Sorry for posting repeatedly today, but I think comrades will want to see these
exchanges.
From: sandorcuny@xxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2016 11:46:22 -0400
Subject: Re: Democrats, PERB, and an unaccustomed silence Re: Early planning
for elections
To: jaschul@xxxxxxxxx
CC: andrew.battle@xxxxxxxxx; cuny-struggle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; dossthane@xxxxxxx
In response to Jason:
Since when does the need to take a position on the key defining issues for the
labor movement, including education workers = a push for "ideological
uniformity"? The latest... let's call it: red herring.
On the contrary, the push to not address these issues can only equal avoiding
the underlying causes of the problems that beset us in the PSC and the labor
movement as a whole.
These issues include racist police terror, the presence of capitalism's armed
guardians within labor unions, the Taylor Law denying labor's basic right to
strike(which union bureaucrats like because it gives them an excuse not to
strike plus it includes a devil's bargain making it "easier" to unionize so
long as unions agree to have no power). No fighting union movement can emerge
unless it takes up the challenge to mobilize labor's power against imperialist
war -- as pointed to by the 2008 ILWU longshore strike against the Iraq and
Afghanistan wars that shut down all 29 West Coast ports in 2008.(Guess where
that came from.) It means addressing the need to mobilize the power of the
working class against all forms of oppression, as pointed to by West Coast
dockers' work stoppages against police terror, the "Hard Hats for Gay Rights"
organized in Portland after the Orlando massacre, and other examples.
Key to taking on these issues is clearly and openly addressing the structure of
social and political control capped by labor's subjugation to the parties and
politicians of the capitalist status quo.
If one treats treat these questions as somehow external to the struggle against
CUNY's two-tier system, it's a classic example of "economism" -- that is,
keeping the struggle within limits acceptable to the capitalist order. And that
means defeat after defeat, including on the two-tier system.
The point here is that the sellouts of the entire union bureaucracy, including
its ever-"new" and "newer" refurbishers, are directly derived from their social
role as mediators and enforcers for the Democratic Party. Seeking to discourage
debate on this issue is a favor only tothose who seek to maintain that
subjugation to the government party.
For the record, no, the CCU is not and does not seek to be a caucus, nor has it
run or supported candidates in union or other elections. For a definition of
the CCU, and a summary of how it arose in response to the 2008 contract
betrayal, see: https://cunycontingents.wordpress.com/about/
Class Struggle Education Workers, on the other hand, is an opposition tendency
working to build a new, class-struggle leadership in education workers' unions,
and has run candidates in union elections (such as Marjorie Stamberg in the UFT
and myself in the PSC). It does this on a program addressing the vital social
and political issues that are evaded by (or worse in the case of MORE) the
lowest-common-denominator "reform" caucuses that consistently replicate the
union bureaucracy.
To give some examples of what this has meant in the context of the PSC: as a
member of the PSC Delegate Assembly elected as an independent on the CSEW
program and vocally opposed to the New Caucus, I initiated fights against the
two-tier system, for adjunct and HEO rights, against the leadership's ban on
non-"full timers" voting in the Pathways referendum, in solidarity with Gaza
education workers bombed by Israel, in solidarity with teachers strikes in
Puerto Rico and Oaxaca, against the union's affiliation to the "Working
Families Party" (a Democratic front group), against its endorsement of Obama in
2008 and 2012, for union action against CUNY's employment of war criminal David
Petraeus and the police repression of student protestors, etc. As a result, in
the last Hunter College elections, the New Caucus ran a slate of 9
"full-timers" (most of whom never attend union meetings) against me to get me
out of the DA.
To act effectively against the sell-outs of the New Caucus leadership, it is
necessary to get to the roots of those betrayals. General talk about uniting on
the basis of good intentions is no different from what the New Caucus itself
did to get elected in the first place.
PERB: Still waiting to hear from the "CUNY Struggle" organizers as to their
position on the announced plans for going to the Taylor Law enforcement body of
the capitalist state to decertify the union.
-- Sándor John
On Tue, Jul 26, 2016 at 10:47 AM, Jason Schulman <jaschul@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Sandor,
With all due respect, if you're hoping for ideological uniformity on this list,
you're not going to find it here. CUNY Struggle is not The Revolutionary Party
(or even The Revolutionary Caucus) and there's no chance of it becoming such.
You or I may not like this, but such is life, and if you spend much of your
time berating those more moderate than you (which is most of the working class
population of the U.S., BTW), you're going to end up working only with yourself.
For the record I have no intention of voting for H. Clinton (note: even plenty
of his delegates at the Democratic National Convention refuse to do so, despite
Sanders' request that they do -- I saw this again and again in interviews with
his delegates on MSNBC). If others on this list insist on voting for her, I
doubt there's much I can do to convince them otherwise. Most have made their
minds up at this point. Understandable fear of Trump will lead many to cast a
vote they don't actually want to cast.
In regard to PERB, I agree with you but it's not as if formal votes on this
issue have been taken by this list's membership. I suggested building an
alternative caucus to the New Caucus and if that fails to make much headway
then we can talk about adjuncts separating ourselves from the PSC. From what I
can tell, from reading this list's archives, that's more-or-less where most
people here stand.
If your purpose here is to criticize everyone who doesn't have precisely your
political positions, then that strikes me as a waste of time. You have CCU,
comrade. Isn't that effectively a caucus, or planning to be so? Why not work on
building that and then we'll see whose arguments seem the most convincing to
CUNY adjuncts (and adjunct-friendly "full-timers")?
Best,
Jason
On Tue, Jul 26, 2016 at 9:38 AM, Sandor John <sandorcuny@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Usually voluble "leftists" on this list, who are leading public representatives
of "CUNY Struggle," have fallen oddly silent in the midst of all the vows to
follow Sanders et al. in supporting Hillary Clinton -- candidate for Commander
and Deporter in Chief from the governing party of U.S. imperialism, of drones,
racist police terror and the war on public education.
is it that you seek, as leftists in MORE have done, to build a caucus with
supporters of the current government party in order to run candidates in the
union?
(For those interested in what MORE actually is, this is a clue as to why MORE's
2016 election platform says not a word about unions' support to the bosses'
parties, about racist police terror, about cops and military recruiters in the
schools, about opposition to imperialist war, about solidarity with striking
teachers in Mexico and Brazil, or even about the Taylor Law ... :
https://morecaucusnyc.org/2016/01/02/our-2016-platform/ ;)
Nor has there been any response at all to the section on PERB in my previous
post (perhaps this too is inimical to "unity" at all costs?):
"PERB and decertification: Lastly, burning outrage at the latest betrayal by
the union leadership is more than called for and should be expressed loudly and
raucously. But to fight such betrayals is impossible without a basic
understanding of the class line. This was at the core of the disputes that
occurred on this list over the strike authorization vote. Now, if anything,
it's even worse: people on this list (presumably members of what now does
describe itself as a group, CUNY Struggle) are planning on going to the PERB to
take steps to decertify the union. "The PERB is an agency of the bosses'
government -- concretely, "PERB is the agency established by the Taylor Law to
administer that Law," as stated on its site: http://www.perb.ny.gov/faq.asp ;
You think this strike-breaking agency is the adjuncts' friend?"The proposal to
bring the Taylor Law administrators of the capitalist state into our affairs is
completely counterposed to the most basic needs and interests of the CUNY
workforce, and must be opposed in the strongest terms. Yet far from having been
opposed on principle, this plan is treated simply as one amongst a basket of
options. "Where do the rest of you stand on this? "
-- Sándor John
On Mon, Jul 25, 2016 at 11:22 AM, Andrew Battle <andrew.battle@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Jason and welcome to the list. As of now there is not but it is an idea that
has been floated by many. My basic sense is that organized opposition within
the PSC is still in its early stages so people are exploring different options.
Some are investigating the idea of decertifying the PSC as the bargaining unit
for part-time faculty while others are looking at building adjunct power within
the union, whether through running candidates, forming a caucus, some
combination of those, or other means. If Jason or anyone else on this list is
interested in helping to explore these or other options I can put you in touch
with people who are working on one or another of those ideas.
Best,Andy
On Mon, Jul 25, 2016 at 10:36 AM, jaschul <jaschul@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi. I just joined this group. Is there an official CUNY Struggle "party" that's
been established that would compete with the New Caucus? I'm all for it, I just
want to know.
On Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 8:36:50 PM UTC-4, doss...@xxxxxxx wrote:If my
figuring is correct, half the CUNY campuses should
be having union elections next April (and the union as a whole
in April 2018). If you're on one of those campuses, you're
likely to start receiving information about the election at
the end of the Fall semester, unless efforts to suppress
voting mean not really talking about it much. Generally,
preparations for the battle, if it seems a battle is to take
place, begin in the semester before the election. This means
that while you're fighting the contract, it would make sense
to begin strategizing for the next set of elections, identifying
the campuses where they're to take place, discussing possible
slates of candidates, figuring out how to get necessary printing
done cheaply and how to use media to be sure that the bargaining
unit members on all these campuses know how to vote for
an adjunct-led union. Take advantage of the meetings you are
already having at contract actions to plan intra- and inter-campus
support for campaigns to elect adjuncts to union leadership
positions on the campuses. (It might be wise not to announce
any provisional slates until after Spring renewal letters come out;
and yes, note that Spring elections do mean a smaller adjunct
population on the campuses. Investigate the voting rights of
persons typically employed only in Fall semester.)
Adjuncts are probably unlikely to take over the Retirees Chapter
(2400 members), but from unofficial numbers I've seen when trying
to find official numbers (still haven't actually found those), something
like 14,000 out of a 25,000-member bargaining unit are adjuncts or
grad students. You're close to 60% of the unit even including the
retirees, and well above 60% excluding them (since I don't believe
they can vote in both campus elections and in the Retiree chapter).
Nearly every chapter except the Retirees and probably the Graduate
Center (as grad students are likely to be teaching at other campuses,
not the Grad Center) should be led by an adjunct slate. The union
should have a vice-president for tenure-track affairs, rather than a
vice-president for adjunct affairs.
I beleive it took New Caucus more than a single 3-year cycle to take
power from the Unity Caucus, its predecessor. It won some and lost
some in its first years on individual campuses. But given the basic logic
of numbers, adjuncts should be able to either take over New Caucus
or simply replace it with a more democratic caucus in the next 2-5 years.
Of course, these numbers didn't suddenly appear overnight. Adjunct
leadership arguably should have already taken over, though it hasn't.
So, make it happen.
Thane Doss
--
This is the CUNY Struggle mailing list.
website: cunystruggle.org
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cunystruggle/
twitter: @cunystruggle
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CUNY
Struggle" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to cuny-struggle+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To post to this group, send email to cuny-struggle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cuny-struggle/168898ab-0eea-4549-975d-fb86ab3ea648%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
--
This is the CUNY Struggle mailing list.
website: cunystruggle.org
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cunystruggle/
twitter: @cunystruggle
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CUNY
Struggle" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to cuny-struggle+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To post to this group, send email to cuny-struggle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cuny-struggle/CAN5JudeTsQmKM2AEdqqpx59qpgyvn5q_of0jm%3Ds%2Be6O--oOB0w%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
--
This is the CUNY Struggle mailing list.
website: cunystruggle.org
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cunystruggle/
twitter: @cunystruggle
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CUNY
Struggle" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to cuny-struggle+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To post to this group, send email to cuny-struggle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cuny-struggle/CAPsXh2%3DY_yCEakHNf_rj33dfDszmrN-SwJ-iOrN_ps5X2LmxEA%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
--
Jason SchulmanCoeditor, New Politics magazine
--
This is the CUNY Struggle mailing list.
website: cunystruggle.org
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cunystruggle/
twitter: @cunystruggle
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CUNY
Struggle" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to cuny-struggle+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To post to this group, send email to cuny-struggle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cuny-struggle/CAPsXh2%3DooBrTyFqeTNue6eB5MTi1j8-GOSyn-jztvqG7-0c2hw%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
