Here is Harry’s recollection of a key incident in
the wave of strikes. “On July 20, I was called to go to a warehouse because a
bunch of cops were going to move a truck. About a thousand policemen were
there. Around ten o’clock the captain came up to me and said, "Look, we
don’t want a mess here." I said all you have to do is move your cops away
and don’t move any trucks. He checked with his superior and came back: ‘It’s a
deal.’ It was a phony deal. At 12:30 the police went back to the warehouse. We
went back, too, thousands of pickets, all unarmed. The police surrounded the
truck and started moving it. Nine or ten or us in an open-bodied truck moved in
front of it to stop them. So help me, police on roofs started shooting from all
directions right into the workers. About fifty were injured. I was one of them,
pretty near lost my leg. Two strikers got killed. The governor’s investigating
committee put it this way: "Police took direct aim at the pickets and
fired to kill" and "at no time did pickets attack the police."
Governor Olsen had a perfect right to arrest them for murder. Instead he
declared a state of martial law and called out the National Guard. They
surrounded the union headquarters and put most of our leadership in the
stockade.”
All the same, the workers won! Harry joined the
Trotskyist Socialist Workers’ Party as a result of his experiences. In 1940 he was imprisoned for sedition under
the Smith Act for opposing US involvement in the Second World War. He died in
1992, a lifelong Marxist.
Harry was well aware that he was not writing ‘How to
win strikes for dummies’. There is no failsafe formula for winning against the
bosses. Every strike is different. But the militant traditions got results for
the teamsters in 1934. It’s high time to give them another try.
How
to win strikes
Harry
DeBoer
Corporations are increasingly taking advantage of
workers. Despite huge profits, companies are demanding – and getting – big
concessions.
Where unions are able to get wage raises, many times the increases are small
and don’t keep pace with inflation.
The standard of living is falling. Many workers can barely get by and their
debts continue to climb.
Non-unionized workers are especially hard hit. Low paid jobs are proliferating.
Without the job protection of unions, unorganized workers face all kinds of
attacks on their job conditions. Their hours are cut. They are laid off at the
employers’whim with no seniority rules in force.
A New Mood
It need not be this way. The era of concessions, can, must and will come to an
end. There’s evidence of a new mood among workers. Unions report that some
unorganized workers are asking for organizing drives. They want higher wages,
better working conditions and on-the-job protection that come with union
membership. One senses a greater desire among rank-and-filers to fight back.
Big battles are ahead and I predict a major labor upsurge in the near future.
This pamphlet is aimed at the leaders and participants of the battles to come.
Strikes can be won.
A strike is always a last resort. That’s how it should be. But these days,
unless workers are prepared to strike, employers will not give workers a fair
deal at the bargaining table. Workers need to be prepared to withhold their
labor in order to obtain a just settlement.
In the past few years, significant strikes have been lost. Workers who walk off
the job are replaced by scabs. Major strikes have been broken. Workers have
permanently lost their jobs.
This has led some in the labor movement to wrongly conclude that strikes can no
longer succeed. They point to the recent defeats and say, “What’s the point of
fighting?” As a result, unions have signed contracts with wholesale
concessions, even though the employer could afford good wage raises and
improved working conditions.
Some unions, fearful of strikes, have resorted to alternative tactics such as
public pressure campaigns. Some union leaders have proposed such tactics as a
substitute for strikes. But while public pressure campaigns can help, if the
employer knows that the union is not prepared to strike, such campaigns have
much less chance of success. The employer will squeeze the union dry if he
knows the union is not going to strike.
The 1934 Strike was a Model
I have confidence in the new generation of workers. I believe they will begin
to turn toward labor militancy in order to achieve a decent standard of living
for themselves and their families.
The 1934 truck drivers strike in Minneapolis was a model of how to fight and
win. We brought truck traffic to a standstill in the city, we drove the scabs
off the street and we won a decisive victory. We gained union recognition, won
our first contract and came away with wage increases and improved conditions.
Strikes in Minneapolis, Toledo and San Francisco in 1934 set off a wave of
militant job actions that led the way to the formation of the great unions in
this country. Those militant strikes of the 1930s forged the industrial unions
that exist today.
But during the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, unions became more complacent. The picket
line battles of earlier times subsides. Unions set up picket lines, generally
expecting them to be honored and they were. But in the late 1970s and the
1980s, that changed.
Employers became more aggressive. They tested the waters and found they could
break strikes without too much trouble. Scabbing became more common. Years ago,
no one dared cross a picket line. Today, in cities across the nation, workers
can recount stories of employers who broke strikes by sending in scabs.
A Brief History of the Strike
There is only one way to win a strike: Shut the operation down. If it is a
factory or other business, it cannot operate. If it is a transportation
industry, it cannot move. A strike means all work must stop. It means that
supervisors cannot be permitted to keep things going. It means scabs must be
prevented from taking over the workers’ jobs. Today, a strike cannot be won
with a handful of pickets. It requires mass action in the street, led by the
striking union.
The 1934 Minneapolis truckers strike was, in reality, three strikes: the coal
drivers strike in February, a broader strike in May, and a resumption of the
strike in July in which we finally achieved victory. In the coal drivers
strike, we did not have enough pickets at the beginning of the walkout to
successfully close all the yards that were being struck. I organized what
became known as cruising pickets. We could picket a gate, and let trucks that
were still operating out of the coal yards so police would think the trucks
were home free. We’d let the trucks get two or three blocks from the yard,
drive up in cars, force the trucks to stop and pour the coal on the street. In
several days, virtually all the coal truck driving operations had come to a
halt. It was a bitterly cold winter, families and businesses needed coal. The
companies caved in and we won.
Farrell Dobbs, another young Teamster leader and myself, were assigned to stay
at the union hall in the evenings and sign up new members. They came by the
thousands to join our union, Teamster local 574 (it’s now called local 544).
When workers see a leadership that knows how to fight and win, they will not
hesitate to join. The February victory had made our union considerably
stronger.
In the May strike, the police recruited several deputies and handed them clubs
to drive the strikers off the street. In one incident, some of our pickets were
ambushed by police and a number of men and women pickets were beaten badly. We
got some sticks in self-defense and, in a major street battle, drive the
special deputies off the street. It became known as the Battle of Deputy’s Run.
In the July strike, which began after the companies reneged on their agreement
with the union, the police opened fire on unarmed strikers. Two workers were
killed and nearly 60 strikers were wounded, many of them shot in the back.
This brutal attack backfired. Instead of weakening the union, it strengthened
the workers’ resolve, and drew even more public support to our side. Finally,
in August 1934, the company accepted a settlement, a giant victory for the
Teamsters and the entire labor movement. The strike put Minneapolis on the road
to becoming a union town, spurring organizing drives throughout the city and
state and across the Midwest.
The School Books
The school books today don’t tell much about labor’s story. They have little to
say about the rise of unions and the enormous sacrifices of workers in order to
make this a better world. The employers would like workers to forget their
past.
Indeed, the bosses like to say that things are different now. They contend that
the old fighting days are behind us, that militancy is ancient history. Some
companies show workers expensive films, touting labor-management cooperation
and “quality circle” meetings that encourage workers to meet with managers to
solve the company’s problems. Work faster, produce more, and above all, don’t
fight us – that’s the company’s line.
These employers, with their slick appeals for collaboration, are invariably the
same ones who go to the bargaining table to demand concessions and wage freezes
from the union.
The truth is that nothing has fundamentally changed in the relationship between
employer and employees. The boss is still the boss. Only today, he hires
high-priced union busting consultants who coat the union busting messages in
syrup. “Collaborate with management” are often code words for undermining and
breaking the union.
Union leaders should understand the capitalist system. Our leaders in 1934 knew
that the profit system drove the business leaders to try and break our union.
While the union leadership did not attempt to press its revolutionary
perspective on the membership, that perspective – and organization – were
important to winning the strike.
What Workers Learned
What workers learned in the 1930s was that standing together in large numbers,
they could beat back the union busters and win the necessary wage increases and
improved conditions. Fifty years later that still applies. Workers today must
take a militant stance in order to achieve success. Token picket lines are
insufficient. Unions must organize mass picketing with hundreds or thousands of
workers to stop any possibility of scabbing. Some union leaders say that’s
impossible today. Within a day or two, they argue, the employer will go to
court and obtain an injunction to limit the number of pickets to three or four
per gate.
My answer: In 1934 we papered the wall with injunctions. The employer can
always find some anti-union judge to sign a piece of paper. But strikes come
down to a relationship of forces. If our forces are bigger and more powerful
than theirs, we will win.
But if we ignore the injunction and continue to mass picket, the police will
arrest us, some union leaders argue.
My answer: So be it. Let them fill the jails to overflow. The union should bail
them out and get the mass of workers back on the picket lines, joined by fresh
forces that have been angered by the arbitrary action of the authorities. We
must keep the workplace we are striking shut down.
Leaders Can Make a Difference
Some union leaders contend that we cannot turn out masses of workers these
days. The workers are too passive, such leaders say. But that is not so. There
have been a number of major strikes in the United States in recent years where
thousands of workers and their supporters have marched and rallied outside
their plants. It’s a reflection of the new militancy we see developing.
Unfortunately, though it is clear in some cases that workers prepared to take
action, the leadership in some strikes stop short of closing down the plant.
The scabs keep going to work and the strike is lost. The leadership must take a
fundamental step: Organize mass picketing and prevent scabs from entering the
workplace.
“How do you get thousands of workers out on the street to take such action?”
you might ask. It’s a good question.
First, it requires leadership willing to take such steps. If you don’t have
fighters for leaders in your union, then you are going to have to elect new
leaders. You need to put up slates of candidates who believe in union democracy
and are willing to take on the employers.
Second, you must develop a comprehensive strategy. No pamphlet can spell out
all the problems and all the solutions to win a labor struggle. I can only lay
out a method. However, there are some key factors to any comprehensive plan.
Successful strikes require the participation and support of the entire labor
movement. Building that kind of broad-based support can actually prevent
strikes. If the employer thinks that he is going to have to take on the whole
labor movement of a city or state, he may think long and hard before forcing
the workers out on strike. Local union leaders should approach city and state
labor officials, explain what the bosses are trying to do to their union, and
seek the support of these officials. Ask them to help and give them full credit
when they do.
Think big. Hold one or more mass rallies before the strike deadline with
prominent labor speakers, using well-made leaflets and posters. Invite all the
labor unions, not just your own. Be conscious of all aspects. Be sure that
women and minorities play a big role. In some of our labor organizations in the
1930s, we sent organizers in among the unemployed and organized them as
unemployed contingents of our union to join us on the picket lines. That should
be done today. If the unemployed are organized on our side, it is far harder
for the boss to use them as scabs. And the are the group employers approach
first to break strikes.
Placing big ads where possible in commercial and labor press to explain the
union’s case and list the unions that support you. Send representatives from
your union to meetings of other unions to explain what you are fighting for.
Get top labor leaders to write letters to all unions in the state, spelling out
the issues, and ask them to endorse the rally, to send members to the rally,
and to join union picket lines if a strike occurs. Think big. Then think
bigger.
Have workers throughout your plant and city wear buttons with slogans of
support. See that articles about the issues are placed in the labor press and other
news media. Hold news conferences with prominent labor people backing you up.
Present union members to the public who are examples of workers who can barely
make ends meet on the wages they are paid.
A strike should be well organized and the 1934 Minneapolis strike is a classic
case. A book, Teamster Rebellion by Farrell Dobbs, gives the full story, and I
highly recommend it to you.
We had a commissary to feed strikers and their families. We served hot meals
daily with food donated by sympathetic farmers and grocers. This became a way
of sustaining the strikers as well as a means of deepening solidarity among
workers.
The strike committee had a doctor and nurses on hand at the strike headquarters
for workers who might be injured in the picketing. This proved extremely
valuable.
For the first time anywhere in the country, we put out a daily strike
newspaper. It was called “The Organizer.” During the strike you can frequently
count on the editors of the pro-business media to try and distort the issues.
You need your own publication to explain the issues and get out the truth about
the strike. A daily strike newspaper can be a means to rally the strikers and
their supporters and educate the public, winning new allies to the strikers’
side.
All kinds of solidarity efforts will be necessary. You will want to approach
other local unions, women’s groups and community organizations. The object is
to isolate the employer until the mass public pressure forces him to back down.
Indeed, the greater the planning before the strike and the more solidarity you
have from the rest of the labor movement, the less likely there will be a
strike. The company may see that you are prepared and see the array of forces
on your side and will be less inclined to take the union on.
There also needs to be special concern for the welfare of the workers facing
the most severe financial plight. A welfare committee should be prepared to
meet with bill collectors or mortgage companies to forestall any problems.
Workers should be reassured on these issues. Looking after the neediest workers
becomes a top priority in a strike. I have see walkouts where militants
neglected those workers who then tried to go through the picket lines. What a
tragedy! Such people would become the stoutest defenders of the union if the
union took the time to be concerned about them. And that is the union’s job.
How We Can Activate Our Union
“How can we activate our union?” you may ask. “Many of our members don’t attend
union meetings. All these ideas are great but our members won’t participate.”
I believe the backbone of any union should be union democracy. The more
democratic the union, the stronger it is. Frequently, members don’t attend
meetings because, when they do, it seems that all the decisions have already
been made. Meetings must be opened up and made more democratic. All major
decisions of the union should be made only after a discussion and vote of the
membership. If you have undemocratic leaders, you must vote them out and elect
democratic ones. Leaders who are fighters with a commitment to union democracy
will attract increased activism from the rank-and-file. Union leaders should
discuss their strategy openly with the membership. Rank-and-filers should be
encouraged to take on major responsibilities in a comprehensive strategy.
Discuss, plan and vote! As you find your union becomes more democratic, you
will find many of your members wanting to participate in the decisions that
affect their lives.
In Teamsters local 574 we had elected stewards that represented members in the
various shops. We had an elected grievance board that met twice a month and
listened to any worker who had a potential grievance. We had an elected
negotiating committee. And in the 1934 truck drivers strike in Minneapolis, we
had an elected Committee of 100. This committee was a sounding board that met
between regular union meetings. Proposals by the leadership during the strike
were first brought to the Committee of 100. The committee sifted through the
proposals and reached decisions and carried those decisions back to the mass of
workers. This democratic process strengthened the strike and kept the
leadership in touch with what the membership wanted.
Some union leaders disagree with this open style of democracy. During a strike
or negotiations, they argue for the utmost secrecy. Often, I’ve found that such
secrecy is really a ploy to make an unsatisfactory compromise behind the backs
of the workers. Every settlement involves compromise. But the decisions of the
union must be made by the membership. The demands should be voted on by the
members. The members should determine when a demand is removed by the union
from the bargaining table. The more democratic the union, the more involved the
workers will become in the union. The less democratic the union, the less
enthusiasm the members will have in the leadership when the employer forces the
union into a showdown.
Shutting it Down
There are various ways to shut down a business and this pamphlet can’t begin to
address all of them. But here are some key methods.
– Mass Picketing. This should be part of all strikes. By your very numbers you
can prevent the plant from operating.
– Sit-downs outside a plant. Sometimes to overcome the presence of large
numbers of police or National Guard, the best tactic might be to set several
thousand people down in front of the key doors or gates. They may haul you away
in mass arrests. The union bails you out and you sit down again.
– Sit-downs inside the plant. Sitdown strikes, a tactic used in the 1930s,
ought to be considered a viable strike method today. It’s much harder for
bosses to get workers out of the building, once they are sitting inside.
– Fink drives. Finks are scabs and fink drives were something we used when
employers used scabs to reopen plants that were on strike. We took some of our
best militant workers, entered the plant and drove the finks out.
– Mass marches and rallies, as a way of building towards the mass picketing and
other actions to shut the operation down.
Talking to Workers
Carl Skoglund, who later became president of our local, was the architect of
the 1934 Minneapolis strike. He had been through many labor battles. He had a
bad leg and I remember the night before the coal strike in February 1934, he
put his arm on my shoulder for support as we walked back to our apartments.
“Harry,” he said to me, “a lot of workers may not understand what we are
fighting for at first. We’ll need to talk to them. Explain to them what this
strike is about. Give them a chance to understand. Don’t write them off before
you’ve given them a chance.”
One of the first non-union drivers we stopped the next day proved Carl’s point.
We had followed a truck out of the coal yard and a few blocks away we converged
on it. We explained to the driver what we were fighting for and why we were on
strike. The man got angry. He told us that his boss had lied to him about what
we were striking for. He jumped out of the truck and helped us dump his own
load of coal on the street! That night, he went down to the union hall and
joined the union. After the strike, he became a loyal union steward.
There is a lesson in this. It’s necessary to explain to workers why you are on
strike. And that goes for workers who have been hired as scabs. Many times, if
you talk to these workers, they will end up siding with you. If they don’t, of
course, it is another story. But many times in this society, with so much
anti-union propaganda, people develop hostile attitudes toward unions. Often
times, explaining the issues can turn them around.
That same open-mindedness is important in dealing with your co-workers who may
not at first recognize the necessity of militant action, but will come around,
once they see that it works.
Organizing the Unorganized
Many of the most important battles of the future will be waged on behalf of the
unorganized workers. New mass efforts must be made to organize these workers
into unions. Unions today tend to be made up of higher paid workers and union
leaders sometimes forget where their unions came from.
The same mass approach to victory on the picket line must extend to union
organizing. Mass mobilizations of workers is needed for organizing drives.
There should be rallies and participation of the entire membership in these
drives, and efforts to get the support of the rest of the labor movement.
During contract talks, bosses sometimes try to terrorize workers into
submission. Employers threaten unions that are demanding higher wages with the
possibility that the company will move away and seek cheaper, non-union labor
markets elsewhere. If the company has a trained workforce locally, it may be
nothing more than a scare tactic. But the union’s response should be quick. If
the boss moves his plant somewhere else, the union leaders should say, “We will
send union organizers to your new location and organize them, there. If you go
abroad, our international union will work to see that your are organized
wherever you set up shop. Wherever you go, we will follow you. We will not
allow you to exploit your workers. So you better put a reasonable package on
the bargaining table, because it is not going to get any better for you
elsewhere.”
A clear commitment to organizing is the best way to assure good contracts at
workplaces that are organized. We had a motto in Local 574: “Every member an
organizer.” Over-the-road drivers would encourage workers to unionize wherever
they went throughout the Midwest. It’s a motto we should adopt today.
The more workers we have in unions, the harder it will be for the employer to
find workers who can break strikes. And it will help to make the union a
greater force for progress and social justice.
The union must be the champion of the underdog, the poor and the suffering. We
must be concerned with single-parent families, the child who does not have
enough to eat, the disabled, the victims of discrimination. We must speak out
for the elderly, many of whom cannot eke out a living on their small pensions
and social security.
Fighting for them, we can restore the union to greatness. Their cause becomes
our cause when we stand up for decent wages and conditions for all.
