Memo to Richard Trumka President AFofL-CIO

You and I met a few years ago at University of Stony Brook Award Ceremony. I was given a “Lifetime Contribution for Social Justice Award.” You and I spoke about the Miners For Democracy that I had been involved with.You acknowledged the role it played in your own career.It contributed in no small way to your becoming the President of the United Mine Workers. You spoke about how you saw the future of the Labor Movement. Yes, you were going to lead a new effort to organize a whole new class of service workers who had little or no tradition in the union world. Okay, that was one of those upbeat and inspiring experiences. Now the Labor Movement is confronted with a very different reality The new Conservative Tea Party Congress will pick as one of their targets the decimation of unions.

I have a fundamental concern with how the Labor Movement needs to respond to any and all attacks. Its hard won victories starting way back with the establishment of the eight hour day will be targets for the conservative steamroller. In defense of hard won concession there has to be a new fearlessness in protecting those gains.There can be no caving in as there was when Reagan fired the Air Traffic Controllers. That was just the latest turning point leading to the precipitous decline of the unions. The Labor Movement simply cannot tolerate any more of that and still expect to be a force for the workers.

Having spent many of my early years in the Machinists Union I remember another turning point. That was when the leaders of the AF of L. and the CIO couldn’t wait to sign the Non Communist affidavit resulting from the passage of the Taft Hartley Law. The exception was your very own great leader of the UMW John L Lewis. He rightly called the signing of those affidavits a disgrace. Following the end of WW2 the employers with the help of that anti union Taft Hartley Law attempted to cancel any gains the unions had made during the war. We had to find many ways to defend our hard won gains.

I’m going to go back again for a little history. It was in 1935 I was 18 when I got my first organizing assignment for the newly formed CIO. A group of youthful organizers like myself had the opportunity to meet with John L. Lewis. (Oh, my God we were going to meet with the guru himself.) I do remember some of the things he told us. One was when you are really up against it and things look particularly bleak create a crisis. Don’t sit and wait for something good to happen. Emphatically he said “It never will” you have to make it happen.

After WW2 that's what we did in Stamford CT. Yale & Towne lock had decided to cancel their union contract with the Machinists. The strike there was in its sixth month. The union was desperate. Remembering what Lewis had told us we organized a one day General Strike. By God it worked, Lewis was right. That action saved the union.

My message Brother Trumka is please begin planning now exactly how the Labor Movement is going to respond to the attacks that are on there way. New dramatic tactics are called for. Stoppages, sit ins, demonstrations at State and in the Capital Washington. Marches, marches marches, get all that anger out there directed at those who are fleecing the working population. Yes your the leader and your going to have to take some risks. Remember anything is better than just sitting there playing dead.

If there is one lesson I have learned in our long struggle for “Social Justice” it is that the outcome of the struggle will be determined by the very nature of the resistance. Ideally we should win. We may not win all that we started out to fight for. The outcome may not be what we wanted. Most important we should find ourselves in a position to fight another day. One final word from Baron Von Clausewitz the great Prussian military strategist. He suggested, I’m paraphrasing when the enemy has you surrounded and outnumbered and your not sure what to do, launch an offensive.

Richard Trumka my best wishes for a successful outcome. Remember another General in WW2, Vinegar Joe Stillwell's battle slogan, “Illegitimate No Carborundum” or “Don’t Let the Bastards Grind you Down”