Kaiser cancelled from AFL-CIO convention

A short CNA clip from Kaiser nurses.  The AFL-CIO convention was apparently ready to applaud kaiser as the model health care provider.  The California Nurses Association (now an AFL-CIO affiliate) contacted the AFL-CIO complaining about Kaiser's anti-worker anti-patient practices and published this statement:
Nurses once again let Kaiser Executives know that we will not be idle while Kaiser Cancels Our Patients’ Care.  Kaiser was slated to be spotlighted as a model healthcare company at the AFL-CIO convention.  When we let the AFL-CIO know about Kaiser's plans to cancel our patients' care Kaiser was cancelled themselves.

"Our patients have too much at stake for us to allow Kaiser Executives to move forward with their plans.  Patient care should always be first." CNA states.

Unfortunately, the same AFL-CIO leadership pushed the Team Concept on Kaiser employees when John Sweeny was president and  Sal Roselli's Local 250 was still in SEIU.  The CNA was not in the AFL-CIO at the time and did not join the team to my knowledge.  Naturally, there will be no internal debate about the disastrous consequences of the Team Concept and the idea that bosses and workers have the same interests or that the same AFL-CIO pushed it with gusto. Cancelling a glowing presentation from the bosses at the AFL-CIO's convention won't do much to turn the tide either.

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Talking to workers

by Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

I wrote the other day about how helpless we can feel when we watch too much TV. Especially the 1%'s news programs that are designed to make us hate and fear each other. Everyone is out to get us, the neighbor, the black youth with the hoodie, the guy up the street, the Sikh with the turban and quite naturally, the Moslems and most of the people outside out borders.

For me, the best antidote for this is to get out there and talk to people.  This is one advantage of the drinking establishment.  Now I'm not saying that pubs (I am not talking about the extreme dive bar here) don't have their negative side. But, let's face it, these are places that workers congregate. If you want to meet the American people, you might try a bar.

I probably drink more than Dr. Phil would say is wise.  But I don't drink much at home, I come from a culture where parents, their kids and quite possibly the kids grandparents might meet in a pub to talk about life and escape from the drudgery of working life.

I remember when the guys at work used to invite me for a drink after the workday and warn me, "We don't want any of that union or political talk, Rich, give it a rest once in a while.".  "No problem",  was usually my answer.  But no sooner had we got to the establishment and especially after a couple of brews, I was overwhelmed by the questions about the Union or what's happening in America and on and on. Workers like to talk about the world around us.

Some readers might be aware that my wife and I are victims of a house fire and at the moment we are living in a motel.  I needed to get out for an hour or two tonight and headed to a bar the receptionist at the hotel recommended. I found it easy enough, an Irish (Irish American) bar not too far away.  When I first walked in, there were only two or three people sitting at the bar and another couple playing pool.  None were Irish I don't think. I ordered my first pint form the bartender, a woman from Kentucky and sat there for a bit before turning to the guy next to me and opening up a conversation. I can't see the point of being in the company of other human beings if you don't talk to them.   It turned out he was a union guy, a member of the Operating Engineers, a huge US construction union that I think is the largest construction union in the world.   He was a good union guy but was very unhappy with his leadership.  Most workers don't generally express it this way tending to attack the union as an institution instead.  I explained my views on this which I think I have done many times on this blog so I won't repeat them but we had a good chat.  He agreed with me that at some point in this country there is going to be some upheaval. He raised that he had a contractor friend who hired mostly Mexicans as "Americans don't like to work". 

I differed with him on this.  The big business press is always talking about how workers in Mexico or Vietnam are "more willing" to work for less than Americans and that Americans refuse to do the jobs they will do or that we're lazy.  "It's not that the Mexicans are more willing or harder workers" I said, "They are more desperate, that is the reason." There's nothing wrong with American workers wanting more, the point is that we should demand it for everyone, all workers.

Anyway, he left and there was a woman sitting on the other side of him so I got talking to her. I have to admit, that it is normally me that starts these conversations but I don't necessarily finish them.  She was a single mother and had, like so many of us, been through some difficult times I gathered.  She eventually started working for herself cleaning homes and commercial property.  She described how hard it was for her to find a job but she did research on the internet trying to find what sort of industry might be best for her to break in to as an individual and house cleaning seemed the best opportunity. She did most of the work herself though occasionally hired people.

We talked for a while about child rearing, work, women and men and what makes us behave the way we do. She was explaining what it was like with two kids that her personal life was never separate form her wondering if the kids were OK and was she away too long etc. The bartender came over and she talked about growing up in Kentucky and how wonderful her father was as she never knew her mother and her father raised her. She talked about working as a bartender for 25 years and how she loved it because she got to talk to people and,listen to them as they talked about their lives. These two women were very sharp, interesting characters.

We discussed many issues relevant to life and work.  In the hour or two I was there I had discussions with American workers like myself about war, work, child rearing, the difference between men and women and more. I was so happy among my own people.

At times, I feel a bit self conscious that I am what is called an extrovert and talk to anyone. I don't do it for any other reason that I believe humans are collective and gregarious creatures, when you talk to people, they talk back. There's almost no such thing as an uninteresting life.  Human beings are interesting. We care about each other.  The 1% learned in the Vietnam war not to bring the reality of war to the evening news because when we see other's suffering we are moved by it no matter the race, religion or color of the people involved; we want to help.  So now all we hear on the evening news is one murder after another, the degeneration of our humanity in a society that places profit above all things but even this is a warped version of reality. Every minute of every day, we cooperate with each other in some way or another.

The frustrating thing about these experiences is that I want the rest of the world to experience them. I want those whose only experience with Americans is a drone attack or as invading forces to see that we are also struggling in our own way, that the Dick Cheney's Donald Rumsfeld's, Georg W Bush's or Barack Obama's do not represent what we are.  They can call themselves Americans but they are not the Americans that vast majority of us associate with and live with every day of our lives. The members of the US Congress are all millionaires, most Americans have nothing in common with them and to be honest despise them.  What to do about it is another issue.

But I was buoyed tonight as I so often am by the associations I have with the people that make society function.  It's experiences like these that give hope for the future.

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Don't forget the California Prison Hunger Strikers

by Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

The US prison system is well known for is harsh conditions and brutality.  Here in the US, minors and mentally impaired people are executed and/or incarcerated often spending years in solitary confinement. What solitary confinement is in actuality is a sentence the results of which is insanity; Dead Man Walking if you like.  The incarceration of workers and the poor and the racist justice system is well known. Prisoners in the US lose many rights all human beings should have, basically the right to be human.

Back in July, 30,000 prisoners went on hunger strike in California. We have commented on this strike more than once on this blog.  You can read the prisoners list of demands here.  The strike has now been on for 57 days.  Many of the prisoners have been relocated and are under threat of being force fed like the inmates at Guantanamo. The authorities refuse to deal with the issues they are raising.

A major issue is solitary confinement which is used as a form of punishment in California’s SHU’s or Security Housing Units. An inmate has only to be declared a gang member in order to be confined to solitary.  California has almost 12,000 people in extreme isolation which costs over $60 million per year. As prison rights advocates point out, “The cells have no windows, and no access to fresh air or sunlight.” This is torture, there’s no way around it. The UN declares solitary confinement for more than 15 days as torture but in US prisons an inmate can spend form 10 to 40 years alone.  I would ask any reader of this with an ounce of humanity in them; what would that do to you? Solitary confinement drives people mad.

On the issue of gangs, members of the most ruthless and powerful gang of all, the US capitalist class manages to avoid jail time no matter what they do. They can make conscious decisions that lead to massive environmental pollution and death (BP spill). They cause millions of people to be homeless or deny millions more health care in the interests of personal gain. They lie to us about events abroad seeking our support and money in the slaughter of those who resist their predatory invasions, yet are lauded as fine upstanding citizens.  This gang has many affiliates and sub-branches like the US Chamber of Commerce, The National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Round Table.  They meet in secret in places like Jackson Hole Wyoming, The Bohemian Grove here in California and other fine resorts.

In the streets and urban centers of the US sometimes belonging to a gang can mean security or for other young people a way to riches and recognition.  And if you find yourself in the US Gulag, the inmates there, having no right to a union which is something that must be demanded for prisoners, might seek safety in one of the ethnic gangs that exists. The prisons are generally segregated and racism is used by authorities much like it is in the workplace and society as a whole as a divide and rule tactic.

A guaranteed job and a minimum of $15 or $20 an hour for society in general as well as for inmates re-entering society, is what would change this situation. Recognizing that the public needs to be protected from some people, prisons should cease being mere centers for the warehousing of human beings to genuine correctional centers that would help people and help them re-enter society.  Prison employees should be trained in all the fields that deal with mental health and human behavior in order to actually help people.   The prison industrial complex as it is, is a massive industry with very lucrative profits to be made.  It is not human friendly.  In California this industry has grown massively. Prisons are constructed in rural depressed communities and are often the only job around. They are also constructed hundreds of miles from urban centers where the families of inmates live. The authorities consider this a plus, something that again isolates the inmate from whatever family structure they may have. When I was visiting an LA gang member in prison it was assumed I was a lesser person by the guards as well.  The families of inmates are not respected.

I commented on the decision to allow authorities to force feed prisoners and to ignore prisoners "do not not resuscitate requests" in an earlier commentary. The state is concerned about their safety apparently but we know it is about denying the individual some form of control over their lives and existence. The object of prison life is to take every aspect of human dignity away form the inmate.

The other issue to point out is the so-called free press. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to protest as a prison inmate, the consequences are severe.  The fat that so many initiated this strikes tells us something but the media in the main ignores it, or as is the case with workers on strike, demonizes the participants and gives their cause no credibility. The mass media in the US is the most unfree and censored of all the advanced capitalist economies. It is mind numbing demoralizing rubbish in the main.

Don’t forget the prison hunger striker. If you can get your union or organization to send letter to the governor and demand he intervene and repsond to the prisoners genuine concerns.  Readers can call California governor, Jerry Brown at: Phone: (916) 445-2841, (510) 289-0336, (510) 628-0202 fax 916-558-3160  and urge him to respond to the prisoners valid complaints.

There are still 70 prisoners refusing food after 57 days.  For more up to date information go to the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity webpage

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AC Transit drivers to vote on contract

AC Transit drivers at a Board Meeting last month

Workers at Alameda County Transit will be voting on a contract this Saturday.  AC Transit drivers are members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192.  This is a flier some members of ATU are distributing to their co-workers.  Facts For Working People hopes our readers will share this flier with any bus drivers they know or if you are an AC Transit driver yourself please share it with your co-workers.  FFWP
 
         
         Solidarity Yes Concessions NO!!

Bay Area Transit workers united have power. The July BART strike alone cost $73 million/day in lost productivity to big business - not counting losses to restaurants and stores. A joint AC-BART strike could have doubled their losses. By refusing to unite with BART workers on July 1st, ATU 192 leaders gave up their leverage to make the bankers and corporations pay and reverse the massive cuts of 2010.   By going it alone all these years and constantly making concessions, WE ARE NOW $5.00 PER HOUR UNDER THE BAY AREA AVERAGE. $28.20, after 3 years, doesn’t even bring us up to what SAMTRANS makes now! This proposal continues the trend.

Wage increases are not retroactive to July 1^st. Since they start in October, the 3.5% increase in 2015 is only effective for 9 months – not 12.

First year wages increase by 2.75% or 71¢/hr for Top-scale bus drivers to $26.39hr

First year medical premium of $70/mo = 1.10% in “pre-tax $” (assuming a 28% tax bracket) @40hrs/wk -- Net Gain = 1.65% or 42¢

Second year wages increase 3.25% or 86¢ to $27.25

Second year medical = $140/mo = 2.13% pre-tax.  Net Gain = 1.12% or 31¢

Third year wages increase 3.50% or 95¢ to $28.20

Third year medical = $180/mo = 2.65% pre-tax. Net Gain = 1.10% or 31¢

Total gain over 3 years = 3.87% or $1.04. Compared to 7.5% COLA=3.88% loss.

Cost of living Loss from 2010-2013 wage freeze = 7.1%.Average Loss for 6,5,3= 5%  We need 12.1% clear just to catch up to 2010. In addition, Projected COLA 2013 to 2016 = 7.5%

STOP SCREWING NEW WORKERS WHO CAN’T VOTE!

OPPOSE THE 6 MONTH INCREASE IN NEW HIRE PROGRESSION!

ATU 192 leaders save AC bosses $Millions in exploitation of new hires with 6 months more of lower wages for the same work performed. This is collaboration, pure and simple. It is also divisive of the membership. In addition, fixed medical payments hurt lower paid workers more.

For workers now earning @$18.00/hr (beginning drivers and service employees) the wage increase of 2.75% = 50¢ - $70/mo medical = 1.57% pre-tax = 29¢ with a net of 1.18% or 21¢.

Second year wage of 3.25% = 61¢ - $140 medical = 3.04% pre-tax or 56¢. Net gains .21% or 5¢

Third year wage of 3.5% = 68¢ - $180 medical or 3.78% pre-tax or 75¢ =28% loss or -7¢!

Total 3 year gain: 1.11% or 19 cents!

AC saves $Millions more again as the Veteran’s Day Holiday, guaranteed tripper pay, and the straight-time spread time pay from 12:15 to 13 hours was not recovered from the 2010 arbitration.. They reduced the number of absences leading to termination from 10/year to 9 and the number for 5-day suspensions from 9 to 8. They also denied AC couples double health coverage just 3 years after reducing opt-out payments by two-thirds.

ATU 192 saved the district approximately $1 Million by eliminating the traditional sign-up.

AC Transit is also the only major Bay Area Transit district that does not provide medical coverage for spouses of retirees. MUNI pays 50% premiums while PERS is the same as active employees. Transit Workers’ Solidarity is the answer to the transit bosses’ cutback plans.

VOTE NO ON THE CONTRACT!!!!     

                                    BUILD BAY AREA TRANSIT UNITY!!!

Bay Area Transit Unity Committee – AC: 510-325-1268; Muni: 510-207-0222

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A little bit of Americana: There is no such thing as a boring life.

To me, socialism is an optimistic philosophy.  That doesn’t mean that all socialists are all optimists or good people. Actually, given my experience of all the groups that claim to be socialist, I hope to all ends that they never achieve state power; we’ll all be in deep shit.

But I believe in the socialist ideal as I believe in humanity. We are collective creatures, we need the comfort and economic security that human society offers us and we have come this far through collective efforts not through those whose goal in life is individual gain.

I consider myself an alcoholic as I have never been able to quit the drink except for a brief period, the ten years from 1988 to 1998. I started off trying to quit cocaine but ended up realizing that it was alcohol that was my main problem. So I quit all of them , cigarettes too. I just have a drink now and then, more often then.  My dad used to make me laugh because he got caught bribing orderlies to sneak him in a bottle of scotch at the old folks home he was staying at when my mum had a stroke and couldn’t take care of him any more.

“You’re an alcoholic like me” I said to him when they sent me to his room to get him to behave. “If I never drink for the rest of my life I will still be an alcoholic because it is my drug of choice.”  I told him.

He was stunned, I could see by the look on his face.  “I’m not an alcoholic” he said with gusto, “I can knock it on the head whenever I want”. To “knock something on the head” means to quit it.

I will take some literary license here as I don’t like to cuss in writing but, “For fuck’s sake dad”I said, “You’re 93. You drove the car through the front door.”.

I am a social drinker as this is part of my culture growing up in England. But I go to one pub these days.  I don’t drink at home particularly, after all, what is the point, no one else there drinks. For me, it is the human contact, the social nature of a drink that I am addicted to.

I had such a wonderful time in my local pub tonight. It is a very mixed crowd, some workers, some small business types and people from various backgrounds and ethnic groups. In short, it is a wonderful cross section of US society. What’s missing is the poorest among us and the youth in many ways, so it’s not everything, but it is a real piece of Americana.

I saw an older man there tonight who I haven’t seen for a while. He looked gaunt and a little tired and he’s lost some weight. He used to come in more often but I haven’t seen him recently. I walked over to him to say hi.

“How’s things going?”I asked him.

“Not good” he replied.

“What do you mean?”I responded.

“Well, my wife died and I miss her.”. he said.

I gave my condolences and asked him if he was from the area.

“I’m originally from Missour-uh.” He says

I have a friend form Missour-uh and that’s exactly how he says it but most people I’ve met say Missouri so I asked him why he says Missour-uh.

He told me his people came from the Shenendoah Valley in West Virginia and they travelled to Missour-uh in covered wagons. From what I can gather, these two pronunciations go back four hundred years. His wife died earlier this month and he was having a hard time dealing with it, they had been married 57 years. He felt a bit guilty about it saying that he tried to save her but he couldn’t.

He said he was 86 (maybe 82, I can’t remember) but he was having a hard time without her. I could imagine it. Sometimes I think about these things. I am in my sixties and coward that I am I always think that I hope my wife goes first because it would be so difficult to be in this house without her presence; it was bad enough when my dog died.  His wife was artistic and painted in oil. He was an accountant but he wasn’t alone he said, “I have two cats and a parrot in the house.”.

I told him how I believe we are collective creatures and he agreed. Human beings need the comfort of others and our community. I used to live in what is called here in the US the “ghetto” or the “hood”.  There were lots of problems, shootings, drugs, unemployment etc.  One time some white folks got lost on and left the freeway trying to find directions to where they were going. They ended up in my neighborhood where I was the only white man and made a bee-line for me I could see it; they were terrified. People always think that in these conditions there's no community but they're wrong. It's this community that helps us survive.

I told them where to go but little did they know that my neighborhood was a real community. I was safe there, my wife was safe there so was my son because we were part of it.  We were victims like all of us there of urban blight and the problems facing all residents of the inner city but we had a good friendly community there.

This old fella agreed that human beings needed each other but society has become so alienating, so greedy that we are disconnected not “like I was growing up” he said. “We have so little time and are so engulfed in trying to survive we don’t have time for each other anymore” he added. I agreed.

But this is how the ruling class likes it. We are all individuals; they like to preach. Well, we are.  But we are individuals within the community of humans. We are not whole outside of the community but capitalist society, one based on selfishness and a ruthless “winner take all” philosophy cannot abide collective living.  We might gang up on them. 

As I talked to this 80 year old I thought how interesting he would be to teenagers and the young folks we see day in and day out with their faces glued to a cell phone screen or the TV and how much life they would breathe in to him. Young people are lovely to be around. It reminded me of that John Prine song, “Hello in There”, and how we can walk by someone in their eighties and not for one minute think about the wealth of history and life that is in them.

I am not used to writing like this and was a bit apprehensive about it but WTF. This is political stuff. It is about regaining our humanity and the wonderful collective spirit that makes us special and what has enabled us to survive for so long.

A society that cannot respect and offer a secure, fruitful and comfortable life to its aged is not a civilized society.

This, existence of ours my friends is not civilization.

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BART Strike, Fight to Win. The Cuts Stop Here

Facts For Working People has put together a flier for the rally for the BART workers today at Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza. The rally is at 5.00pm. I see the bosses' paper is doing its job well today pointing out that BART workers' "big weapon" is the right to strike. This is a powerful weapon if applied correctly and it is a weapon that workers have fought and died for over a century; all workers and oppressed people have gained from this weapon. They are preparing the ground for its removal as a right. When compared to the bosses' "big weapon" of course, it seems fairly mild: the police, the mass media that they own like the Chronicle and the TV, the army, the politicians, the courts, the troops who they will use against us as they have in the past and the jails they put us in. This is the true nature of the conflict. Years of concessions and cooperation on the part of the trade Union leadership has led to nothing but increased aggression and further concessions. In the last analysis, in capitalist society you have no rights if you have no money. No home, no health care, no education etc. You're free to starve.

It's time to Fight to Win for BART workers, our communities, our livelihoods and all workers, youth and the unorganized.

For a PDF of the flier or if you would like to receive Facts For Working People issues in a PDF format that we occasionally send out, please e mail us at: we_know_whats_up@yahoo.com

If you have received this flier as part of our mailing list and are in the Bay Area (or anywhere else for that matter) please feel free to copy and distribute it if you agree with it. Especially get it to transit workers, ferry workers, BART, AC Transit. Contact us if you wish to discuss our views and ideas further.

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Opportunity knocks (again) for BART Unions. Trayvon Martin murder is a union issue

Trayvon Martin. Caused his own death according to Florida court

by Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

As to be expected AFL-CIO and Change to Win leaders don’t have too much to say about the Zimmerman verdict and what I could find on the AFL-CIO website was pretty lame. I looked at the CTW website which while not quite so drab also had nothing on there about this defeat for workers in this country and for black workers in particular.  On the AFL-CIO page Randi Weingarten of the AFT issued the following statement:

 “While we believe in the rule of law and the jury has spoken, the implications of the acquittal are profound. It is very disappointing that a racially profiled, unarmed African-American young man wearing a hoodie can be shot dead and there be no consequences for the perpetrator. This case reminds us that the path to racial justice is still a long one, and that our legal and moral systems do not always mesh. The proceedings in the Sanford, Fla., courtroom may well have dealt with the criminal aspects of the case, as defined by Florida law, but we will continue to deal with the moral ones. As the AFT pledged in a resolution passed at our 2012 convention, we remain steadfast in our commitment to fight for laws, policies and practices that will prohibit racial profiling at the federal, state and local levels.

“The disposition of this case is the antithesis of what we teach our children in school—that the law protects innocent victims and that no one has the right to take the law into his or her own hands. Everyone’s child matters. We pray for the strength of Trayvon’s parents and loved ones in this difficult time.”

Lee Saunders, the president of AFSCME, my former Union says:

“AFSCME is calling for the Justice Department to immediately conduct an investigation into the civil rights violations committed against Trayvon Martin. We know that it will take federal intervention and a massive grassroots movement but justice and positive change is still possible.
Bottom of Form

“In the fight for justice, it is time to stand our ground. As we have throughout our history, AFSCME will work with faith leaders, community groups and civil and human rights activists to create a more just society for all.”

Ho hum! Reading this reminds me of Nina Simone’s words from Mississippi Goddamn:

Picket lines
School boy cots
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister my brother my people and me

Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie

Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on saying 'Go slow!'
'Go slow!'

But that's just the trouble
'Do it slow'
Desegregation
'Do it slow'
Mass participation
'Do it slow'
Reunification
'Do it slow'
Do things gradually
'Do it slow'
But bring more tragedy
'Do it slow'
Why don't you see it
Why don't you feel it
I don't know
I don't know

Nina Simone

I checked the National Education Association’s website (NEA, the largest union in the country, and couldn’t find a word about Trayvon Martin and his murderer’s acquittal. I clicked on the link “Minority Community Outreach” and there was nothing there either. Like the Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden affairs where heroic individuals are being ruthlessly persecuted by the state for making the public aware of the violence, corruption and lies that are the norm for this government, Trayvon Martin is a non issue even on a page that deals with minority community involvement. This is as these issues are topics in every workplace, every coffee shop, every dinner table and drinking establishment.

And what does Ms. Weingarten mean by the “Rule of Law”. Laws are made by politicians of the 1% and in the interests of the 1%.  Would she say as a union leader in Nazi Germany that “we believe in the rule of law”? And what about the Jim Crow laws in the US Apartheid South? They were changed through direct action and violating the law not praying. One sees this term in the big business press all the time it means to respect laws that protect the capitalist class and their system, that’s what it means.  If those heroic figures that built the trade Union movement in this country had that attitude we wouldn’t have unions at all. We wouldn’t have sick leave or unemployment benefits, meager as they are; the UAW wouldn’t exist.  The Apartheid South would still be thriving if people had respect for the “rule of law”.

The union hierarchy is the only force that slavishly obeys the law except when it comes to dealing with their own members and the internal life of our organizations that they head.  Wall street crooks steal billions, politicians lie cheat and live off the fruits of bribery and the Union tops claim sainthood.  The bosses pass laws that are clearly against the interests of union members and all working people and the union hierarchy ensures they are not broken; anything to avoid a fight; send an e mail to the president and vote Democratic. They are terrified of a victory as it would increase expectations and inspire millions of workers drawing them in to activity after decades of savage attacks on our living standards.  Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is the trademark of the Union leaders atop organized labor.

Here in the Bay Area, a 4 day strike by Bay Area Rapid Transit workers galvanized attention for a

ATU members on strike

period.  Due to the ability of the BART workers to cripple the local economy contract negotiations between these two forces always makes headlines.  The bosses went on the offensive and demonized these workers in their media.  The union leaders as I explained in an earlier commentary have no answer to this as their general approach is that concessions have to be made. After all, we all have to share the pain, there is a need for “shared sacrifice”.

The decision to halt the strike for 30 days was a mistake as it is hard to get workers back on the lines once they’ve been taken off.  With a strike you either win one or lose one. The decision to end the strike for what is termed a “cooling off” period was in order for the union hierarchy and their political allies in the Democratic Party to make some deal that the members can accept, hopefully with minor changes that bring less aggressive concessions.  It is my view that they were forced to call one due to the anger from below and the pressure they were facing to let off some steam in case the pot boiled over. 

It is still not too late but the labor leadership will not act unless they are absolutely forced to from below or replaced. The anger in the ranks is significant for BART workers as they have not had a raise in five years but all workers have been savaged over the past period. There is a golden opportunity that must not be lost here.  The other transit workers that operate the buses have their contract up and could legally strike with the BART workers, they are also in the same union as the train operators, the ATU. SEIU 1021 also represents BART employees like station agents and janitors. The city of Oakland workers  also in SEIU 1021 have suffered serious cuts and can also strike.  Water workers are also in contract talks and their contracts expired at the end of May I think.

Unfortunately, despite a mood among bus drivers to support BART workers at a transit board meeting, the decision by union officials not to bring bus drivers out with the them was a serious mistake and made victory less likely for both. Both BART and AC Transit workers face aggression and acts of violence from the public. The same is true for teachers.  But labor’s response is not more policing. Increase policing never helps workers and the poor and certainly doesn’t help the most oppressed sections of our class. All the ills and pressure of society weigh heavily on public sector workers like transit, city, teachers and water workers as we deal with the public every day. Our response must be jobs for all, housing, education, urban renewal, wages and an end to racism and sexism.  This will strengthen us with the public and will unite the class rather than dividing it.  Unity is not an abstract thing.  What are we uniting around?  It has to be made concrete. We cannot win without building links with the communities in which we live and work.

A strike by BART, AC Transit and the City of Oakland workers would open the door to the transformation of the mood among workers in and outside the unions. You want public support?  Here’s your chance. Taking a major public stand against the Zimmerman verdict and against the ongoing murder and incarceration of black youth will get a tremendous echo in this community along with a call for community involvement and help to win the strike around such demands as:

No to the 1%’s austerity agenda

No more police, no more jails but a massive hiring and job training program under the direction of the unions and community organizations.

A $20 an hour minimum wage

Free public transportation for all seniors

Increased services in mass transit (especially buses) including for the disabled

Free public education at all levels, reopen closed schools reduce class sizes and hire one million teachers

For a national public health service

Organized the unorganized.

The money fro these basic things can come from making the rich pay, ending all wars an occupations and nationalizing the banks to suggest a few.

These are just a few small ways a movement can be built around such a strike that would undoubtedly challenge the 1%’s austerity agenda and drive back their offensive. The slogan should be No more business as usual, it stops here in the Bay Area, the home of two huge general strikes.  

No more Trayvon Martins—no more shared sacrifice. Jobs for all.

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California prisoners hunger strike, condemns solitary confinement

30,000 California prisoners started a hunger strike yesterday to protest the inhumane conditions and in particular years in solitary confinement. As the video from Al Jazeera above states, a hunger strike isn’t recognized as such until participants refuse 9 meals. We have blogged about the situation in Guantanamo where hunger strikers are being force fed, a cruel and painful procedure. Prisoners from Pelican Bay's SHU released a statement describing their actions and intentions:

“The principal prisoner representatives from the PBSP SHU Short Corridor Collective Human Rights Movement do hereby present public notice that our nonviolent peaceful protest of our subjection to decades of indefinite state-sanctioned torture, via long term solitary confinement will resume today, consisting of a hunger strike/work stoppage of indefinite duration until [the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] signs a legally binding agreement meeting our demands, the heart of which mandates an end to long-term solitary confinement (as well as additional major reforms).”

What is Solitary Confinement? (from Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity)

"In California, nearly 12,000 imprisoned people spend 23 of 24 hours living in a concrete cell smaller than a large bathroom. The cells have no windows, no access to fresh air or sunlight. People in solitary confinement exercise an hour a day in a cage the size of a dog run. They are not allowed to make any phone calls to their loved ones. They cannot touch family members who often travel days for a 90 minute visit; their conversation and their mail is monitored by prison guards. They are not allowed to talk to other imprisoned people. They are denied all educational programs, and their reading materials are censored. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, stated that any time over 15 days in solitary confinement constitutes torture. Yet many people in California state prisons have been encaged in solitary for 10 to 40 years!"

The US with 2 million incarcerated has the largest prison population in the world. It is big business and a very lucrative one. These are the workers and the poor that capitalism abandons, a huge proportion of them people of color. The prison industrial complex is simply the warehousing of human beings, keeping them out of sight and out of mind. Prisoner’s rights are extremely limited. The return rate is considerable as the system makes no real effort to help prisoners return to society. A guaranteed job and a $20 an hour minimum wage would do a lot to halt not only crime but the return rate for prisoners.

Having to fend for themselves in a society that has very limited social services of any kind they often return to the milieu that they feel can provide some sense of security and belonging. Incarceration in the US is also a way of disenfranchising people politically. The racist and brutal US prison system perpetuates violence. Sexual abuse of both women and men is rampant. It is truly the American Gulag. You can sign a petition supporting the hunger strikers at the Prisoner Solidarity website.

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BART Strike: Bosses relieved as the state comes in to make a deal

by Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

This blog has been covering the dispute between employees of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) management. The workers struck for four days and have since returned to work after Union leaders appealed to the state to intervene.  Both sides have agreed to extend the contract for 30 days or what is also referred to as a "cooling off " period. It is hoped that a resolution of differences can be made during this period. As we commented in a previous post, this is a mistake.  Not only were the BART workers on strike, but contracts were up for AC Transit workers who operate the buses and who are also in the train driver's union, the ATU, although a different local. In addition, City of Oakland workers who have also taken big hits over the past period are also legally able to strike and did strike for one day after their contract expired; they are represented by SEIU 1021 which also represents station agents and janitorial staff at BART.

Both BART and AC Transit contracts ended on June 30th. There should have been a coordinated union wide strike of all public sector unions under attack and in contract negotiations at the present time; it was a great opportunity. In fact, all these unions should have been coordinating a union wide offensive in conjunction with the communities we serve months and months before the deadlines.

The leaders of organized labor in this area refuse to take this road because they have the same world view as the bosses, they worship capitalism and the market and have no alternative. For them, mobilizing workers against the bosses' offensive would only lead to chaos. The BART strike, like all of them these days, is a defensive struggle. 

The bosses have waged their usual media offensive portraying these workers as greedy and unwilling to help out in times of need.  Their media portrays BART workers as uncaring and selfish when "shared sacrifice" is necessary and that many workers would willingly accept a job like that at BART.  Right wing anti-union mouthpieces fan these flames but every worker, if we stop to think for one minute, knows that it is not us that are closing fire stations, pricing education out of reach of working people, denying health care to those that can't afford it or throwing people out of their homes on behalf of the bankers who we bailed out not so long ago.  Even their trillion dollar wars that we are being forced to pay for through cuts in social services and living standards are hugely unpopular. We know that it is not the public the BART bosses care about, it is profits. It is big business and profits that is getting hurt by a BART strike.  As we pointed out previously, Jim Wunderman, the head of the Bay Area Council,  made this clear when he told the San Francisco Chronicle . “It would create a regional paralysis….it would put us in a world of hurt.”

The hope on the part of the union hierarchy is that some compromise can be made as it states in the flier above that is being distributed at BART stations by ATU 1555, the train drivers local.  But what's a fair compromise?   I will answer my own question. It is slightly fewer or less aggressive concessions than the bosses want.  Most workers earn much less than BART workers with no benefits at all. The flier says that everyone should have a good job but then why wasn't a demand for jobs a major issue in this dispute and why didn't all the unions that could legally strike for gains like this do so making them an issue. This would go a long way in drawing in the community and winning public support. At the very least, the buss drivers should have joined BART, they would have both benefited for it.  All indications prior to the strike showed that there was a strong mood for unity and united action between AC Transit and BART workers.

To counter the bosses' lies and to win support from the public who obviously are inconvenienced by a stoppage of this sort, the Unions should have had the demand for more jobs through a shorter workweek on the table and a call for a crash public investment injection for mass transit, infrastructure etc.  It was a mistake that BART, AC Transit and City of Oakland didn't come out together with concrete proposals aimed at the riding public like free transportation for senior citizens and improved service for the disabled.  There's not enough bus routes and not enough buses.   

The flier raises the issue of safety and BART workers having to work in high crime areas (or in this case stations) were they are assaulted.  As a former public sector worker I am well aware of this issue. Crime which makes victims out of travelers and BART workers is overwhelmingly a product of the mass unemployment of youth especially youth of color and our proposal for dealing with it and assuring the safety of our members and the general public should be jobs like those at BART, EBMUD (the water utility) where I used to work and other public sector workplaces. A job that can put food on the table would eliminate much of that crime. It is in our (unionized better paid workers) interests to oppose increased police presence as a means of making people safer.  Workers are never made "safe" by increased police presence which will be used to break strikes as they have historically and crush youth movements etc. What will make us safer eliminating poverty and despair and linking with the communities and especially the youth and that means we have to offer them something at contract times.  

The flier does make a very weak attempt to counter the bosses' media offensive portraying the  BART workers as uncaring but it is not enough. Our power lies in our ability to halt production and shutting down transportation shuts down or seriously impedes production and therefore profit taking. It is by relying on our own strength that we have won in the past and the way we can win in the present and in to the future, not by appealing to the state and the politicians of the 1%. 

Strikes have declined drastically over the last 20 years due to the bosses' offensive in the workplace and through anti-union legislation, but the events here in the Bay Area could have and still can change the balance of class forces and make some gains but the union leadership, by asking the state to intervene and halting the strike instead of spreading it has weakened us all; only a movement from below can change this situation. The bosses are intent on driving us back to conditions that existed prior to the great upsurge of the 1930's that built the CIO, they are driven by the crisis of capitalism to do this and the BART workers by striking have challenged this agenda. No matter what happens we thank them for taking a stand.

A setback for BART workers would be a set back for us all.

Read all our blogs on the Bay Area strikes in order from the oldest to the most recent:

http://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-bart-strike-opportunity-to-begin.html

http://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-bart-and-ac-transit-strike-can-halt.html

http://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2013/06/will-jerry-brown-stop-bart-strike-so.html

http://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2013/07/bay-area-news-anti-worker-anti-union.html

http://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2013/07/chip-johson-attacks-city-of-oakland.html

http://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2013/07/bart-workers-facts-about-why-theyre.html

http://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2013/07/bart-strike-out-of-mouths-of-union.html

http://weknowwhatsup.blogspot.com/2013/07/bart-strike-called-off-by-union-leaders.html

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Will Jerry Brown stop a BART strike so a deal can be made?

A quick note:

According to local news outlets, transit union officials have asked California governor Jerry Brown to impose a 60 day cooling off period, in other words to "stay" a strike.  I tried to locate the source of this story which was the San Jose Mercury news but couldn't access the page.  Assuming it is the case which isn't surprising, it is normal procedure.

Union officials have no intention of waging a serious strike in defense of their members' wages and benefits, the hope is that the threat of one would bring fewer concessions than the bosses are asking for. If they were serious about a strike, the Alameda Labor Council would have been approached by delegates from the unions, SEIU, ATU, Afscme etc. and urged to help prepare for a Bay Area strike not simply to defend transit workers living standards but to improve on them.

If the Union leadership were serious about a strike there would have been mass meetings of the members of the locals involved to strengthen their unity around demands that affect all of them and serious efforts would have been made to build links with the communities they serve to develop demands that would improve public transportation for the general public including seniors and the disabled  Free transportation for seniors and the disabled, more routes, increased services, more jobs etc. Issues appealing to the needs of the community must be laid on the table and community/labor meetings called to develop a strategy and mass direct action tactics that can win them; every Labor dispute must reach out to the communities we live and work in and the struggle generalized.  In the case of the public sector in particular, we cannot win without the public, we can't win the rest of the working class to our side and counter the propaganda of the bosses portraying themselves as the forces that "care" without fighting for that public and using our economic muscle to enforce our will on the 1%.

The Union leaders appealing to Jerry Brown who is savaging workers living standards on behalf of the corporations is a serious mistake.  I was at the AC transit meeting Wednesday and the mood was very strong for a struggle and to fight back.  The 1% and their representatives which is who we're dealing with here, don't impose cooling off periods when they send their troops in to war, it is an attempt by the Union leadership to derail a confrontation for three months, allow the workers to "cool off" or lose the momentum and hope that the governor and the representatives of the 1% will allow some deal to go through.

If the cooling off period is asked for because the strategists atop the Unions have decided they made a mistake in not preparing adequately beforehand and want more time to prepare for a serious struggle that would be a positive thing but history teaches me different.  My guess is that  Brown will comply and they'll work out some deal behind the scenes and another opportunity to change the course of recent history with regard to labor/management relations will be missed.

All workers will lose.

Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

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A BART strike: an opportunity to begin a workers' offensive

Good. But "united" around what?

by Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

  " Negotiations are a euphemism for capitulation if the shadow of power is not cast across the bargaining table." George Schultz

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is the main urban rail system for the San Francisco Bay Area and the Unions representing BART workers are currently in contract negotiations.  The economic impact of a BART strike would be considerable and everyone knows that as BART carries some 400,000 passengers a day. Members of BART’s two largest unions, ATU 1555 and SEIU 1021 took strike votes yesterday and in the case of ATU, 99% voted to authorize one.

This is a ritual we go through every four years.  Very few contract talks receive as much publicity as those between BART unions and the transit agency given that BART workers walking off the job would cause considerable economic disruption. “Commuters have grown wary of the routine”, the Chronicle’s Michael Cabanatuan wrote last week and the agency, as it does every contract time, is making its case in their media. 

Already, BART spokespersons are claiming in the media that the average SEIU and ATU member’s compensation when pensions, wages and benefits are included is $133,000 and point to the 23% raise the workers are asking for over four years. This may well be true as total compensation but it most certainly is not what a worker takes home in his or her paycheck. But either way, this is a paltry sum when compared to the wasteful expenditure of taxpayer money on predatory wars or the annual incomes of hedge fund managers and other coupon clippers. 

The fact is though, that as public sector and unionized workers, BART workers will have better conditions and better pay than hundreds of thousands of workers and youth in the communities they serve and instead of trying to apologize for these conditions they should be built on and expanded to all workers; we have nothing to be ashamed of. Other issues are pensions and medical costs, issues that are raised time after time as the bosses’ offensive continues to take back gains that took a century to win. Many workers who will be negatively affected by a strike are unlikely to have any benefits at all and considerably lower pay when compared to public sector workers like those at BART.

The employers’ propaganda that BART workers are being selfish and that public sector workers are paid too much and a strain on the community with their pensions and all will get an echo among many workers if their lives are disrupted through strike action. “Why should I support these guys earning three times my pay striking for more money when I can’t get to work for my $10 an hour shit job. Where has the union been for me?” one young guy said on hearing that there might be a stoppage. The bosses will encourage this mood among the public as they remind us of the difficult times we are supposedly in and the need for “shared sacrifice”.

The problem is that the Union leadership at the local and national level has no answer to the bosses’ campaign for the hearts and minds of the public; they have nothing on the table that will encourage folks like the young man quoted above to support a strike.  He is expected to be supportive because it’s the right thing to do, the moral high ground.

Fewer than 7% of workers are organized in the US and many workers feel that unions only care about their own member’s interests.  The reality is though that the Labor leadership is unwilling to do even that.  The general approach is one of damage control, at best maintain the status quo and return to the period of labor peace.  The BART bosses know that they have the upper hand; spokespersons for the unions have assured them of their peaceful intentions through the mass media. They have assured the bosses that they do not intend to bring the power of organized Labor to the table in this war. “What we want is to Bargain” Antonette Bryant, the President of ATU 1555 tells the public through the media, “We’re not interested in talking about a strike.”

The strategy is to portray the unions as fair and compromising and the bosses as unfair, greedy and intransigent. Last week, Sister Bryant made it clear that their expectations are quite low and very reasonable telling the SF Chronicle that the Union “would sign a contract today if it keeps up with the cost of living in the Bay Area and gives us health and safety protections.” This is the limit of the Union leadership’s ideological warfare, let us keep what we have and we’ll go away.  Why would the bosses do that with 30 million without a decent job and wages declining everywhere? An SEIU spokesperson makes the point that they haven’t had a raise in five years but the bosses have learned after years of collaboration that they have nothing to fear from those at the top of the organized labor movement.

The union leadership is more afraid than the bosses that the troops will get out of hand.  It is at times like these that class-consciousness is stronger as most workers recognize that if we want to win all workers must unite and they look around for class allies.  Not the same allies as the Union tops, the Democratic politician that’ll send an e mail to the governor or walk a picket line for a day but other workers. There is always a danger that the ranks will break out of the straitjacket imposed on them by their leadership, something made all the likely when there exists a genuine fighting opposition caucus of sorts within the union.

AC Transit, the local bus service whose workers are represented by the same unions as those at BART is also in negotiations and their contract expires the same time as the BART workers. If the Union leadership had the slightest intention of going on the offensive to get back what we’ve lost over the years and make gains, they would be preparing for a joint action as AC Transit normally picks up some of the slack if BART shuts down. A joint strike with joint demands could transform things here if fought properly.

Instead, as an assurance to the employers that workers will fight this war with one hand behind our backs ATU officials at AC Transit announce in the mass media that, “It is unlikely, though not impossible that drivers would strike in conjunction with BART workers” Well I’m sure the employers are pleased to hear that.

In this case, even if there is a strike it is likely the BART California’s governor, Jerry Brown will impose a 60-day “cooling off” period before workers can walk off the job despite BART management’s request that he doesn’t; they would rather face a strike now than 60 days from now.  The media, the politicians, the police, the justice system, these are the forces the workers are up against and the Union leadership has no plan for such a struggle.

A strike could be won and could galvanize the entire Bay Area and transform the local labor movement but in order to do that, workers must go on the offensive which means that labor disputes cannot be limited to the members involved alone.  Along with the two transit unions several other public sector contracts are up and being negotiated.  City of Oakland workers, EBMUD (the local water district) workers, regional park workers are all in negotiations.  A first step in transforming the balance of forces in this area would be to form a public sector alliance and put some real meat on the table. Through such a formation public sector workers could reach out to the private sector, our communities and the unorganized.

Instead of damage control and pleading with the bosses for restraint, the union leadership could demand what we need instead of what the bosses want, wage increases, more vacations, increased sick leave, a shorter workweek with no loss in pay etc.

To win the support of workers like the young man quoted above as well as our communities that would be negatively affected by a public sector work stoppage, links must be built with these sectors, not by appealing to them to do the right thing and support "our" issues, but to generalize the dispute and place the demand for more jobs on the table as well as free transportation for seniors, reduced fares and more buses etc.  It is minorities, poor people and older people who rely on what is already a poor public transit system; making this an issue would draw the public in to the struggle. There are numerous struggles around all sorts of issues going on, all labor disputes must be linked to these community battles.

Simply announcing preparations for such a strategy would shift the balance of forces, demanding a $20 an hour minimum wage using such a dispute to wage a massive organizing drive among the low waged an unorganized would tend to counter the effects of the employers propaganda that unionized workers care only about our own issues. The bosses will cry poverty but we know that is not the case.  There is plenty of money in society it is simply a matter of where we spend it.*

We know that the union leadership will not mobilize for such a fight as they are wed to the Team Concept, the view that workers and bosses have the same interests and will do what they can to prevent such activity.  We cannot rely on them. So this Fight to Win strategy must come from below and through the building of fighting caucuses within our unions that campaign openly against the failed policies of the present leadership and that sink deep roots in to working class communities.  No matter what happens in this instance it is not the first battle nor will it be the last.

*  Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, two Kochs, and four Waltons made an average of $6 billion each from their stocks and other investments in 2012. A $6 billion per year person makes enough in two seconds (based on a 40-hour work-week) to pay a year's worth of benefits to the average SNAP recipient. Just 20 Americans made as much from their 2012 investments as the entire SNAP budget for 47 million people.  Check here for more examples of where the money is and why we should reject the "shared sacrifice" nonsense.

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LGBTQ supporters protest S F Pride Board's shunning Bradley Manning

I went to a protest last night in San Francisco.  The event was organized by members of the LGBTQ community and supporters demanding that the board that organizes Gay Pride reinstate Bradley Manning as San Francisco Pride Grand Marshal.  This is a significant event in San Francisco. Manning is the young soldier who is in prison facing life for releasing the US diplomatic cables to Wikileaks. Manning is also gay.  The speakers also condemned the increasing corporate influence in the SF Pride event and the control of it by wealthy members, basically the capitalist class, of their community.

There were maybe 60 or 70  people there including some members of the military. I managed to video some of the speakers at the open mike but missed one speaker who gave some interesting history about this movement, of which I am not so familiar. I spoke to him at the end.

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AC Transit board backs off fare increases---for now.

Richard Mellor in Oakland CA

I went to an AC Transit board meeting tonight as I heard there was going to be a bit of a protest by some of the users of mass transit Oakland.  "Mass" transit is actually a misnomer as public transportation is not a priority in the United States, after all, the car is king. Readers are probably aware of GM's buying up of the electric tram systems and shutting them down in order to profit from the manufacture of gasoline powered vehicles.

The event was organized by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, (ACCE).  It was a small gathering of about 25 people at the most, people who rely on the bus system to get around.  The board is considering raising fares but there was a resolution on the agenda to "defer" the July 1st fare increase "pending further analysis" by the transit district.

As a former rank and file Union activist in the public sector, I forgot what staged performances these board meetings are. The chair announced to the riders, overwhelmingly working class folks, older people  and people of color, that they could certainly speak but that they were "preaching to the choir" as the resolution was to "defer" the fare increases.

As I have not been attending these events I was not quite sure what to say when I was  called to the podium but I did talk to one of the women who organized the event and she said that the board was considering actually lowering fares in the hope that this would increase ridership, but she was not very taken in by this argument.

You get two minutes to speak at these things and I took the opportunity to inform the board that I did not consider them "the choir", and that the most likely outcome of their "analysis" would be the usual,  "Robbing Peter to pay Paul". I had read an economic report they handed out from one of these firms that present an analysis of the economy from the big capitalists point of view.  It was an attempt to portray a rosy future but repeatedly raised red flags, "uncertainty continues" and while there was  "modest growth" it comes with,  "a potentially serious upside or downside, depending how Congress decides (or doesn't decide) to act in the coming months."  One of the upsides was housing the report said but it also pointed out that in Oakland 42% of foreclosed homes between 2007 and 2011 were bought by investors. I made the point that investors are flocking in to single family foreclosed homes and renting them out, sometimes to the people that were driven from them by the bankers. This is driving up prices to some extent and the processes that brought us to this point are being played out again.  I read that some hedge funds are spending $100 million a month buying foreclosed properties.

The boards analysis then will depend on capitalism producing the goods which isn't likely to happen. I made it clear that in this scenario they will do what they usually do, set riders against the union workers that operate the system, turn one section of the working class against another, the youth against seniors, make sure one way or another we pay.

I pointed out that only by linking our struggles, relying on our own strength rather than these politicians whose job it is to implement the austerity agenda, can we turn the tide. We must build a united mass action movement out of which independent political candidates can arise.  I gave some examples of the money that is in society like the $26  to $32 trillion that the super rich have stashed away in offshore accounts to avoid taxes. 

It was a small but spirited event and I had a good time chatting to folks afterwards.  Being with working people in these situations is always refreshing but one thing always comes to mind after I speak at something like this. The  politicians just stare at you, they want you to play the game.  But so many people came up and thanked me afterwards, shook my hand, gave me a hug. It's  not that I said anything profound, anything workers don't know in our gut. But people love it when they hear someone express the anger they feel inside, say what they feel and think about things that affect us and more importantly, have a go at the establishment as we used to say. There is tremendous anger beneath the surface of US society that cannot find organizational expression. 

We can see why the trade Union leadership is so terrified of their own members and of taking a lead in any way, of confronting the bosses and the politicians of Wall Street in any way; there is nothing they fear more than providing an outlet for this anger. Where might it lead?  They have the same world view as the boss, they accept the market and capitalism, they must bail it out, help it to its feet and if that means cutting bus routes, raising fares, closing schools, cutting wages, so be it.

This blockage will be overcome at some point. Needless to say, I am glad I got out tonight.

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