Late summer 2007; contract negotiation time.

The leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 587 thought negotiating a new contract with King County Metro (Seattle’s public transit agency) would be another routine task. They were unprepared and not expecting management to throw the book at them, demanding numerous concessions. They were also caught by surprise by the bubbling anger, boiling up from the union’s 3,000 transit workers.

Union members expected the new contract to address the skyrocketing cost of living in Seattle, enormous increases in passengers eating into drivers’ break time, and a harsh and arbitrary discipline system.

Initially, union leaders hoped to lull members into a false sense of security. “Don’t worry. We, elected leaders, are taking care of it,” was their mantra. But as the weeks rolled on it became clear that union leaders were limiting their demands to what they thought was acceptable to management. They poured cold water on the cries of workers who insisted that the new contract end the deterioration of job quality and erosion of wages through inflation. Activists argued that bargaining alone was not enough to pressure management to meet our demands, and we urged the leadership mobilize the collective power of all the members, other unions, and community supporters through press conferences, informational pickets, and/or job actions.

In late December, union leaders reached a tentative agreement (TA) with management. The TA included concessions which would have increased management’s power to arbitrarily discipline workers. The only raise most members would receive was a paltry 1% which could have been eroded by the rising cost of living, especially when the healthcare plan for all county workers is re-negotiated next year. At the same time, a few classifications were being privileged by receiving 5 or 10% raises, which would have eroded member solidarity. Plus, the TA barely addressed the deteriorating working conditions.

Rank-and-file activists rapidly organized a campaign to urge fellow union members to vote no. A leaflet was drafted, signed onto by 125 members, and over 2,000 were handed out to union members.

Facing this organized opposition union leaders redoubled their efforts to scare workers into holding their noses and voting for a TA they didn’t like. They argued that if it was voted down, negotiations would automatically be forced into binding arbitration, which would take democratic control of deciding on a new contract out of the hands of the union and put it into the hands of “third-party” arbitrator. They claimed that we could only get a drastically worse contract by voting the TA down. The leaders even used our hard earned dues money to pay to mail out a letter from the union’s International Vice President to all 3,000 union members in an attempt to hammer this point home.

In the end, the scare tactics didn’t work and the TA was voted down 56% to 44% – a major victory for activists. The no vote forced union leaders to quickly change their tune and admit that negotiations would not go to arbitration after all.

Concluding that no trust could be placed in the leadership to secure a better contract, activists took the initiative by forming FORWARD (FOR Workers’ Activism and Rank-and-file Democracy), a rank-and-file caucus inside the union which myself and another Socialist Alternative member participated in, and launched a petition drive demanding that the leadership organize an informational picket and an “all-members meeting” (effectively a work stoppage and mid-day mass meeting) to pressure management to agree to a fair contract.

Activists presented over 1,000 members’ signatures at a February meeting and moved a motion calling for an all-members meeting and an informational picket. After a raucous meeting where the leaders repeatedly verbally attacked activists and ruled us out of order, the motion was narrowly voted down.

This entire process exposed how the leaders of ATU 587 play a role of holding back struggle. Rather than working with activists and the rank and file to fight for the strongest possible contract, they used union resources in attempt to discredit and attack activists pushing for a fighting strategy and a strong contract.

One FORWARD activist explained their criticism of the leadership’s strategy: “We’ve been encouraged by the members to do what’s right because of eroding working conditions and the leaders being too cozy with management. Three years ago they rolled over the last contract as a favor to the county politicians. Now we’ve got management coming at us and our leaders are completely unprepared.”

Union leaders across the U.S. have a similar approach of trying to “collaborate” and form a “partnership” with management. Rather than recognizing that management is trying to increase company profits by attacking workers’ wages and working conditions, these union leaders are under the illusion that management can be persuaded that it’s in their best interest to agree to what the union wants.

The vast majority of union leaders fall into this trap because they accept the logic of the for-profit capitalist system. They believe that increased company profits will trickle down to the workers. So when management pleads poverty, union leaders often assist management in pressing workers to accept wage cuts, layoffs, and other concessions. This narrow, pro-capitalist outlook causes them to limit the demands and tactics of unions to what they feel is “realistic” and acceptable to the bosses.

Recently, ATU 587 members have received a new TA to be voted on in April which includes some improvements over the previous proposal. In contrary to what our leaders told us, through rallying a majority of members to vote no on the previous TA, we were able to win some gains.

Our struggle isn’t being held back by workers’ conservatism or complacency. It’s being held back by our own union leaders. Imagine what could be achieved if the union leaders, with considerably more authority and resources, mobilized all the members into the struggle!

The labor movement needs to develop new fighting union leaders who will harness workers’ growing anger at declining living standards to challenge the bosses’ control over our lives. The formation of FORWARD is a step in this direction. Similar rank-and-file caucuses, that campaign for democratic reforms and for unions to adopt a fighting strategy, need to be formed in union locals across the country.

For more information about FORWARD, including how to get involved, email [email protected]
Or check out our website at www.forward587.com