w
n
ty t st-you vot d with the Ad­
ministration on every i ue or'
you were aiding and betting
ew Dir tions.
With no roll c 11 vot , ther
was no accountability.
union long our Ie d rs pit
the members gain t each other.
In Region 5 they us d ce-bait­
ing to un eat New Directions
le der Jerry Tucker regional
director. Their line w that ew
Directions w too pro-Black.
They ed racism to stop Don
Douglas's bid for director in
Region 1. There the line wa that
New Directions wa all white.
The UAW it exists today
need to be revolutionized.
New Directions has opened
up discussion round the issues
of leadership, outsourcing and
concessions. We have called for
"new directions" not just for
UAW members or auto workers
but for communities and the
people who live in them. When
plants clo e it's the communities
which bear the burden. So tbe
community must be involved.
They are a part of our fight.
Walter Reuther said, "If it was
just a question of winning six
cents an hour, I wouldn't be in­
terested ... I will be dissatisfied as
long as one American child is
denied the right to education. As
long as one American is denied
his rights, I will do all I can to
dispel the corruption of com­
placency in America, and seek a
greater sense of national pur­
pose."
In Michigan, New Directions
recently organized a delegation
democracy in the U A W again
until we fight for it. It's not a
democracy when we allow our
elected leaders to divide the
membership as we witnessed t
the 29th Constitutional Conven-
last in and first out, were hit
hard.
By Pat P tter on
R printed from Labor No •
of poor nd low-income ctivists
nd unionis to the tate capital
to pea with legi lators about
pending budget cu th t will af­
fect thousands of poor people.
As unionists we re in a hold­
ing pattern. We can't afford to sit
bac and wait any longer. We
either fight or fold. We need a
union that is a union, not politi­
cal party solely interested in get­
ting people elected.
I appeal to brothers and sisters
of all colors: Don't become a
clone. Use your vote and voice
to conquer the domination that
will eventually destroy the only
voice that labor has.
We must unite now as we did
in the thirties and become the
strong labor force that moved us
forward.
I close with a famous quote
from abolitionist Fredrick
Douglass: "If there ls no strug­
gle, there is no progress. Those
who profess to favor freedom,
and yet deprecate agitation, are
people who want rain without
thunder and lightening. They
want the ocean without the roar
of its many waters. Power con­
cedes nothing without a demand.
It never did and it never will."
WHY NO PROTESTS?
Government, m nagement
nd 1 bor r not addr ing th
needs of the American people.
From the Reagan Administra­
tion to the Bush Administration,
government continue to waste
billions of the American
taxpayer's dollars. Its cuts in
domestic programs and anti­
union positions have left many
Americans looking for jobs that
no longer exist.
Some of those jobs have gone
to Mexico, Germany, or Korea
as well as right-to-work stites in
our own South where workers
are exploited. The cost to us is
joblessness and low wages.
There are three parts to our
demise in the workplace. One,
big business virtually owns our
elected representatives. Two, all
branches of government are con­
trolled by the interests of big
business. Three, for auto
workers, the United Auto
Workers and the Big Three have
negotiated our jobs and clas- .
sifications away by agreeing to
. joint programs that only the
companies can 't- ,.. "p"m.
In 1984, I realize ..
union was going in the W 1 vag
direction: that concessions were
hurting more and more workers
and the Blacks, as generally the
Where were large scale
union-organized protests
against concessions, whip aw­
ing, outsourcing and joint ac­
tivitie ? These have all caused
many plants to close and jobs
have been lost.
Where was our leadership?
Joint union-management
programs have not been ac­
cepted on the shop floor and
have fueled a struggle with the
union's top leadership. That
leadership has fought back
against those who oppose joint
programs in ways that threaten
the UAW's claim to be the most
democratic labor organization.
The union was very
democratic as long as we
.operated within the
International's assumptions.
The rank and file no longer
have a democratic voice in
decision making, and no longer
have accountability as we did
during the Walter Reuther
regime .
The UA W New Directions
Movement in the eighties
caused the Bieber regime to
react with contempt and malice
toward any member who would
speak out for true democracy.
We will never have a true
'We will never
have a true
democracy in
the UAW
again until we
fight for it.'
tion. _
At that Convention there was
even less dissent than usual be­
cause the Administration
Caucus made every vote a loyal-
RACISM USED TO
DIVIDE US
ADVERTISE
We will not have a democratic
•
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o
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ow
•
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advantag
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Name
Address . Phone
-------------------- --------------------
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. Mai � to: Michigan Citizen, PO Box 03560, Highland Park,' MI 48�03
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