Union Stations

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• Reader Comments (12)

  Page 1 of 1 pages

  It seems to me the idea is over due, if we build an international labor press then the readers will come. www.CLNews.org - educate-agitate-organize - clnews-subscribe@lists.clnews.org

  Posted by Tony Budak on Apr 20, 2005 at 5:54 PM

  I find it completely amazing that progressive commentators and labor media folks continue to ignore the development of Workers Independent News (WIN). WIN is the first nationwide labor radio news program launched in more than 50 years; after three years on the air its daily headline newscast is hard by more than two million people. Amazingly, WIN has grown with little to no support (and even some opposition) from entrenched “institutional” AFL-CIO leadership. It’s almost as if the folks at WIN have worked hard to give labor a voice that it chooses to ignore. With perspectives like this article, it really should come as no surprise that labor’s media voice gets marginalized, and having been involved in actually doing something about it I, for one, would like to see more folks put some substance behind their words for a change.

  Posted by John Anderson on Apr 21, 2005 at 3:22 PM

  Here’s a reality check. The best labor journalism heavily depends on the willingness and ability of labor communicators to do their job, which is not an easy one. For every labor communicator who has an idea of how to improve their communications strategy, there are hudreds who will stick to their responsibilities and refuse to do any additional work. And why should they? They are not getting paid to do the additional work of building stronger relationships between unions and their membership. If they were to even try to improve their comminications strategy they would end up having to deal with a lot of political posturing and meet plenty of resistance along the way and they would face a lot of criticism due to the fact that they are not an savvy as other publications. What motivation is there for an individual communicator to take it upon himself to work harder for something that probably won’t succeed. Most labor publications don’t even see the light of day outside of their local union. Central Labor Councils cannot mandate that local unions improve their communications strategy and national surveys have shown that the most heavily read labor publications are the local ones. Another major challege to improving labor communications is that almost every single labor union that I know of has a lot of distrust for anyone outside of their local. I love the quotes that building trades people put out about how they don’t need the opinions of people who have never been in their shoes. The distrust goes way up when they get opinions from people who are not union members, regardless of what degree the industry that person is in is unionized. There have got to be a million more stereotypical reasons why the labor press as a whole will probably never succeed. There are a lot of glossy newsletters that win awards from the ILCA or some other top down body and the reality is that those people are financed and controlled by union presidents which make their publications look more like propaganda than something that would represent the views of every day workers. And I didn’t even mention all the communists and socialists who put out papers that look like they are labor publications at various rallies. There are also a lot of really bad websites that provide a disincentive to others who were thinking of starting their own.

  Posted by Devil's Advocate on Apr 22, 2005 at 2:02 PM

  I am not affiliated with any labor or union organization, but I think labor is central to a renewed progressive movement in this century.  I think the idea laid out here is crucial, but it will take a long, long time to develop.  However, by itself I don’t see how it could go very far.  It should be part of a four-part, long, long-term plan, the other three being:

  a) the networking of all progressive forces through a shared vision and strategic initiatives that
  b) targets as our ultimate political objective the redsign of our economic tool the corporation, alongwith the democratization of our whole system of wealth, and
  c) the development of a movement to move our country from a democracy by consent to a democracy based on active, informed participation; that is, from a weak democracy to a strong democracy.

  The Union Stations idea discussed here would be a major part of the communication and educational network for such a project.  My preference would be for labor to lead the way in developing the communication and educational systems for this overall project.

  All of this could be done by the end of this century if:

  1)there is indeed the potential political will to create a much more advanced form of democracy, and
  2) all of the planning, strategizing, and actions are done within the context of this 21st century project.

  Why in g---’s name would anyone propose thinking in terms of 100 years in the face of all the crises we face today?  Because--maybe--it’s the only thing that will work.  For 130 years we have worked to regulate corporate power and wealth discrimination.  We have yet to go for the jugular of corporate America--the legal status of the corporation and the docrtrine of shareholder primacy--with a force commensurate to the task.  The only force I can think of that could measure up to the job is a grassroots movement of informed and active democratic people determined to advance our democratic culture and transform its anti-democratic institutions.  We have several models to work from: the populist movement in late 19th century; the transformation of the Apartheid system in South Africa; and Civil Rights movement, which began in great confusion and against great odds 90 years before it burst forth in the 1950s.

  This would be some feat to pull off.  Maybe impossible, but trying would take us places we probably have never dreamed of.  And then there would be the 22nd century.

  Posted by joncehart on Apr 22, 2005 at 7:39 PM

  I just happened to search google news today. I typed the words “workers strike”.  I saw about 35 strikes launched somewhere on this planet in the past 24 hours!! And I got tired after about 9 pages of google listings.  These are just the english sites!!! 

  The class struggle, the international struggle is a prominent fact of daily life and we don’t even know this.  THe problem with CLNews, WIN etc. is their national character and thier obsession with unions.  A lot of workers actions are done outside and AGAINST the unions who divide workers according to sections and by national boundaries. 

  It would be quite easy for the progressives to show us just how major a part of life the class struggle is but they won’t because they are incapable of seeing the big picture.  They are obsessed with AMerica and the political scene locally and are convinced that the unions are a tool workers can utilise in their struggles.

  Posted by Maximillian Al-Dakari on Apr 23, 2005 at 2:44 AM

  Max,
  Thanks. Your information is amazing.  I had no idea so much is going on. I think the problem you are pointing to is a reflection of a broader problem effecting progressives.  We work with frames that are not long enough, broad enough or deep enough.  Long both in terms of historical perspective and future implictions of actions now.  Broad enough both in terms of a global perspective and being inclusive of all progressive issues, which are all so interconnected.  Deep enough because our failures in democracy are deeply embedded in both our nervous systems and culture. 

  You contradict yourself at one point in your posting: “It would be quite easy for the progressives to show us just how major a part of life the class struggle is but they won’t because they are incapable of seeing the big picture.” If progressives are “incapable of seeing the big picture”, then it would not be easy for them to make all the connections you see needed to be made.

  Further, I don’t either, and I don’t know anyone who does.  More than anything else we progressives need to educate ourselves to seeing and thinking in long, broad and deep perspectives.  If we can’t do this among ourselves, then how can we do it with the rest of the public.

  What can you do to educate us to what you know, and be open to finding out what you don’t know.

  Posted by joncehart on Apr 23, 2005 at 4:13 AM

  Joncehart,

  I actually think that instead of the issues being interconnected, I think the class struggle is of primacy.  I think that all other concerns, the environment, racism, sexism etc. are subordiinate because they can’t be solved fundamentally without the class struggle.  Why do I say this, because the problem is the global system.

  I’m not a progressive.  Sorry to dissapoint you.  The problem with the progressive mindset is precisely that it sees things in terms of more or less equally important issues, whearas I see things in terms of a long term historical view.  HIstory is the history of class struggle.

  Let me put it concretely.  If you work under hellish conditions, you don’t act individually but you unite with you co-coworkers and fight back collectively.  HOwever all the workers are needed to contribute thier all.  You will fail if you stick to whatever prejudices you might have.  What if some workers insist on keeping out all the minorities, gays, women etc out of the struggle?  Then thier only strength, thier unity, is severely undermined.  In order for your basic economic rights to be conquered you must cross all the artificial boundaries and unite.  That’s how racism, sexism, xenophobia etc can be overcome.  It is subordinate to the class struggle and can’t be solved apart from the class struggle. 

  If you’re anti-war, the class struggle can allow the ports and the arms factories and the trucks and trains, and the entire war economy to be shut down and thus cripple the war effort.

  If you’re a green the class struggle can put workers in control of the economy and create a globe in which profit and accumulation aren’t the motivation and higher motives such as human need and environmental sensitivity can be realised.

  The primacy of the class stuggle over all other “issues” is clear to me.  Only if the workers of the world unite and take matters into thier own hands will anything else be truly solved.  HOwever it is hard to understand just how important the struggle is for mankind if you think that a workers’ strike is on the same plane as a take back the night rally.  THis is not a progressive viewpoint.

  I try to be open to what I don’t know.

  Posted by Maximillian Al-Dakari on Apr 24, 2005 at 1:52 PM

  Moberg’s article made me uncomfortable because he’s right.

  Then all the postings gave me hope because so many good ideas and insights started to flow.

  No, we won’t see it get better in our lifetimes, but that’s not a reason not to try.

  Our working great-grandchildren will thank us.

  Posted by Frances on Apr 25, 2005 at 3:52 PM

  Frances,
  ...and we can have a great time building something greater than ourselves.

  Posted by joncehart on Apr 25, 2005 at 8:29 PM

  Labor should pool its resources, limit its political donations, and create buy a superstation (a la WGN or WOR) that can get on cable.  If it means going in with Sierra Club and George Soros, then so be it.

  Labor has to be the anchor as working people must be provided an easy access alternative that speaks to their economic anxieties and to simultaneously promote economic reforms that provide hope and a basis upon which to organize political power.

  I wrote an alternative history about RFK surviving 1968 and becoming president, entitled “A Disturbance of Fate” (Seven Locks, 2003).  In the alternative time line, one of the things a revitalized labor movement does it buy a newspaper in 1973 and then move on to buy television and radio stations.  One can imagine the consequences to the political discourse.

  Labor should read and consider carefully Mr. Moberg’s article and take it to the next step and the step after that.

  Posted by Mitchell Freedman on Apr 29, 2005 at 9:43 PM

  This whole discussion is bullshit. Labor media needs to start at the bottom and work up. A top down organization which tries to look mainstream is not going to be sustainable or effective. In my opinion, labor needs to do more than just being political buddies with the Democrats and try to experement within their own ranks. Why not get a group of people from the Writer’s Guild to come up with ideas of how they might be able to start/create a media channel and work with other labor unions to tell the story from the worker’s perspective? Maybe it will take 100 years for labor unions to re-invent themselves based on the decisions and struggles made at the grass roots against top down bureaucratic unions.

  Why should labor unions limit themselves to just the 8 million people that recieve their newsletters? Why not reach out to non-union Americans who would love to be a union member if they could? Where is the labor publication for the non-union union supporters? The AFL-CIO’s Working America program is not it.

  Posted by Nick on May 2, 2005 at 2:36 PM

  I’m looking for folks to help develop a new online community called “Communicate or Die: American Labor Unions and the Internet”.  Our mission is to build a network of labor and technology professionals to discuss and develop solutions that allow unions to realize the full potential of Internet technology.

  We’re just starting.  Just register and start commenting if interested: http://www.communicateordie.com

  Posted by Steve Dondley on Jul 2, 2005 at 10:36 AM

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