Thread by @libcomorg

Completely ahistorical take that ignores the long history of nativism, racism, and misogyny in US trade unions, while assuming the decline in workplace organising is down to Democrat policies rather than restructuring of international capital since the '60s.

There's a long history of anti-racism in the workers movement, but collapsing this down to 'unions' being anti-"racist ignores struggles against segregation in unions and at work.

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During the sit down strikes of the thirties, women were sent home from Akron and Flint, forbidden to directly participate in the strike occupation by the unions.
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At Flint, a single black worker was involved in the sit in. At first he ate separately and the white workers couldn't understand why he was taking part, although this situation improved during the strike itself. Slightly over-optimistic account here: libcom.org/library/genora…

Oh god no.

theguardian.com/politics/2018/…

In the late '60s the League of Revolutionary Black Workers grew out of both the' 68 Detroit uprising and also as a response to racism from the UAW leadership.

libcom.org/history/when-u…

It's just fucking weird nostalgia for a golden age of unions that never existed. Workers in general have always had to fight against the union leadership, and Black and women workers often for recognition from their own work mates. libcom.org/library/black-…

Tennesse miners breaking black convicts out of stockade, the IWW organising immigrants and black workers. This is crucial history that is skipped over by 'racism means inequality, unions decrease inequality, lol Hillary Clinton'.

libcom.org/history/crossi…

So much conflation of correlation and causation here it's hard to know where to start. First of all, there's no mention of the composition of union jobs in the US, and without that, we can't understand current lower pay differentials or the overall decline of unions.

Unionization in the US primarily followed direct worker organisation and militancy. For example Knights of Labor was still tiny during the 1877 railroad strike, and its membership increased afterwards. 1877 strike was organised without formal orgs. libcom.org/history/great-…

If you shut down one section of a factory, the entire factory can be shut down within hours. Railroad strikes can shut down industry in entire regions. Teacher strikes less disruptive but the parents all know about it. This is fundamentally different to a coffee shop strike.

Union density in the vast majority of cases matches structural industrial strength, extraction, transport, manufacture, public sector. Centralised employers, longer term employment, strikes naturally disruptive.
libcom.org/library/workin…

So when @sunraysunray says black women in union jobs get paid better, this is credited, without explanation, to the union. What he elides is that these union jobs are disproportionately public sector jobs.
epi.org/publication/bl…

This doesn't mean public sector workers don't need to organise, far from it, but in the recent teacher strikes they have mostly done so, and won, with at best belated support from their unions, in states where strikes may even have been unlawful.

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By ignoring where union jobs are, Sunkara also ignores the reason that public sector workers are disproportionately poc - it's because since the '60s it's been the main sector where anti-discrimination legislation has been enforced.

epi.org/publication/bp…

Decline of union jobs in the US since '70s has not been because of a Democrat/corporate conspiracy against unions, but an attack on the jobs themselves, via relocation, restructuring, and automation in manufacturing. libcom.org/history/1930-p…

Where currently unorganised jobs could be organised, it's not going to be through the election of union-friendly Democrats, but via methods of organising which don't depend on immediate union density at all, like solidarity networks. libcom.org/library/seasol…

Another result of ignoring workforce composition is the uncomfortable fact that a lot of higher paid union jobs are as police or prison guards. About 13% of police in the US are black, a direct result of post-'60s liberal policies like affirmative action.

datausa.io/profile/soc/33…

So we have to recognise that one reason why black workers in unionised jobs are better off is not because of the unions, but because of policies designed to increase social mobility into those jobs that already had unions, almost the opposite of Sunkara's take here.

It'd be easy to go from 'union jobs mean less racial disparity' to hire 👏 more 👏 black 👏 cops 👏 and this is really not far off a Corbyn/Sanders position on supporting the police as public sector workers instead of an institution to be destroyed.

https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/961235373128146944

Or why we see DSA-linked candidates getting endorsement from police unions. Writing a whole article about 'liberal politicisns should support unions' instead of on actual working class self organisation contributes to just more liberal shit.

https://twitter.com/libcomorg/status/1012370391162114048

What we're left with is the editor of Jacobin saying you can fight racism and sexism by appealing to the liberal faction of the ruling class to support unions, then telling workers to vote for the ones that do. Actual worker self-organisation is left out entirely.

Jacobin has a long track record of conflating anti-racism and neoliberalism, which allows them to attack 'liberals' while dismissing anti-racists to their left. A substitution of 'identity' representation for 'class' representation by social democrats.

libcom.org/blog/identity-…

Taking aim at Hillary Clinton for 'intersectionality' is a classic example of this, allowing for example the existence of ex-BPP member and anarchist Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin's writing on racism inside activist groups to be ignored.

libcom.org/library/progre…

If you're talking about better 'representation and inclusion' of women does this mean empty Democrat lean in platitudes or dealing with sexual violence and harassment properly, which often drives women out of radical organisations.

libcom.org/library/silent…

When outsourced union organisers have to deal with union busting tactics and sexual harassment at SEIU/Fight For 15 is this unions helping to undermine sexism or reproducing it or both?
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