Bill Ayers speaks out! An In These Times exclusive.

Paradigm Shift

Labor has found success by eschewing NLRB elections in favor of employer neutrality and card checks

By David Moberg

Mirna Blanco, an immigrant Salvadoran janitor in Houston, and Kelvin Banks, an African-American cellular telephone customer service representative in Jackson, Miss., don’t know each other and couldn’t even communicate easily if they met. But they do have something in common. Both were active in recent, large-scale union organizing campaigns that succeeded in the South, a region long resistant to unionization.… return to article

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    Page 1 of 1 pages

    Bill:

    Some more and interesting details post Houston on union strategy regarding their mass card check.campaign…

    Best,
    Will

    United States Posted by bluewill on Feb 8, 2006 at 11:02 AM

    Dr. Moberg:

    It’s because of articles like the one above that makes me enjoy In These Times more than any other progressive magazine. I think there is a correlation between Democrats almost winning elections and the fact that unions have been on the decline. More specifically, I think that ‘neutral card’ checks are the best strategy for the current political situation. Also, I think that by increasing union numbers young adults will be able to see how important unions are to the work force for the first time in their lives.

    United States Posted by contverted on Feb 9, 2006 at 10:01 PM

    An exellent acount of the very beginnings of Guantanamo’s inmates is a book by David Rose called Guantanamo. The book begins with a harrowing account of a journey from Afghanistan to Guantanamo in a cargo plane of some of the first internees.  Many of these 300 men were picked up by the US military at Mazaar al Shariff after the famous standoff with the Taliban in late 2001and turned over to the Northern alliance.  The 300 were stuffed like sardines into a freight container whose inside tempeture was over 100 degrees.  The Northern Alliance warlords shot airholes into the container with automatic weapons killing and wounding several of the men before loading them onto the cargo plane.  By the time the human shipment arrived in Cuba only 30 of the original 300, a mere 10%, had survived the voyage! 

    Any operation that begins like this is doomed from the start in terms of potential for doing any good or succeeding in promoting US moral standing in the world.  We have lost all moral standing. The other day Rumsfeld was explaining how the WaronTerror was different and thus required different means. In his usual way he was dismissive and dehumanizing toward anyone deemed his adversary even before they had their day in court. It is no wonder incidents like the one described above can occur.  We have certainly squandered global good will.  Many of the individuals killed were quite innocent of any wrong doing as some were doing humanitarian work like medics or related relief work. In typical fashion we treated all with indiscriminant barbarity.  This is intolerable of a “democratic” nation.

    All I can really say to people is read the book, than get active!

    United States Posted by cabdriverinchicago on Feb 10, 2006 at 10:10 AM

    Great article! Now, after the SEIU organizes those janitors, the next thing that SEIU must do is get them to become U.S. citizens, register them to vote, and get those folks to the polls on election day. This applies to other unions as well.

    Walter

    United States Posted by Walter on Feb 20, 2006 at 3:31 AM
    Page 1 of 1 pages

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