The official organizing for the October 2nd Washington, D.C. demonstration, which we hope will be massive, has allowed us to catch a glimpse of a crucial ambiguity underlying the event. Will this demonstration be aimed at demanding that the government finally address the real needs of working people, now that it has made the banks whole, despite everyone’s objections? Or will its real purpose be to get Democrats elected to office, in which case demands will be carefully crafted, trimmed, and pre-packaged so as not to embarrass the Democrats and then be used only as bait to lure working people into the election campaigns, not as true goals in themselves?
Tags: AFL-CIO, Solidarity Day III
The significance of the AFL-CIO adopting the strategic approach underlying its rallying cry, “Working people can make a difference when we rely on ourselves and act collectively,” cannot be emphasized enough. This approach points in the direction of organizing massive demonstrations in the streets, not simply sending working people to voting booths once every several years to vote for politicians who fail to keep most of their campaign promises.
Tags: 2010, AFL-CIO, October 2, One Nation
May 15, 2010
We are disappointed to inform you that a Solidarity Day III event where the labor movement would mobilize and demand that the government institute a massive jobs-creation program is not going to take place — for now.
Unfortunately, the top officials of the AFL-CIO failed to move on this proposal at the AFL-CIO’s special [...]
Tags: AFL-CIO, Solidarity Day III
As Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, recently announced in response to the Massachusetts elections: “It’s not time to leave it to any political party to take care of us once we put them in office. It’s time to organize and mobilize as never before to make every elected or aspiring leader PROVE he or she will create the jobs we need in an economy we need with the health care we need. I know we are the people who can mobilize a massive army to force elected leaders to deliver.”
Tags: AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, single payer, Solidarity Day III