Teamsters for a Democratic Union? New Politics

[OT+]

[WTF891]

This is a great read, he nails the evolution of TDU into becoming O'Brien's jailhouse punk.

[Watcher745]

This is a real honest assessment of the present state of what TDU has become. Unfortunately the newest members have no idea of what the organization used to be.

[Bob Randall]

Look...I'm not going to sit here and argue against the article. It's a good read. Excepting laying the blame on TDU for the Fearless Slate's failure to gather the required percentage of signatures. That is just overreaching criticism. That blame lies on Richard due to an apparent lack of necessary skill and activity to pull it off. I am going to present my question to those that repeatedly criticize TDU for becoming what it has become. This is a genuine question. Not a criticism of the opposition to what TDU "has become". Though, let me preface. In my mind, the alliance with O'Brien is indefensible due to the organization's complicity. Although, I do believe that TDU plays a valuable role in membership involvement. Much better than the IBT's education department ever has. That said, the market for an organization such as the one that TDU once was does not exist any longer. The landscape has changed greatly. Mob control is a thing of the past as a result the oversight. Elections, as well as some practices of the union, are still overseen. Corruption is not the ugly snake (as Brother Carey termed it) as it once was. (Although any level at all is too much.) For these reasons and others there is just not a rank-and-file market for the TDU that once was. The one exception could possibly be a movement from within the UPS part timers. Now, my question. What role could/should the "old" TDU effectively play in the current environment? (Assuming that I am correct with my opinion of the "market".) I honestly don't understand what critics are looking for.

[AlJackson1962!]

Bob: Please clarify what you're referring to when you write: "In my mind, the alliance with O'Brien is indefensible due to the organization's complicity."

I agree the article is a good read. From my view the most compelling paragraph in that above New Politics article reads as follows:

"The membership structure of TDU has been effectively killed: there are no longer TDU branches where activists meet to formulate plans. “Democracy” is limited to the annual TDU “Convention” where a slate of candidates for the “International Executive Board” (who have been picked in advance) are approved by the “members”—membership, too, has come to mean anyone who pays their annual $50 fee to TDU. The International Executive Board has been made up primarily of Local officers or IBT staff, many of whom have won their positions with TDU’s support. How this developed in the years since the events in TRAF is beyond the scope of this review, but Friedman was attentive to these possibilities even before the Ron Carey administration (1991–97)."

In addition to Mike Freidman's 1982 recognition of where TDU might be headed, former and now deceased Teamster Brother and friend, Dave Wolfinsohn, wrote an April 1980 article in Against the Current regarding the electoral focus vs. a primary focus on building rank and file power. Dave Wolfinsohn's article explained the then recent history in our Boston TDU chapter; we backed and campaigned for Local 42 Beacon Freight driver Frank Salemme; Salemme won, and then Salemme abandoned TDU.

Lots more to the subject matter for discussion, but that's my immediate reaction.

[Bob Randall]

Yeah. That paragraph really hit home. I'll express myself better regarding to your request for clarification. Understood. Making homemade sauce right now. Yummm....

[Magruder]

I agree with both of you, that paragraph sums up the death of any meaningful membership structure. At the same time the lack of any organized alternative makes national elections less likely but not impossible.

[Bob Randall]

Clarification of "indefensible": O'Brien's support for Trump is an absolute failure of the obligation of a General President. Purely self-serving. He has knowingly allowed himself to be manipulated by a person that clearly is, as well as has been, an opponent of unions. TDU's complicity in that respect is indefensible. Same for GEB members. That's not to say that there have not been changes to the organization to the displeasure of some. Including myself. I still believe that a watchdog organization is always a necessary element of a democratic institution. It's never a challenge to pick away at failures or perceived failures or actions that are disagreed with. I don't look at those necessarily as indefensible. To some extent that should be expected over time. Those horses have been beaten to death on this site. So, I don't have much of an interest in agreeing or disagreeing with those. It's way too old without a material purpose.

This in no way at all means that I think that SOB's support (ass kissing) of an anti-union POTUS is the only area where he falls short. If TDU had sold out to GPs prior to and subsequent to Carey, up to and including Hoffa Jr, I'd be furious with the organization. As I have said, since the consent decree is greatly responsible (unfortunately necessary) for causing the Teamsters to sail rather straightly, I believe that the Teamsters have the ability to do so much more. SOB is not the guy.

I just don't think that TDU deserves the vile criticism that it has received as a result of its "change" in character. The organization's intentions are good as an organization that clearly is focused primarily on rank-and-file activism. Paff has gone on vacations that involve scuba diving for years. So what? TDU's office has moved to a better area that surely is more expensive to run. Big fuckin' deal. How many of us have worked hard for forty or fifty years, succeeded (relatively speaking) and felt that we deserved something a bit better or more suited to our needs or pleasures. Ain't that our purpose as members of the working class? I have no doubt that Paff is incorruptible. Those allegations are inexcusable. Frankly, they are childish accusations made by writers that have difficulty correctly spelling one syllable words.

I'm gonna close with this again. I just don't believe that the rank-and-file market (interest in the "old" TDU and how it had served) could nearly be what it was prior to the consent decree and through the Hoffa Jr era. SOB will never go down in history as a great labor leader. He is not. Although, history has taught him to play the game of survival by accomplishing "just enough". Even if in an environment with the "old" TDU present. For these reasons I'm surmising that TDU decided to shape its character to one that could be most useful (in its mind). Now, I still have not received a reply to my question of what critics are looking for other than repeated, redundant criticism. I'm genuinely interested in hearing that,

[Nickjamesups]

How about simply reporting the truth? When Oz dosent deliver on promises or when they claim things that are simply untrue or distorted? Thats what TDU used to do.

[Bob Randall]

Understood.

[AlJackson1962!]

The direction of TDU since the TDU endorsement of the OZ Slate and the subsequent "seats at the table" with Sean O'Brien (besides the principled stands taken by At Large VP John Palmer), the "Coalition" members [IBT GEB] are much like the Trump Republican Party: They will not rock the boat; they will only toe the line in lockstep with O'Brien's agenda. However, unlike the US two-party system (as disappointing as it is) there is no organized opposition to the OZ Coalition.

The question of the primary focus of TDU has been an internal debate for decades. From 1976-1989 TDU was a hotbed of rank and file organizing and resistance to the corruption, misleadership, and selling out of the members' interests by the Old Guard entrenched IBT bosses. And, it was during that 1976-1989 period (and through the successful IBT GEB election of the Ron Carey Slate), that TDU was strongest in my view. With the election of Carey TDU underwent a marked change - and this is understandable when there is newly elected leadership won through the efforts of grass roots organizing. The responsibilities shifted from the decades of Old Guard business unionism to the newly elected insurgents. Note: The entire five plus years that Ron Carey was GP (before GST Tom Sever as acting GP was replaced in the 1998 re-run election resulting in Hoffa, Jr.'s victory) was akin to a civil war. The attacks by the Old Guard were relentless and culminated with the Hoffa, Jr. delegates disruption of the 1996 IBT Convention in Philadelphia. Even during the 1997 UPS strike, Hoffa, Jr. openly condemned that strike!

Bob Randall's above question: "What role could/should the "old" TDU effectively play in the current environment? (Assuming that I am correct with my opinion of the "market".) I honestly don't understand what critics are looking for."

The "old" TDU is a distant memory. After Ron Carey spoke at the 1989 Pittsburg TDU Convention, when he asked for TDU's endorsement, there was a question and answer period among TDU members. Pete Camarata stated from the floor that his key focus would remain building the Detroit Metro TDU chapter. TDU did not abandon it's founding Convention Rank & File Bill of Rights then, and I would like to see the minutes from the TDU Convention wherein this TDU action was approved prior to the OZ Slate election (I'm not contending that it was a violation of the TDU Constitution - I would like to read the alleged justification for doing so.).

The TDU local chapters were pretty much autonomous in character during the 1976-89 period. However, with the Ron Carey Slate (that included many rank and file TDU members on that slate), TDU national leadership (Ken Paff and the ISC) adopted a hands off strategy - to back Carey's decisions without question or debate (at least that's what I saw as a Local 504 S/T and Principal Officer and active TDU member during that period. TDU members from NYC Local 282 attended the 1992 TDU Convention in St. Louis and expressed dissatisfaction with Carey's trusteeship of that Local. My recollection at that time: Teddy Katsaros a prominent member of the Local 282 caucus F.O.R.E. (Fear of Reprisals End) stating that {notwithstanding Carey's trusteeship of that very corrupt Local)..."We're tripping over Mob guys all over the place..." [in the course of the Local 282 trusteeship]; Lee Olson another Local 282 member leafleted and spoke from the floor of his dissatisfaction with Carey's handling of the Local 282 trusteeship.

In 1995, Ron Carey and the IBT GEB approved the forced merger of three Boston IBT Locals: 504 (warehousemen and drivers), 380,(dairy) and 157 (Massport workers) into Local 25 - then headed by President George Cashman. Local 504 fought against this unilateral merger and we received a letter from Tom Sever stating that the merger of Local 504 had been withdrawn, but Locals 380 and 157 were merged without any vote by the rank and file members nor by their E. Boards.

So even with a well respected Union leader like Ron Carey, the need for an empowered rank & file to feel comfortable expressing dissent is inherent in any Union. But with the OZ Slate, we're dealing with:
- The IBT: 1) hiring corporate law firms to intimidate rank & file members and Teamster retirees from using the name "Teamsters" to identify a dissident caucus.
- The IBT selling short on winning job security and fair and equitable wages for UPS part-time workers
- The IBT embracing and contributing DRIVE funds to the most extreme racist, anti-worker politicians and their agenda
- The IBT hiring high priced public relations firm to sell the UPS contract
- The unending glorification of our "fearless leader" Sean O'Brien jet setting around the country with photo-ops, broadcasting his podcasts (where does the GP of a 1.3 million member Union earn the time for this?).
- The coverup of the Griswold/Harren violations of their oath of obligation
- Lots more

Meanwhile the TDU leadership (ISC and Paff/Levin) bar members from TDU - Teamsters Mobilize for proposing a resolution and John Palmer for resisting O'Brien's rightward political agenda.
So, my answer is: Yes, we still need a rank and file Teamster organization to fight for democracy in our Union, an end to corruption, and a militant rank and file empowered membership.
If one reads the comments to IBT sponsored social media posts, there seems to be plenty of dissatisfaction with the leadership of the OZ Slate. Could that ever happen under the existing structure of TDU? Extremely unlikely. But nevertheless, my answer to Bob Randall's question is: TDU as a committed caucus for rank and file empowerment is still needed, but today, through the actions of Paff and Levin it has become an ally of the SOB version of what the Teamsters should be: A top down Union, with no room for any opposing views.

In closing, please take a look at the below attachments from Ken Paff's old Cleveland TDU chapter newspaper "Speak Out" . And they keep telling us TDU has never taken a "political" stand in its Convention nor its publications!

[Bob Randall]

Well...that was an awful lot leading up to a reply to my question. That attempt being "TDU as a committed caucus for rank-and-file empowerment is still needed." No argument here at all. I've not stopped sharing that opinion. Not gonna happen (similarly to the "old" TDU). Even if the organization wanted to, for reasons that I stated, I don't believe that the market is there for recruitment purposes as it was before. Prior to the Carey era, as well as through it into the Junior era (although waning), with the proper resources I could have plopped in so many Locals and found a high degree of anger with the potential for TDU recruitment possibilities. It's not at that degree any longer. Again, an exception could possibly be with UPS part timer contingency. So, maybe a seat at the table was an option to continue providing something valuable.

[Watcher745]

It’s my sense that since the alignment with O’Brien there are more members willing to join TDU since there is no longer the stigma coming from the IBT. Also locals are now more willing to sponsor members to attend as did a very small number of locals in the past. The other side of the coin is has the conventions now become a weekend away at the unions expense?
Much like existing caucuses that are little more than excuses to travel and party on someone else’s dime.
I can’t help but wonder if this was or is a plan to infiltrate from within and remove the last group of members willing to openly oppose the national incumbents. If O’Brien simply gets his people on the steering committee TDU becomes what some already think is a “ rubber stamp “