Working In These Times

Gregory A. Butler 16 Dec 2009
11:07 pm

Well, Geoghegan’s lawsuit victory is nice - but, at the end of the day, class struggle is won or lost on the job, not in Corporate America’s legal system.

The only way railroad workers (or any other workforce) are going to win justice is by battles on the job led by workers - not lawsuits filed by attorneys, no matter how “progressive” they might claim to be.

Lindsay Beyerstein 17 Dec 2009
8:34 am

The railroad workers decided to take their dispute to court, not Geoghegan. He was a means to their ends.

Gregory A. Butler 17 Dec 2009
11:35 am

That in no way negates my point - Corporate America’s court system serves the bosses and the capitalist system and the road to workers justice is through struggle on the job, not lawsuits.

Who hired Gegohegan is absolutely irrelevant to that broader political point, Sister Beyerstein!

Lindsay Beyerstein 17 Dec 2009
11:45 am

I’m not trying to negate your point. Of course the class struggle is won or lost on the job. That said, railway workers in the U.S. face unique obstacles to workplace democracy—like not being allowed to strike. So, if they’re going to democratize their workplaces, they need to carve out a legal space to do so. Or, at least their leadership thinks they do, hence the lawsuit. It makes tactical sense. It’s harder to have a democratic workplace when the boss can drag you into an unaccountable kangaroo court.

Gregory A. Butler 17 Dec 2009
11:58 am

I’m very aware of the limitations that the RLA puts on railroad workers right to strike.

I’m just saying that the proper forum to challenge an unjust law is in the streets.

That is, a national railroad strike, with nobody going back to work til RLA is repealed or drastically reformed.

This may sound quite radical - but, if you’ll recall, that’s how other unjust laws have been defeated historically (Jim Crow, Apartheid ect).

Also, considering how central the railroads are to the American economy, the railroad workers have the social power to make their will felt, by withdrawing their labor power.

Actually, the operating crafts (locomotive engineers and conductors) alone could have that impact.

What social power does Geoghegan have in the courthouse? Basically none.

Contrast that with the vast social power of tens of thousands of railroad workers withdrawing their labor power en masse - and the economic chaos that they can cause.

Here’s one example, the electricity you are using to write your email in Chicago comes from coal that was railhauled from Wyoming - without that coal, your lights would be off and you wouldn’t be able to write me your message.

You can’t drive a train with an injunction.

Bottom line, the working class’ power is in the streets and on the job, not in the bossman’s courthouse!