Subscribe to Dollars & Sense magazine. Recent articles related to the financial crisis. Andy Stern's 'Team America'This item is from seiuvoice.org, a reform group within SEIU. Hat-tip to Doug Henwood.December 17th, 2008 Andy Stern was featured this week on the NPR show Talk of the Nation. After refusing to answer several questions about SEIU's connection to the "pay-to-play" corruption scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, he spent the rest of the show advocating his vision of a "21st-century," more "American" form of unionism that makes the labor movement a subordinate partner to Corporate America. When confronted by an SEIU member's question about the secret backroom deals he's made with employers like Sodexho, Compass, and Aramark, Stern's defense was that "those workers are trying to find a way to have a partnership with their employer." In fact, most of those workers are completely unaware of Stern's partnership with their employer-one condition of a secret agreement that prohibits union staff from admitting to workers that the agreement exists. In his final comments, Stern admitted that he does not believe in the power of workers' collective action-specifically the right to strike-and that instead union members should rely on the political process to get the job done. "I don't think anymore that the power of unions comes from its ability to strike," he said. "I think it comes from its ability to participate in the political process and to change America in issues that we've been talking about, like health care." Stern's comments echo the position put forth in his book "A Country That Works," which emphasizes the need for labor to "partner" with Corporate America and identify ways that the union can "add value" to employers. This model flies in the face of the history of organized labor and other social justice movements, where collective action has played a pivotal role in making positive change for working people in our country. Just in the last few weeks workers at Republic Windows and Doors beat Bank of America with a sit-down strike, and over the past year healthcare workers in California have won standard setting contracts with the right to organize nonunion workers through worker-led strikes and action. Click here to listen to the show. Click here (and scroll down) to read the transcript. Labels: Andy Stern, SEIU, seiuvoice.org, strikes, unions Please consider donating to Dollars & Sense and/or subscribing to the magazine (both print and e-subscriptions now available!). |
