UE Convention Resolutions
Restore the Right to Strike
The right of workers to withhold their labor is among the most fundamental of human rights. Even in contract negotiations that end in settlement without a strike, the right of employees to strike, and their willingness to do so if necessary, are often indispensable to reaching an acceptable contract. No democratic society worthy of the name can truly claim to respect the liberty of its citizens and deny their right to strike. Despite the claims of employers, pundits, politicians and "labor statesmen" that strikes are outmoded, the strike remains our most powerful and effective weapon.
Regrettably, the right to strike has been eroded in the U.S. during both Republican and Democratic administrations, as politicians of both parties strive to please their corporate benefactors. The result is that the right to strike, where it exists at all, has often devolved into the right to be replaced.
The use of legalized scabs, so-called permanent replacements, was first sanctioned by the Supreme Court in the Mackay Radio decision of 1938. The 1981 firing of striking air traffic controllers by Ronald Reagan emboldened employers to aggressively attack the right to strike. This is frequently accomplished through employer use of permanent replacement scabs. This has led to a precipitous decline in the number of workers striking. In 1971 the Bureau of Labor Statistic (BLS) recorded over 2.5 million workers of major corporations involved in work stoppages. Last year, the number had fallen to only 70,000.
But while strikes are becoming rarer phenomena nationwide, management is as eager as ever to use lockouts in order to ram extreme final offers down our throats. In 2006, members of Local 155 were locked out by two belligerent companies after the companies made outrageous final offers. Stepan Company in Fieldsboro, New Jersey refused to offer any wage increase in the first year of their first contract, and Tinius Olson, in Horsham, Pennsylvania sought deep cuts in healthcare. Members of UE Local 1174 employed at Quad City Die Casting in Moline, Illinois are currently locked out and facing a tough battle over the hiring of temporary workers to do unit work.
In the public sector, many workers lack even the legal right to strike. In those cases where the right is recognized, the effectiveness of a strike is so encumbered with bureaucratic constraints as to be practically non-existent. These circumstances undoubtedly embolden politicians in their zeal for budget-cutting attacks against public-sector workers.
Raleigh, North Carolina sanitation workers, members of UE Local 150, went on strike in September of 2006 over low pay and excessive overtime with no compensation. These UE members showed remarkable courage, since they have no legal right to strike, and could have lost their jobs and faced jail time. Despite this danger, and the lack of collective bargaining rights, the militant and unified action of the Raleigh sanitation workers won them the support of the community, and ultimately the ear of local government. The city addressed the workers’ demands, instituted dues checkoff, and began regular meet-and-confer sessions with elected UE representatives of the workers to discuss working conditions.
Workers at Lakewood Engineering, in Chicago, members of UE Local 1101, reached a first contract in February 2006. The bargaining was a grueling nine-month process, with the boss bargaining from a regressive position almost throughout negotiations – offering less in the first contract than members had before. However, a two-day strike the preceding fall, coupled with membership determination to strike again if need be, played a pivotal role toward finally achieving a first contract.
Far from being obsolete, the right to strike has never been more relevant or vital to our membership and to the labor movement as a whole. Contrary to the view of labor "leaders" that we must seek to be "flexible partners" with our employers, the very nature of our economic system means that we must be always prepared to fight to defend and improve our conditions. We must restore the right to strike.
A broad grassroots campaign by all of labor and its allies is necessary to reestablish our right to strike without limitation and without the threat of being replaced.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS 70th UE CONVENTION:
- Calls for the continued use of the strike as a primary weapon against the employer, with special attention to the complete and careful organization of strikes, including full membership involvement and the mobilization of all possible community and political support;
- Recommends renewed education of members on UE strike policy;
- Calls upon UE locals and regions to make the restoration of the right to strike and the establishment of that right for public employees a part of their political action work. This issue should serve as a test of the willingness and the sincerity of any candidate for public office to stand up for the basic rights of American workers.