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Monday, December 17, 2012

Eulogy for Occupy?

Wired magazine has published an article that I think all Occupy supporters would benefit from reading:

http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/12/a-eulogy-for-occupy/

Please post your comments on the subject below - especially if you have an idea as to how the Occupy movement should proceed.

Of course we can and should keep meeting, discussing political developments, books, videos and so on. But what is it the Occupy movement should do to avoid deserving this eulogy? Is there an Occupy Phase II, or will the next steps toward changing society from the bottom up go by another name?


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

"Right-to-work" Michigan

So the Michigan state legislature has passed, and the governor will sign, a "right-to-work" law. If there was ever a doubt about class war happening in Michigan, and who is willing to fight it, this action should should bury that doubt. The questions are, what should we do about it, and what can we do about it?

The only strength that unions have ever had is the willingness of their members to strike and the ability of leaders elected or unelected to organize community and political support for the objects of strikes. All the contracts, grievance procedures, guarantees of job security, cost-of-living adjustments, benefits and so on are based on the ability to strike when needed. If unions have lost this ability, the loss of everything else unions have accomplished follows.

If unions in Michigan - all of them, union members and staff alike - are willing to strike until the law is nullified, this battle will be won, and quickly. If they are not, then the "right to work" laws will stick, and unions will disintegrate. Protesting, lobbying and writing letters to the editor are not adequate. Planning to elect a different set of state legislators in 2014 is, in the immediate case, pie in the sky. By the time we get to the 2014 elections, after two years of "right-to-work," unions will be far weaker than they are today.

In short, I'm in favor of a general strike over this issue. If the unions of Michigan are not capable of calling a general strike over this issue, then we are stuck with a "right-to-work"  law and all of its consequences for some years.

That's my prediction. We'll see how it works out. Comments?

Art Myatt