finances for golden parachutes and offshore accounts.
Much is made of the average cost of labor being approximately seventy three dollars an hour for the Detroit automakers. The truth is the average worker’s wage at GM, Ford and Chrysler is around twenty five dollars an hour before benefits. The benefits have been consistently cut over the past two decades. The figures being spewed by anti-union politicians in bed with big business included money being paid workers already retired and the astronomical salaries of CEOs and management. In no other nation does an executive of a corporation make a salary a hundred times more than an average skilled worker.
Many say we should allow the American automakers to go bankrupt since they have mismanaged their business. Truthfully, the CEOs and management of the “Big Three” know they can’t lose either way. With bankruptcy, union contracts can be dismantled, pensions can be stolen and the smaller suppliers won’t be paid. The template has already been forged by the airline industry when they used bankruptcy as a tool to either destroy or fatally weaken their unions. Union members lost over half their accumulated pensions and they saw benefits shrink for healthcare. Wages remain stagnant and seldom match increasing costs of living.
And, of course, the union haters of the Senate blame the failure to give the automakers a financial bailout on the unions. The blue collar worker is being blamed for the problems with the economy not the greedy and cynical tycoons and brokers who have built the house of cards bound to crash on Wall Street.
I can only wonder how the brokers betting for companies to fail and then manipulating stocks to accomplish the failures sleep at night. I wonder how they can pose as patriotic while they systematically and deliberately drive companies out of business causing countless men and women to lose their jobs. And, then the same criminals have the gall to seek bailouts to rescue them from their own destructive practices and their prostitutes in Congress go along with the biggest rip off in American history. But, of course, the blame goes to the worker.
The American workers have become foolish sheep who continue to believe management is their ally despite every indication management will abuse and use them until they decide to excuse them from the workforce. Health benefits continue to decline with over 40% of Americans uninsured. Pension funds in 401K and 403K programs have lost 40-50% of their value in the crooked stock market of Wall Street. Job security is worse than any time since the Great Depression. Two wars bleed our youth and the money from our treasury while making enemies around the world. The failed economy has been a boon for enlistments and reenlistments. Treaties of globalization have devalued the wages of all workers worldwide.
The American worker wants to believe the villain is the union taking dues from their pay but fail to see the only reason their pay is where it’s at is because unions negotiate higher wages for union shops and the threat of unionism forces non-union shops to concede higher pay for their workers to stave off possible organizing. But big businesses, along with their lackeys in Congress, have created large campaigns to vilify and nullify unionism as Marxist, socialist and evil incarnate. And few Americans have any clue what the general principles of Marxism and socialism really are.
American workers need to understand the conspiracy against them is one which will indenture them to corporate power even more than it already does when the unions are destroyed. There are more than financial costs at stake for big business. They want total control of the worker. Breaking up the labor movement is the biggest step toward that goal.
Destruction of the middle class is already well under way. The oligarchy of America grows even bigger and stronger while the American worker foolishly thinks management has their best interests in mind by protecting them from the plague of unionism. Rising unemployment and covert and overt ageism, racism, misogyny and homophobia in the workplace are all signs management has no intention of allowing “undesirables” any power.
Undesirables are those who desire and seek economic justice such as a living wage with benefits to avoid total financial havoc in case of illness or damaging accident. Undesirables are those who want workers to have some security in the latter years of their lives in form of pensions that are stable and not dependent on the stock market.
I foresee a time when the workers of America will be not much better off than the Chinese or Thai slave laborer. I see workers being looked at as interchangeable parts that are thrown away when no longer able to do enough or when making too much. These things are already happening today. Only the labor movement has kept total management oppression of the workers from happening. When we kill the movement we kill ourselves as free people in the workforce.
Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
Combat veteran
Former union nurse and pipefitter
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