UNITED STATES
tionately greater losses.
Between April and June 1982, women, who make up the federal received 46% of all the job cuts.
tionally, the rate of unemployment for
The growth of the unemployed movement Dianne FEELEY PITTSBURGH, U.S.A. - "If you think the system is working, ask someone who
That is what is on the banner of the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee, the major organization of the unemployed in the greater Pittsburgh area.
This message summarizes the shocking experience of many U.S. citizens who grew up in the post-World War II period, expecting that if they worked hard, they could dramatically improve their lives. As the economic crisis proceeds, they have become painfully aware that even when the economy "picks up," millions of workers will not be recalled.
Gains that women and minorities were make over the last decade, especially through affirmative action programs [preference in hiring for historically disadvantaged groups], have been wiped out. Older workers, who thought their seniority protected them, find their plants shutting down. They are too young to retire and too old to compete on the job market. And for the first time in decades, more and more young people are unable to find work.
This economic crisis is the worst since depression of the 1930s. time, unemployed committees sprang up throughout the country, demanding relief and a public jobs program. protection laid-off workers have today is a result of that political movement. that time, the unemployed groups -often led by activists belonging to the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, as well as Trotskyists who played an important role - were the catalyst that rethe trade-union provided it with a social program that built industrial unionism
Afterward, especially in the late 1940s and 1950s, an anti-left hysteria led
"deradicalization" of the labor
Today, on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the Toledo Auto-Lite strike, the San Francisco longshore strike, the Minneapolis teamster strike (1), the trade-union movement is facing a crucial
Employers are using the pressure of more and more drastic layoffs to demand far-reaching concessions from the unions, are even seeking to destroy them. Moreover, the government administration's vindictive decertification of International Viewpoint
WE
DEMAND
JOBS
traffic controllers union (PATCO) and its blacklisting of all anti-union orientation of the highest govpowerful corporations and government agencies, the unions today - representing only 20% of the entire U.S. workforce, and for the most part guided by a limited social vision - find themselves in an increasingly vulnerable position.
While the impact of unemployment• has created a severe challenge for the U.S labor movement, it may also be creating new forces could, one again, contribute to a revitalization.
U.S. unemployment - particularly in such key industries as steel, auto, mining, and transportation - remains quite high. More than 22% of all workers were out of work during part of 1982, with the proportion rising for Hispanic Americans (27.1%) and Blacks (33.4%). Among male teenagers the unemployment rate now stands at 21.1% among whites, but among Blacks it has soared to 56.8%. (2)
Although women as a group do not suffer a disproportionately high rate of unemployment, the reason is that they
"cheaper" workforce, earning, on the average, 59 cents for every dollar a man earns. Nonetheless, women in certain job categories have suffered propor-
Black women is twice as high as the rate for white women. (3)
Nearly one-fifth of the total workforce tary part-time work had increased 166% over the last dozen years. Nearly one-third of all women working are employed at part-time jobs. Sar A. Levitan, professor of economics and director of the Center for Social Policy Studies at George Washington University, has stated that many part-time workers are the same circumstances as the unemploythe minimum wage. workers frequently have no health care coverage or lost-time benefits, and few part-time workers belong to unions. course, workers who belong to make higher wages and have a better benefit package. (4)
1983 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, out of a total workforce of 120 million, million U.S. workers were without jobs, an additional 7.5 million either accepting part-time employment or giving tion of unemployment has jumped from 13 weeks in January 1982 to 20 weeks by August 1983. (5) officially counted as unemployed, only 45% receive unemployment compensa-
This contrasts sharply with the 1975-76 recession, in which 78% of the unemployed received unemployed insur-
In a study, "Why Is Insured Unemployment So Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the prestigious Brookings Institution, wrote: "A principal reason why the number of jobless collecting unemployment insurance was low during
1981-82 recession is that the President and Congress decided it should be
The Minneapolis strike was led by tradeU.S. at the time: the associated with the Workers Party, which later fused with the Communist League of America. Along with the San Francisco longshore strike. these strikes opened the way for modern mass the first half of 1934, coinciding with the first upturn after the 1929
"26.5 Million Lacked Jobs in '82," New York Times, August 10, 1983; "Black teenagers unemployment," Militant, SepInequality of Sacrifice: The Impact of issued by Coalition on Women and the Budget
Up to a Fifth of U.S. Workers Now Rely
Part-Time Jobs," by William Serrin, New York Times, August 14, 1983. Department of Occupational Safety, Health and Social Security, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations before the Subcommittee on Public Assistance and Unemployment Compensation of the House Comon Ways and Means, September 13, 1983, Study Finds Low Level for 1982 Jobless Claims," by Peter T. Kilborn, New York Times,
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The study also pointed and local governments paid out 24 billion dollars in benefits during 1982 to the more than ten million officially unemployed, while in when 7.6 million were out of work, they paid out 31 billion (in 1982 dollars).
In the U.S. health-care benefits are discontinued when workers are laid off.
insurance is mately half of one's wage. Standard cov-
This can be extended There is also the possibility of "supplementary" benefits for an
But while in past recessions the government has voted to extend benefits to a maximum of 65 weeks, the longest benefit period currently available is 53 weeks. only 51,000 of the jobless are able to secure the maximum. (7)
The system used for determining when benefits go into effect and when they are cut off is so tricky that at present there are only two states and the qualify for this federal program. employment rates ranging and 14% (as of June 1983) have gone off
"triggered off," according to the officialese used in this
Once a state "triggers off," these extended benefits are suspended for at least 13 weeks. For example, Michigan's total unemployment rate stood at 13.4% in August, yet the benefit program "triggered off" in June, throwing 56,000 unemployed out of the program. (8)
The federal, state, and local ments have refused to provide either a meaningful jobs program to put the unwork or the kind of massive relief programs necessary to help those who are out of work. ployed committees have pointed out that if there had been a natural disaster - such as a hurricane or a flood - special aid to help the victims would have been made
But in the conditions of this "unnatural" disaster, the government has used the crisis to cut back on already inadequate social service programs.
A CLUB FOR UNION BASHING
Employers are utilizing the economic crisis as a weapon to mount attacks on
They do this through outright attempts to destroy the unions, as well as through attempts to extract concessions. They threaten plant closure unless concessions are made. Throughout the Northeast, plant closures - as whole unionized South or to other countries -have brought significant job loss. some areas have been dependent on one principal industry However, as unionized been devastated. workers see that concessions do not ensure job security, and as they see employer's profits on the rise, fewer workers are willing to vote to cut their pay and bene-
The union movement has been signifweakened through this combination of layoffs, union-busting, and con-
Since 1977, the steel has eliminated 130,000 jobs. These were union jobs where workers earn 12 to 15 dollars an hour. On the
"high-tech" computer operator often makes little more than 3.35 dollars an hour in a nonunion job. As the U.S. workforce shifts more into the services, the proportion of unionized workers continues to drop. This will continue unless the trade unions become capable of effectively organizing service industry workers and the white-collar workers who are also largely unorganized.
Although the Reagan administration claims that the U.S. economy is on the upswing, the recovery is irrelevant to is disputed in an important study by the Committee on the Evolution of Work, a body set up by the American Federation and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). As the study points out, as many as 6 million U.S. workers may become a permanent "labor-surplus underclass." Shaiken, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology specialist on labor and technology, has explained that "we are looking at the possibility of economic recovery and redundant workers at the same
"economic revitalization no longer means re-employ-
While millions of workers ployed, corporations such as require those still employed to work over-
It is much less expensive to pay rates than to recall laid-off workers. According to the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 1397 in Homestead, Pennsylvania, as many as 46 workers could have been recalled to the mill the week of September 3 to cover the 1,480 overtime hours worked. This is a common experience in factories throughout the country. union has filed grievances against the U.S. Steel Corporation, but the time lag in the grievance procedure works to the benefit of the employer. The union local distributed a flyer to those still at work: "We are asking you, please, don't work over-
If they force you to, or try to make you hook up or do somebody else's job, come up to the union hall and file a grievance."
### FIGHT BACK
Although U.S. unions have differing requirements for maintaining membership after a layoff - varying from the current two-year period of grace in steel to 30 days in rail - hundreds of local unions responded to the recession in the 1980-82 period by forming unemployed commit-
Since layoffs occured in certain key where the workforce was unionized, the unemployed first turned to their unions for aid. would be set up inside the union, utilizing union contacts and resources. Often these committees would work with other union-based unemployed committees in the area on specific projects. these committees began springing up, they naturally generated other, groups and subsequently banded together in informal networks.
In other cases, independent committees of both union and nonunion workers have developed. Even where the unemployed committees are formally independent of the unions, usually they are led by union activists. Frequently these independent, grass-roots committees have a cooperative relationship with a number of ceive material aid from the unions for specific projects. committees are based within the union structure, or are independent from it, they have similar goals and similar
One concrete task most of these committees immediately took up was the establishment of food banks, to serve the
Because they can buy in and they actively seek donations, the food banks provide an important resource for the unemployed. Leon
International Vice President of the USWA, stated that by the summer of approximately 225 steelworker union locals in Western Pennsylvania alone had food banks. (12)
Some unions initiated a weekly checkoff system through which workers still employed pledge a sum to those laid off. In some of the larger plants, this amounts to 5,000-7,000 dollars weekly. In other
These funds are used for a variety of needs, including fuel, mortgage and rent assistance and emergency medical care. (13)
Unemployed committees that are a part of the union structure have also set up "hotlines," whereby union members facing emergency situations can call for help on legal problems, referral services, even temporary employment. Pittsburgh area, workers unemployed committees worked
Statement of Bert Seidman, pp. 3-4. Director, International Union, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) before the House
Subcommittee Assistance and Unemployment Hearing on Federal Supplemental Compensa13, 1983, p. 9.
"Tis kee indus us hot docal 1397June 1983, pp. 15-17; " 'High Tech' Is No Jobs
York Times, September 18, 1983. "Recovery Irrelevant to Workers Left Be"Steelworkers protest overtime at Homestead," Pittsburgh Press, September 23, 1983.
Speech by Leon Lynch at Pittsburgh Rally of Conscience. at Macedonia Church, Pittsburgh, August 8, 1983.
Interview with Kwazi Nkrumah and Keith National Unemployed News, Helen Antonishen and Gloria Snyder.
International Viewpoint 14 November 1983
launched a campaign demanding federal extension of unemployed benefits, and jointly collected 10,000 signatures.
One of the first grass-roots unemployed committees to form
Unemployed People (UCUP) in Baltimore, Maryland. Open to both union and nonunion unemployed workers, UCUP has a close relationship to union-based groups. Its leaders are also active in the unions, especially
MORTGAGE AID CALLS
LENGTH OF TIME IN ARREARS
Not behind yet
1-3 months behind
7-12 months behind
More than 12 months behind
RECEIVED BY MUC
NO. OF CALLS RECEIVED
(When one is three or more months in arrears, foreclosure is probable.)
among Baltimore steelworkers and machwith the AFL-CIO, UCUP organized an effective campaign to force the governor to call a special session of president, coming as it did at the burgh Judge Papadakos has backed the the Mayland legislature, which then passed a bill setting up the state's own 13 week extension of unemployed benefits after it had "triggered off" the federal
The Baltimore group also fought for, and won the elimination of a technicality in the extension program that had preopening of the campaign for his re-
The committee launched a coalition consisting of more than 45 organizations to build the rally, receiving significant support from trade unions, women's rights and civil rights organizations, and antiwar groups. Local steelworkers unions provided buses to bring in sheriff's decision with a temporary moratorium on the sale of owner-occupied homes. As of the September 1983 sale, the moratorium was still in effect. Between January and July 1983 the MVUC mortgage hotline received 503
The above table indicates the character of these appeals. (17)
unemployed from re- protesters from outlying areas. (15) ceiving the full 13 weeks' benefits. a result an additional 7 million dollars was allocated to the program. The group also initiated a campaign to pass a state bill which they called the Unemployed Citizens' Bill of Rights. Although the bill was ultimately defeated, the campaign for passage helped to educate people about the specific problems and needs of the unemployed. The bill of rights outlined protection to the unemployed against housing foreclosures and evictions, repossession of automobiles and trailer homes, shut-offs of utilities. It also provided for medical and legal assistance and
The United Committee of Unemployed People was able to build up enough of a campaign to get the bill through the morass of state legislative committees and onto the Maryland Senate floor. It took three days for conservative legislators to narrowly defeat the bill of rights. (14) THE EXAMPLE OF THE MON VALLEY
UNEMPLOYED COMMITTEE
Perhaps the best known of all the grassroots groups is the Mon Valley Unem-
The MVUC has also organized several jobs marches and rallies throughout downtown Pittsburgh and nearby McKees-
These demonstrations have been very spirited, with a friendly and sympa thetic response from most shoppers and workers on their lunch breaks.
THE FIGHT AGAINST FORECLOSURES
Although it has also testified before state and federal legislative bodies regarding unemployment insurance, and has organized speak-outs around issues of concern to the unemployed, the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee is best known for its work on mortgage foreclosure. Members of the MVUC mortgage committee have met with bank presidents in order to work out delayed or partial payments from unemployed workers. They have picketed banks, secured inVeterans Administration - which insures homes for veterans - in order to obtain relief programs for unemployed home-
In November 1982 the Mon Valley
During the month of July 1983 - as steelworkers were coming to an end in
Pittsburgh area counsel homeowners on mortgage problems received 2,114 calls.
Valley Unemployed Committee and a similar group in eastern Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, have submitted a bill to the state legislature for up to three years relief when a delinquency in mortgage payment is caused by unemployment or illness. It has passed the state House of Representatives, and is still to be considered by the state Senate.
NATION-WIDE ORGANIZATION
The Mon Valley Unemployed Committee helped to establish the first national conference of unemployed groups sylvania, the conference gathered activists from 9 union-based unemployed committees, 29 independent unemployed groups, and 36 labor and community organizations in 16 states, to form the National Unemployed Network (NUN). Its program for action consists
Committee (MVUC), based in Unemployed Committee filled the court- of four points: western Pennsylvania's Monongahela Valley, where many Pittsburgh area steel mills are located. people are dues-paying members. the backbone of the committee is made up of laid-off steelworkers, it is open to all workers, both union and nonunion, and incorporates both unemployed members and workers still on the job. The committee evolved from local union unemployed formations which had worked together over a period of time. Formally it is an independent committee, but it still retains close ties with the trade-union
The Mon Valley Unemployed Committee organized the militant April 1983 demonstration of more than 5,000 to denounce President Reagan and his policies when the president visited Pittsburgh. Reagan's advisers have since concluded that the event was a political disaster for International Viewpoint 14 November 1983 for the sheriff's monthly foreThe auction took place while cardboard vultures swooped down over the heads of the foreclosure attorneys who bid at these sales. mittee refers to these lawyers as the
The chanted: They bid pennies for the homes as a form of protest - a method used by the unemployed movement of
As a result of the publicity generated by the aggressive campaign, the Pittsburgh City Council unanimously passed a recommendation last December that lenders call an indefinite moratorium on foreclosures for the homes of the unemployed. When the MVUC attended the January sheriff's sale, they found that the sheriff — who was up for re-election — had pulled the homes of 42 jobless workers from the auction block. (16) Pitts-
"1. Secure a decent living standard
- Jobs or Unemployment Compensation until jobs are found
- Save our homes
- Health care for all
Food: full use of surplus food, increase in food programs
- Moratorium on utility shut-offs
"2. Build a unified force of all workers, employed and unemployed, around
No. 45, October 26, 1982, pp. 1, 14.
Notes Thousands of Unemployed gan's Visit to Pittsburgh," Labor Notes, No. 51,
March 27, 1983, p. 11 losures on Pittsburgh Homes," by Linny Stor
Marion Curcio, MVUC Mortgage Counselor, September 1983.
unemployment compensation, job retraining and other vital concerns.
"3. Change the government's budget fund social services that help people, not
"4. Fight the disproportionate effect of unemployment women, minorand handicapped We must support and strengthen affirmative action programs." groups are continuing to spring to life. The existence of a national network has stimulate local committees. And the first issue of the National Unemput out by the NUN, short histories of how local got started and what issues organized around. series of sketches about the unemployed committees' day-to-day work.
A second national unemployed organwas formed in Chicago on July 2-3, with 467 representatives
The National Congress of Unemployed Organizations (NCUO) was organized by groups and individuals associated with Trade Union Action and Democracy - a group seeking to foster "center-left unity in the labor movement." would include independent militants, liberal union officials, Communist Party activists, and others. attracted a number of local working
- for example, Frank Lumpkin, of the Wisconsin Steel Save Our Jobs Committee. A black steelworker who has proved to be an effective mass leader, Lumpkin was a keynote speaker at the NCUO conference. In his speech, he emphasized the similar purposes of the two national groups by saying, come the efforts of those who met in Erie, Pa. We want to work with them."
The opinion of some influential NUN activists was expressed in an article in the monthly newsletter, Labor Notes: "The two unemployed organizations have similar goals and overlapping strategies.... If the groups differ, it seems to be in terms of their attitude toward the labor movement's leadership and the Democratic Party....The NUN has...acted independently of labor officials essary and has kept its distance from politicians." (19)
Both the NUN and the NCUO have demanded passage of the AFL-CIO's jobs bill, and both were involved in building and participating in the massive August Peace and Justice."
much more of a grass-roots and activist character at this point. both groups, the real work has barely begun - that is, expanding local unemployed committees, while at the same time providing effective national coordination in fighting for the right of all workers to have jobs at decent wages.
The breadth of organizing that is occurring on the local level is indicated by the proliferation of newspapers and news-
FIRE! letters produced by various unemployed committees throughout the country. these publications, some activists have begun to initiate discussions on future directions for the embryonic movement.
In the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee's July newsletter, article outlining the relationship between administration's spending and the lack of jobs. 60% of the federal budget is allocated to
By challenging that the unemployed are forcing a discussion within the working class foreign policy questions that have not been so fundamentally challenged since
The Vietnam War - however unpopular it became - was nonetheless carried out during a time of relative pros-
The interrelationship between foreign policy and its domestic policy is becoming increasingly clear to U.S. workers and the unemployed.
DISCUSSION DEEPENS ON
HOW TO GET FULL EMPLOYMENT
Another article in the Mon Valley Unemploved Committee's entitled "We Want to Work," is a thoughtdiscussion-piece about what kind of job program is need-
11226, a imBhould we under-
Local 1256, "Should we underscore the influence of prejudice in hiring Should we include a demand for the reindustrialization of basic industry? What will our plan be for seriously trying to
Many proposal
This is an extremely important issue as employers and even some labor officials try to preor the enemas foreign im-
For many unemployed workers, the question of how to provide jobs for all is still an uncharted field. Some might suggest bailouts to industries like steel and auto, where the corporations consider the profits are too low to keep produc
Others may suggest higher tariff laws or "local content" laws. Some have fought for legislation limiting the employer's "right" to close a plant withnotification, while others have initiated proposals for buying out the employer and operating the
The community-based TriState Conference on Steel and the Denominational Mission Strategy (a churchbased group) have initiated a campaign to withdraw funds from Mellon Bank, which has 5.5 billion in loans and
Their campaign leaflet states TREASON against the Mon Valley and
Still other activists propose a massive public works program, similar to the WPA of the 1930s, although on a larger scale. They point out that roads and bridges and schools and they discusss the need for better health services and child care programs. Others propose shortening the work week from 40 hours to 30 or 35 hours. At the end of World War II a few unions raised this demand and passed resolutions for a shorter work week. THE NEED FOR A WORKERS PARTY
The discussion over how to achieve full employment is still in its beginning
The immediate needs of the unemployed - who are faced with limited and shrinking unemployment. benefits, mortgage foreclosures, utility shutoffs, inthe government's inability to put human needs before business profits. One serious problem the unemployed movement is that the United States still does not have a labor party. Both the Democratic and Republican controlled by the corporate interests, although the traditional voting base of the Democratic Party has been key sectors of the working class concentrated in the labor movement, along with oppres-
With a reactionary Republican in office, there will be powerful pressures on the unemployed movement
La solution through a "dump campaign orchestrated by the Democratic Party.
It remains to be seen whether the unemployed movement will prove capable of maintaining its independence, of keep. ing its attention focused on the issues as the unemployed - not the politicians -define them. If it is able to remain, this movement could do a great deal to political landscape in the United States, to the benefit of the working class as a whole.
For Action," National Unem. ployed News, Vol. 1, No.1, July 1983. Forms at Chicago Meeting. Dan La Botz,
"We Want To Work," by Jim Benn, Mon
International Viewpoint 14 November 1983