Let's
Build Big Strong Powerful Unions! Union
Jobs and Union Wages for Everybody!
An
Interview with Wolf Larsen
from the book Capitalism Sucks!
Question: Why do you want to kick out the trade union
bureaucrats, as you call them, and replace them with a militant leadership?
Answer: Because the trade union bureaucrats are always
selling out the workers. The trade union
bureaucrats are too close to management.
What we need is to kick the union bureaucrats out and replace them with
trade union leaders that are more militant.
We need militant trade union leaders that will fight for the rights of
workers! We need militant trade union
leaders that will fight for better wages, fight for free quality medical care
for all workers, safer working conditions, free quality child care for all female
workers, equal pay for equal work, etc.
Q. Why do you say that the trade union
bureaucrats are always selling out the workers?
A. Because that's what they do! Often when there's a strike the trade union
bureaucrats don't want to have real picket lines that mean nobody crosses. In addition, the union bureaucrats often
don't care about the concerns of rank-and-file workers. A lot of these trade union bureaucrats seem
to be more concerned with what's best for management. Many of these trade union bureaucrats are too
close to management, they're too buddy buddy with management. There's labor on one side and there's the
bosses on the other and you're either on one side or the other.
Q. You seem to be very passionate about workers
rights. Does this passion come from your
own experiences in the labor force?
A. When I was in my teens and early 20s I worked
in restaurants, supermarkets, and offices. Then I worked on commercial fishing
boats in Alaska for nearly 2 years. On
some of those boats I worked over 100 hour weeks. Because there was no union we got screwed
lots of times and in all kinds of ways.
We were virtually slaves. You
have to work on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska to see what I mean. Later, I stopped working on the commercial
fishing boats. I started working on the
docks. The first jobs I did on the docks
was throwing 44 pound boxes of frozen fish for 12 hour shifts. Each man had to throw 3 tons of boxes per
hour – that was the minimum! We stacked
the boxes in rows up over our heads to the ceiling in the cargo holds of
ships. We worked in freezer holds that
were cold – up to 10° below zero Fahrenheit (-25 Celsius). Having just gotten off commercial fishing
boats I thought this kind of work was easy at first. And we even got a break every two hours! I thought that was great! It was nice having the union. Because I actually got paid for my work. On the fishing boats we sometimes worked for
free. Anyway I continued working as a
longshoreman or dockworker for the next 10 years. I did stevedore work, which was throwing
boxes, and I also did container work, which was lashing barges and ships.
Q.
Were you represented by a union on the longshoreman's job?
A. Yes, I was represented by the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union or I.L.W.U.
Q. That's supposed to be a good union!
A. It's one of the most powerful unions in the
country. Maybe it's better than other
unions, but as far as our own union local was concerned, well we used to call
the union business agent Lameass.
Lameass was his nickname. He was
the main union bureaucrat in our port. Whenever
we rank-and-file workers would say we want such and such changed the answer of
Lameass was that that wouldn't be good for management. That union bureaucrat was more concerned
about management than he was about us workers.
What made things even crazier is that we were casuals. Even though we paid union dues we weren't
actually members of the union. Anyway, I
worked as a longshoreman in the port of Dutch Harbor Alaska on a seasonal basis
for 10 years. I put in long hours twice
a year – up to 100 hour weeks – and I took a lot of the year off to write and
travel.
Q.
What was being represented by the I.L.W.U. like?
A. In some ways it was good, real good. The pay was good. If you got fired you only got fired for that
day. You could come back the next day to
work again. They couldn't get rid of you
just because maybe some asshole foremen didn't like you. As long as you showed up on time and did your
job it was difficult for them to fire you.
That was good. They couldn't just
replace you with their cousin, or their drinking buddy, or whatever. That was because there was a powerful
union. The union controlled hiring. However, the people who lead our union local
were very lame. I remember walking the
picket line and watching scabs do our job.
There was no effort to stop the scabs from doing our job. Instead of making a serious effort to
unionize all of the dockworkers in the port the union would try to organize
people in other lines of work that had nothing to do with the port because I
guess that was easier. It was
pathetic! The union gave away a lot of
our work on a silver platter. Lots of
work in that port that used to be union is now non-union.
Q. I see, and you feel that most trade union
bureaucrats are pretty lame?
A. Most of the trade union bureaucrats are a
bunch of Lameasses! What we need is a
militant trade union leadership that is not afraid of leading a real strike. We need picket lines where nobody crosses! Scabbing should be hazardous to one's
health! Massive picket lines should be
set up everywhere where there is no union.
Everything should be unionized!
Q. Everything should be unionized? Even small businesses?
A. Not necessarily small businesses. But what I mean is all major industry should
be unionized. All major employers in the
country should be unionized. All large
employers should be unionized. Unions
mean better wages for workers. Unions
mean better benefits for the workers.
Unions mean better job protection for the workers. In a strong union you can't be fired just
because the manager doesn't like you.
They have to have just cause to fire you if the union is strong.
Q. Many trade union officials make six-figure
incomes. How do you feel about that?
A. I think that's awful! Trade union officials should only make as
much as the workers that they represent!
If the trade union officials make more than the workers then they don't
have the lifestyle of the workers, they get out of touch with the workers, they
don't understand the workers. Trade
union officials should only make as much as the workers they represent. If the trade union officials decide they want
to make more money than they better fight to raise the wages of the workers
they represent as well.
Q. Many trade union officials have close ties to
the Democratic Party. How do you feel
about that?
A. I think it sucks! The Democratic Party doesn't care about
workers anymore than the Republicans!
The Democrats are a bunch of two-faced so-and-so's just like the
Republicans are. We're basically living
under a democracy of the rich. And both
parties represent the interests of the rich.
The Democrats call out the police against picket lines just like the
Republicans. The Democrats support union
busting legislation just like the Republicans.
The Democrats aren't our friends.
All that money that the trade union bureaucrats are giving to the
Democratic Party is a complete waste of our hard-earned dollars. Instead of giving our money to the Democrats
the unions should put the money in a strike fund, so the workers can go on
strike whenever they have to!
Q . Some
people say that unions are bad for the economy.
How do you feel about that?
A. Unions are bad for the rich people's economy,
but unions are good for the working people's economy. Unions put money into the pockets of working
people.
Q. But isn't it true that unions impose a bunch
of complicated rules on the workplace?
A. Many of those rules are there for a
reason. For example there was a rule in
our longshore union that if we worked after midnight the employer had to pay us
extra money. That was an incentive to
send everyone home at midnight. That way
everyone could go home and make their spouses happy. Keeping their spouses happy helps keep
marriages together. And the longshoremen
can get some sleep. We're talking about
a quality-of-life issue here. There were
other realities too. Management was more
concerned about production and less concerned about safety. Since it was the workers getting injured
management didn't care about safety rules as much as we did. There were a lot of rules about safety,
because safety was very important to us.
Also, we didn't want management to practice favoritism in hiring. And that's why the union hall controlled
hiring. Hiring was based on seniority.
Q. Why shouldn't management be able to hire
whoever they want to?
A. In our port management didn't do the
hiring. The union hall did the
hiring. Jobs are given out based on
seniority. Once all the people with
seniority had jobs the new guys got a chance.
Actually, giving out work on the basis of seniority made it more
difficult for the employers to practice discrimination. Giving out work based on seniority gave more
opportunities for blacks, women, gays, and anybody else management might
discriminate against. Anybody who was
capable could do the job. When the union
hall controls hiring there's less discrimination. The workers feel more secure, because since
advancement is based on seniority you don't need to worry as much about being
in the good graces of the boss. There's
no reason to kiss the ass of the boss.
Kissing the ass of the boss won't help you. The only thing that will help you is doing
your job and doing it right, and always showing up on time, etc.
Q. What other advantages did you find in a union
job?
A. Union jobs are safer. By having a powerful union to back you up you
felt more confident to refuse to do something that is not safe. (Our job was very dangerous.) In the beginning I worked many nonunion jobs
in the port because I didn't have much seniority and those nonunion jobs were a
lot more dangerous than the union jobs.
Q. What do you think should be done about
corruption in the unions?
A. If there's some corruption in some unions
it's up to the workers to clean house.
The best way to clean house is for the workers to kick out the union
bureaucrats that are corrupt.
Q. You don't think the government should
intervene, to help make corrupt unions cleaner?
A. Absolutely not! Because the government doesn't care about
making the unions cleaner. The
government intervenes in unions to weaken them!
The government is hostile to unions.
The government makes these claims about corruption – which may or may
not be valid – but the government makes these claims of corruption because the
government wants to take over the unions and weaken them. Our own government is very corrupt. You're always reading about some corrupt
politician. Who the hell are these
corrupt politicians to be complaining about corruption in the unions?? The government should keep its hands off the
unions! The unions belong to working
people! The unions don't belong to the
government! The working people must
fight to keep the government out of our unions.
Q. If the government decides to take over a
union or take over union local what can working people do about it?
A. They can protest. They can also go on strike. They can stage slowdowns. Workers in other industries and workplaces can
stage sympathy strikes. There can even
be general strikes – which would involve all the workers in an entire city or
nation or industry.
Q. Why should workers in other industries and
workplaces stage sympathy strikes?
A. Because if the government takes over a union
then the government can later take over other unions too. An injury to one is an injury to all! It's in the self-interest of all workers to
stand together and fight together. Workers
are stronger that way! At any rate the strike,
the general strike, the sitdown strike, slowdowns, protests, sympathy strikes –
these are some of the tools with which the working class can defend itself and
make demands. The working class can use
these tools – such as the various types of strikes, including general strikes –
to demand free quality medical care for all, better public schools for the
workers' children, the release of political prisoners, etc. The working class can make powerful
statements with these methods – and other methods too! For example, longshoreman and truck drivers
and railroad workers can make a powerful statement by hot-cargoing all
armaments destined for the wars.
Q. What is hot-cargoing?
A. It's when workers refuse to handle cargo –
such as in the case of the war – workers refuse to ship and transport
armaments. Hot-cargoing can also be used
against companies that hire scabs. Railway
workers, truck drivers, longshoremen, and warehousemen can refuse to handle
cargo made by scabs.
Q. When many people think of unions they think
of something outdated – don't you think that unions are now outdated?
A. How could unions be outdated when so many
people are working so hard for such miserly wages? How could unions be outdated when so many
workers on this planet don't even have medical insurance? And many times the medical insurance that the
workers have doesn't even pay their medical bills – so obviously unions are not
outdated when such basic concerns as decent wages and decent medical benefits
are not even being met by the employers.
The object of the employers is to pay workers as little as
possible. Many workers don't even get a
break at work – not even a 15 minute coffee break. If you take a 15 minute coffee break you get
fired. The basic rights of workers are being
trampled upon. That's why we need unions
more than ever!
Q. But if the workers demand better wages and
medical benefits won't the employers react by just moving more jobs overseas?
A. That's why you need unions! To fight to stop the employers from moving
jobs overseas! If you lay down and play
dead without a fight what will that get you – nothing! We shouldn't just give away jobs to the
employers on a silver platter. We need
unions in order to fight to keep our
jobs. Ultimately, in order to assure
jobs for everyone at decent wages we will need to have a workers
revolution. Because under the capitalist
system workers will always get screwed.
But in the meantime we need unions to defend ourselves.
Q. Unions seem to be mostly confined to industrial
jobs. Unions don't seem appropriate for
non-industrial jobs – isn't that true?
A. You can organize lots of jobs with unions! The fact is 60% of Americans want unions in
their workplace. However only 13% of the
American workforce is unionized. That's
because the bosses are engaging in all this union busting! It's also because the union bureaucrats are
selling the workers out all the time.
Also the government is on side of the bosses. For these reasons only 13% of the American
workforce is unionized. But you can
organize all kinds of workplaces.
Supermarkets have been organized.
Everything can be organized.
Stores can be organized and made union.
Chain restaurants like McDonald's can be unionized. Offices can be unionized. Office workers – many of them – are not
well-paid. Many office workers get fired
if they take a 15 minute coffee break.
Many office workers don't receive benefits. Many office workers get fired for the
slightest little petty thing! Many
office buildings are just white-collar sweatshops. That's why we need unions in office jobs as
well! You can unionize almost
everything! Unions will bring better
wages and more job security, because it will be more difficult for the employer
to fire somebody without just cause.
Unionize Everything from my YouTube video channel SucksCapitalism:
Buy the book Capitalism Sucks on Amazon or other online retailers,
or just scroll down to read Capitalism Sucks for free.
You can also click on whatever chapter you wish listed
in the upper right hand column of this page.
You can also click on whatever chapter you wish listed
in the upper right hand column of this page.
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