A PICKETING president? Independent senator Bernie Sanders said it could be him.
‘Yeah, I might. That’s right. Why not?’ Sanders said when asked about the possibility after addressing American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union members on Saturday in Altoona, Iowa.
The day before, Sanders picketed outside a Cedar Rapids plant that produces specialised starches alongside union workers engaged in a battle with the plant’s parent company, Ingredion, over new contract negotiations.
And to a crowd of 400 last Thursday in Burlington, Iowa – an old, union town hit hard over the last three decades by shuttered factories – Sanders emphatically stated: ‘The bottom line is: For millions of American workers, wages in this country are just too damn low.’
AFSCME members in Iowa and across the nation tuned in this Labor Day weekend for livestreamed town halls with Hillary Clinton, Governor Martin O’Malley, and Senator Bernie Sanders. The union said: ‘The events gave working people and retirees the chance to interview the US Presidential candidates about the issues that matter most to them: restoring balance to the economy, making a decent living to provide for their families, retirement security, and the ability of workers to bargain collectively.
‘Town hall participants in Iowa and nationwide provided feedback through surveys after the event as part of AFSCME’s democratic and transparent presidential endorsement process. People are working harder than ever, but basics like groceries and rent are eating up more and more of our paychecks every month,’ said Iowa member and mother, Paula Martinez. ‘We asked the candidates how we can help our children achieve a better life if we can’t afford quality child care, let alone college.’
The AFSCME stressed: ‘Public service workers are looking for a president who will balance the economy, and ensure it rewards hard work. They want a President who strengthens workers’ right to collectively bargain for wages and benefits, making it possible to sustain a family and retire with dignity.’
‘It seems like the rules are manipulated to help those at the top,’ said Marc Wallace, an AFSCME Iowa member and veteran. We’re feeling that unfairness just like everybody else and that’s what I came into this weekend hoping to hear the candidates address.’
Since the spring, AFSCME has been gathering feedback on the Presidential candidates and their vision for America from members nationwide through polling, surveys, and forums. The union sent questionnaires in the late spring to both Republican and Democratic candidates. It said: ‘The three candidates who filled out their questionnaires were invited to meet with our member-elected board of 35 international vice-presidents who represent councils and affiliates from across the country.
‘AFSCME invited the three candidates to participate in the Iowa town halls. Following the town halls, AFSCME will continue to engage our members and retirees to receive feedback on the Presidential nominees. Any endorsement decision will be driven by this member input and will be determined through a vote by the member-elected International Executive Board.’
The Amalgamated Transit Union’s Boston Carmen’s Union, Local 589 held a rally on Monday to keep ‘public’ transportation ‘public’ on Lincoln Square Park, adjacent to the Park Plaza Hotel. When President Barack Obama arrived at the Greater Boston Council’s Labor Day breakfast on Monday, he was greeted by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) workers rallying against privatisation.
The Boston Carmen’s Union protested against the MBTA’s recent proposal to outsource the operation of certain bus routes at 7am on Monday near the annual event. According to James O’Brien, the union’s president: ‘We want to send a strong message to these private companies that think they’re going to come here and do our work. We want to tell the governor and the MBTA that this isn’t going to be easy.’
In August, MBTA officials unveiled that they were exploring the privatisation of 32 bus routes, which could affect about 65 bus drivers and 93 buses currently operated by union members.Earlier, Amalgamated Transit Union International President Larry Hanley issued the following statement to mark Labor Day in the United States and Canada.
He said: ‘Labor Day always seems to come too soon. The summer flies by and many people regret not taking more time off during the warmer months. ‘But, when it takes two family members working overtime – if both can get jobs – to earn the living that one could make a generation ago, it’s remarkable that anybody has the time to take a vacation at all. Labor Day began in Canada in 1872, when a march by 10,000 Toronto workers convinced the government to legalise unions, and eventually establish a nine-hour workday. The march was later commemorated with an annual parade, and the practice soon spread to the United States.
‘For many years Labor Day has been a time to celebrate union victories of the past. But this Labor Day we’d do better to prepare for the battles ahead, because, today, an increasing number of employees work way more than 40-hours a week, but still struggle to make ends meet while well-financed anti-worker forces are working hard to make unions a thing of the past.
‘It’s no secret that it’s getting harder to earn a living. And, workers have lost all faith in the ability of the political parties to deliver on their supposed support for working families. Which begs the question: How can unions continue to support the parties that have been disassembling the labour movement right before our eyes; sending jobs overseas; and eliminating regulations that protect workers?
‘Many people in the labour movement are concluding that we can’t. That’s one reason the campaigns of Tom Mulcair (the labour-oriented NDP leader) running for prime minister in Canada, and Bernie Sanders (an Independent) running for the Democratic presidential nomination in the US have caught fire, attracting a surprising amount of support.
‘Both leaders have toiled on the fringes of the political spectrum for some time, but have attracted supporters and become serious contenders because of their views on creating equal economic opportunities for all, treating workers fairly, and fighting the wealth gap. This is an especially urgent question for Canadians as the Conservative policies of the Harper government have led the nation down the path to recession.
‘And it’s important to Americans where income inequality continues. Bernie Sanders has generated a great deal of excitement in the US by articulating the truth that working people already know, and other candidates are afraid to say. That we shouldn’t just preserve Social Security – we should increase it.
‘That Wall Street and the giant global financial interests just got away with the biggest bank robbery in history – and we’re all paying for it. That it’s the insatiable financial demands of our never-ending foreign wars that are unsustainable – not the purchase of a bus, or the modest pension of a retired government worker.
‘To those who say that unions should not endorse candidates who are unlikely to win, I ask, “Where has all of the support we’ve given to establishment politicians gotten us?” Not far; and, frankly, we’ve lost more than we’ve gained over the last seven years. Despite our support, Democrats have not provided Labour and working families with a seat at the table when federal economic and labour policies have been hammered out.
‘But, while ATU supports Tom Mulcair and the New Democratic Party in Canada’s national election, October 19, the US election is over a year away. US labour is watching the candidates closely, and union members will support the woman or man in 2016, who will commit to specific proposals to improve the lives of working families, rather than issuing nuanced expressions of support that can be easily disregarded once elected.
‘And that process starts right now – which could make this Labor Day the most important since 1872.’
The US union federation AFL-CIO said: ‘This Labor Day we recognise the incredible achievements of America’s working people and celebrate all those who make our country run. Many of us will be busy with barbecues, festivals and other types of family events that bring everyone together. Amid all the celebrating, we must truly consider what strengthens our families and communities and take a look at how public policies have deliberately diminished working peoples’ ability to sustain a good living and driven our economy out of balance.
‘Working people are the backbone of our nation and need to be recognised as such, both in word and deed. Too often, those working every day for a better life are forced to take a back seat to corporate interests which care only about their own bottom line. Workers everywhere are standing up and speaking out for fundamental, lasting change regardless of whether they work in manufacturing, engineering, service or retail.
‘Every day, working people use their talent, dedication and drive to make our nation stronger. This Labor Day should be a celebration of working families, because we are ready to speak up together, change the rules and bring lasting economic balance so that every family can pursue the American Dream and work for a better life. On Labor Day, we are asking all working families to highlight the single greatest thing that unites us – “Working. For a Better Life” – and to join the push for a fairer and more just economy.’
Instead of promoting illusions in the ‘American Dream’, the US unions must break with the Democratic Party and left-reformist Sanders and form a Labor Party to take on desperate and bankrupt US capitalism. This means building a US section of the Fourth International to replace the reformist union leaders and lead the developing American socialist revolution to victory.
