USA workers on the march

by Fred Gaboury

This year's Detroit Labour Day parade lived up to its reputation as the 
USA's largest. More than 100,000 unionists and their families marched to 
the centre of town in a display of militancy, determination and solidarity 
on September 6.

Contingents from more than 50 unions, many wearing brightly-hued T-shirts 
and caps, marched to the sound of rhythmic chants and traditional — and 
some not so traditional — union songs.

Teachers, members of the Detroit Federation of Teachers who went on strike 
in defence of their union a week before the march, led the miles-long 
parade together with auto workers, newspaper workers and other unions that 
are on strike.

Dinah Browning is one of those teachers. "If they want us back in the 
schools, they must give us a decent contract. We are not going back to 
overcrowding, a punitive attendance policy. And we deserve decent tools to 
work with", she said.

John Spotts, a member of the Organisation of School Administrators and 
Supervisors, said he supported the teachers. "They were pushed to the wall 
and had no alternative ... They need smaller classes and certainly deserve 
a raise."

"We're in this for the long haul," Mary Hunter said, proudly displaying her 
picket sign reading; "Teachers make all other professions possible."

As one would expect in Motown, large contingents came from the United Auto 
Workers where contracts with the "Big 3" auto makers of General Motors, 
Ford and Daimler-Chrysler were due to expire at 12:01am, September 14.

Thomas Loshinskie, a UAW member for 29 years, wore a button that said 
simply: "I don't want to strike but I will."

Loshinskie was worried about the outcome of negotiations with Ford where 
the company threatens to "spin off" its parts plants into a separate entity 
called Visteon. "They are trying to run the union out of this part of the 
company and, if they can't do that, to cut benefits and wages in order to 
"compete" with non-union plants that pay as little as $8 an hour. We just 
won't stand for that", he said.

When it comes to "seniority", Detroit's newspaper workers, on strike since 
July 13, 1995, top the list.

"About 2,500 of us walked out then", Tom Schorn, general manager of the 
Detroit Sunday Journal, said, "and more than 1,000 writers, press 
workers, mailers and delivery drivers are still locked out despite a 
unanimous decision of the National Labour Relations Board calling the 
lockout illegal.

"The issue is now before the federal courts in Washington and we look 
forward to a ruling in our favour." Once that happens,"the papers will; 
have to get off their high horse and deal seriously with the unions 
involved".

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People's Weekly World