Open
World Conference of Workers
In Defense of Trade Union Independence & Democratic Rights
Resolution Against Government Control of Unions Endorsed by Labor Party National Convention (July 25-28, 2002, in Washington, DC)
An extremely positive development took place at the Labor Party's
Second Constitutional Convention in Washington, D.C., on July 25-28 when
the delegates adopted overwhelmingly a resolution in "Support of the
Democratic Rights of Unions to Run Their Own Affairs Free from Government
Control." The resolution, submitted by the Resolutions Committee, was
a highly abridged version of a resolution on the topic submitted by the
Ohio State Labor Party (OSLP). [See full text of OSLP resolution below.]
Delegates from the OSLP had submitted a similar resolution to the 1998 LP
Convention in Pittsburgh, where it failed by a very narrow vote. (The
resolution was submitted soon after the government ordered Ron Carey off
the ballot in the election for Teamsters International Union president and
permanently expelled him from the union for alleged wrongdoing.)
This time around, consideration of the resolution was strongly influenced
by developments on the West Coast, where the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union (ILWU) is locked in a contract battle with the Pacific
Maritime Association (PMA), which is backed by the government. The PMA is
demanding, among other things, technological changes which could cost
large numbers of jobs, destruction of the union's hiring hall, and
requiring workers to pay a significant part of the cost of their
healthcare benefits. The government is threatening to invoke Taft-Hartley
and the Railway Labor Act; pass new legislation, if necessary, to bring
the workers to heel on the employer's terms; and use the National Guard
and the military to operate the ports, busting the union in the process.
This situation -- as OSLP chair Jerry Gordon stated in motivating the
resolution -- makes clear how dangerous government intervention is.
The Resolutions Committee at the convention proposed that the OSLP
resolution be supported, albeit in a highly abridged form. They
abbreviated the resolution so that it now states in its entirety, "In
Support of the Democratic Right of Unions to Run Their Own Affairs Free
from Government Control, Be it resolved that the Labor Party concur with
the position of the AFL-CIO opposing government control of unions."
The full position of the AFL-CIO was decided at the federation's
convention on December 2-6, 2001. Key excerpts from the resolution are
contained in the OSLP resolution below.
In view of the fact that the resolution submitted by the OSLP quoted
generously from the AFL-CIO's hard-hitting resolution against government
control of unions, the OSLP delegate stated from the floor that he was
satisfied with the abbreviated version. One speaker spoke in favor of the
resolution, one against it, and a motion was immediately made to close
further debate. The resolution passed overwhelmingly.
**********
Resolution in Support of the Democratic Right of Unions to Run Their
Own Affairs Free From Government Control
(Submitted by Jerry Gordon, Chair, Ohio State Labor Party to the Labor
Party's Second Constitutional Convention, July 25-28. 2002)
WHEREAS the Labor Party from its inception has characterized the
Democratic and Republican parties as the bosses' parties; and
WHEREAS these parties have monopolistic control of the U.S.
government; and
WHEREAS when the government intervenes and seizes control of a
union, it does so to advance corporate interests and not the interests of
the rank-and-file membership; and
WHEREAS the government has many weapons it uses against the labor
movement including Taft-Hartley, Landrum-Griffin, Railway Labor Act,
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), Hatch Act, and
countless other pieces of legislation; and
WHEREAS the government hypocritically seeks to justify its
intervention and control of unions by the claim that all it wants to do is
"cleanse" them of elements the government claims are corrupt and
dictatorial, whereas in fact such government intervention and control is
really designed to undermine unions' independence, make them vassals of
the state, curb their militancy, and weaken their ability to protect and
improve their members' living standards and working conditions; and
WHEREAS in the case of the Teamsters Union, both the current
president, Jimmy Hoffa, and the past president, Ron Carey, had the same
position: opposition to the government's control of the union and
insistence that the government get off the union's back; and
WHEREAS the government's "Independent Review Board,"
established to oversee the Teamsters Union, has a conflict of interest in
that William Webster, a former CIA and FBI director, who heads the board,
also sits on the board of directors of Anheuser-Busch, which negotiates
contracts with the Teamsters. In addition, Webster was on the board of the
Pinkerton Security and Investigations Services, notorious in labor history
for its strikebreaking; and
WHEREAS the government, acting through the Review Board, ordered
Carey off the ballot in the election for Teamsters International Union
president and permanently expelled him from the union for alleged
wrongdoing all without a fair trial or due process of law and when Carey
was finally tried in federal district court on the charges leveled against
him, he was exonerated on all counts; and
WHEREAS at its Twenty-Fourth Constitutional Convention held Dec.
3-6, 2001, the AFL-CIO unanimously adopted Resolution 45 opposing
government control of unions and stating, "There can be no doubt that
government supervision is synonymous with the destruction of free trade
unions;" and further stating, "Prosecutors [already] have a full
arsenal of weapons at their disposal for getting at individuals in the
labor movement who abuse their positions of trust;" and further
stating, "The AFL-CIO is equally dedicated to the principle that a
free and autonomous labor movement independent from government control is
essential to a democratic society;" and further stating, "In the
name of due process, the government has imposed mechanisms that often
undermine individual rights, unfairly label some officers as 'racketeers,'
embrace the standard of guilt-by-association, and effectively accord the
government the authority to dictate who may run for and be elected to
union office. In turn, these actions have inspired employers to file their
own 'racketeering' lawsuits against unions that target legitimate union
activities for corruption;" and further stating, "The apparatus
established through civil RICO imposes extreme financial burdens; diverts
membership dues away from their intended use for organizing, bargaining,
contract enforcement, legislative and other core programs; and sometimes
threatens the very existence of the organization for whose benefit the
government claims to be acting;" and
WHEREAS this position taken by the AFL-CIO at its Twenty-Fourth
Constitutional Convention is completely consistent with the position which
the labor movement from Gompers to Debs has historically taken: opposition
to government control of unions; and
WHEREAS it would be ironic, indeed, for the AFL-CIO to be calling
for an end to government control of unions while the Labor Party, which
has shown most clearly that government is controlled by Big Business,
failed to take a clear-cut position opposing government control of unions;
and
WHEREAS any wrongdoing or inappropriate actions within a union can
and should be corrected internally by the membership, not by the John
Ashcrofts of this world; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED that the Labor Party add to Section 3 of its program this
provision, "We support the democratic right of unions to run their
own affairs, free from government control, while at the same time we
support existing democratic rights of union members under federal
law."