Cuts to SEATS: Build a class struggle leadership of our unions!

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 Labor Leadership Refuses to Fight Democratic Party Cuts to SEATS: Build a class struggle leadership of our unions! an all-out mobilization of labor to defend SEATS paratransit!

SEATS_Driver

A driver with Johnson County SEATS, helps Rachel Villhauer over some uneven concrete as

he walks her to her door after driving her home in Iowa City. (Jim Slosiarek/Gazette)

 

The following is a CWG united front call to defend Johnson County SEATS paratransit service distributed via email to officials/delegates of the Iowa City Federation of Labor, the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council (CLC), as well as a reply from and a CWG reply back to an official of that labor body.  The united front leaflet was also sent to the Socialist People’s Party (Iowa), the anarchist Wild Rose Collective, the Quad City Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO CLC) and a leader of the local International Socialist Organization (ISO).  Also included is correspondence between an official of the City Fed who refused to take up the call to fight and the CWG.

SEATS is a Johnson County Iowa run transportation that is vital to the elderly and the disabled and has been in existence since the 1970’s.  The municipalities contract with the county to operate SEATS, with the county traditionally subsidizing the difference between what the cities fund and the cost.  The Democratic Party County Board of Supervisors are cutting all county subsidies to this service and pushing this cost onto the municipalities; dramatically the first year and then eventually completely.  Most likely this will result in a degradation of this critical service.  Coralville has already raised transit rates.  This has degenerated into a petty quarrel between the municipalities and the county.  From the standpoint of the working class, the disabled and the elderly, there is no side to take in this fight.  Curse on all their houses!  The labor movement and the working class needs to enter the arena and lead the fight against all those who would impose austerity!  SEATS needs to remain a centrally-run, county-wide, fully-funded service.  In fact, as demand is increasing, it should be expanded to a 24 hour, seven day a week, free, comprehensive service that fully covers the entire county.

For their part, the Iowa City Federation of Labor leadership tried to encourage via email a few trade-unionists to attend the Iowa City Council meeting where SEATS was discussed.  This is far divorced from the mass mobilization of the entire labor movement allied to the working class community that is necessary to beat back these attacks.  By shifting focus solely to the city councils, and in a lame manner at that, the class collaborationist labor leaders are providing a labor cover to the Democratic Party County Board of Supervisors who initiated these cuts, all of whom are the darlings of and politically endorsed by the City Fed leadership, particularly Supervisor Rod Sullivan, the vocal point man for imposing the SEATS cuts by the county.  Rod Sullivan attended as a welcome guest the Iowa City Fed annual Chili Supper on Jan 17th, the very day that the Press Citizen announced that SEATS cuts had been placed on the table by the County Board of Supervisors.

While the Democratic Party politicians of Johnson County kick the elderly and disabled off SEATS transit and to the curb, they are pushing for a $40 plus million dollar “Injustice Center” yet again, which has previously been voted down. Their answer to capitalist decay is more jail cells. The Justice Center measure last November that lost was also endorsed by the Iowa City Federation of Labor leaders.  Just as they demobilize the workers in fighting austerity through abstention from struggle, these “Labor Lieutenants of Capital” do their part in trying to help the capitalist state incarcerate largely people of color, who have been cast aside by a degenerate economic system of exploitation.

 

Below is the CWG united front leaflet and the correspondence with the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council official…….

 

For a workers’ fight in alliance with the elderly,

disabled and students; with the Black, Brown, immigrant and

Native American communities to rollback austerity!

Organize a mass forum to build a fight to

defeat the attacks on Johnson County SEATS!

The Communist Workers Group (USA) is calling on organizations and individuals to organize a mass meeting in the community to start to build a fight back against the Johnson County Board of Supervisors defunding of SEATS para-transit, a county program that provides transportation services for the elderly and disabled.  The county is trying to push the responsibility for fully-funding this critical program for which demand is increasing on the municipalities.  This has evolved into a petty quarrel between the officials of the County Board of Supervisors and Iowa City (Daily Iowan, Feb 21), as the county subsidizes the difference between what is contracted to the county by Iowa City and the costs.  While the CWG has no dog in the dispute between these officials, from the perspective of the disabled, the elderly and the working class, it makes sense to keep it at the county level with absolutely no cuts in any funding or services.  In fact, SEATS needs to be extended as a free seven day a week county-wide service.

As quoted in the Press Citizen, this is a question of quality of life “All of my rides with SEATS are medical, I never use it for anything personal. It’s very important for me,” Galdner[1] said. “SEATS is my survival.” (Press Citizen Feb 17, 2013)  Along with the University of Iowa Hospitals eliminating the Patient Transport Services this year, these austerity measures are becoming a life and death matter as those who most depend on these services are increasingly forced to choose between healthcare, food or housing.  This is especially true for those on fixed incomes, such as the elderly.  How exactly these cuts by the county will affect SEATS is unclear at this time.  But we can bet that it will lead to a degradation of this vital community service.

The major social gains of the past were won as a result of social and class struggles, not through the ballot box or elected officials.  In particular, it is the power of the organized working class, mobilized independently of the Democratic/Republican parties, and in alliance with the broader sections of the community that has the strength to effect change.  Union workers are in the crosshairs of cuts in SEATS.  A union leadership worth its salt would do more than send a few representatives to a city council meeting and would actively be trying to organize and mobilize the rank and file workers and the working class community to oppose these cuts as a fight for all workers and for social justice.  While the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council leadership, the Iowa City Federation of Labor, will post every election season their list of endorsed candidates, including some of those very Democratic Party  County Board of Supervisors officials imposing the SEATS cuts, they have as of yet made no public statement denouncing these actions.   The AFL-CIO leadership have abandoned this fight, much like they have let the labor movement be decimated without any real struggle. It is up to us who are being affected or potentially affected by these cuts to stand up if we want to preserve these social services.

The CWG is calling on all labor, Leftist, disabled and senior organizations; militant and rank and file workers; the Black, Brown and immigrant communities and Native American People, to help build a forum to unite and organize a fight to defend SEATS.  We need to organize mass worker/community assemblies, demonstrations, protests and political labor strikes if we want to beat back these attacks. By starting to organize democratic rank-and-file workers assemblies and committees among both organized and unorganized workers; allied with the oppressed communities, we can start to build a fight to defeat this austerity and fight for jobs, healthcare, housing and education for all.

 

This  is the reply by an official of the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, the Iowa City Federation of Labor to the above CWG united front call to defend SEATS submitted by a CWG member, trade-unionist and former delegate from AFSCME Local 12 to the Iowa City Federation of Labor..

From: Jesse C
Sent: Friday, March 01, 2013 8:59 AM
To: Christopher C
Subject: RE: Organize a mass forum to build a fight to defeat the attacks on Johnson County SEATS!

Chris,

I was with you until you started bashing labor in your diatribe.  It convuluted the message and immediately alientated labor from your “alliance”.

Good luck with your endeavors.

Jesse C

Here is the CWG reply to the abstentionist labor leadership and the pathetic attempt to paint the CWG call as “anti-labor”……

From: Christopher C

Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2013 8:53 PM
To:

Subject: RE: Organize a mass forum to build a fight to defeat the attacks on Johnson County SEATS!

Brother Jesse,

In response to your excuses not to take up and initiate a campaign by the Iowa City Fed to defend the SEATS system, I want to address what you deride in our call as a “bashing labor diatribe.” This is a calculated distortion of what was actually written and serves as your “legitimate” escape from the tasks at hand which you refuse to show leadership on.   The leaflet is about defending the workers, the unions and the general community.  The leaflet makes clear that it is abstention by union leaderships that is being criticized, not the labor movement or the unions.  There is a big difference.

It is the task of rank and file and class conscious workers to develop and direct the leaders but when the leaders collude against our interests, with the class enemy, they must be held accountable!  The leadership and paid staff is not the labor movement. It often thinks it is! And the membership in turn refers to the union in the third person as “them.”  The leadership keeps this division alive by getting way too cozy with the representatives of the ruling class in the congress, the statehouse and on the local city councils and boards.  There is a distinction between the movement wanting to defend itself and an obsequious leadership corralling us into the dead end of the Democratic Party method which requires that labor lay down and accept austerity and defeat, a path that we have been on for decades (PATCO, Hormel, Wisconsin, Michigan, etc.).

The City Fed officials and local union leadership are going to defend SEATS how?  What’s the plan?  It is not like this is some obscure issue that has not been in the news since January.  There are no neutrals here.  Abstention from struggle is itself demobilizing the working class and going along with the cuts;  and silence is tacitly supporting the Board of Supervisors in making these cuts to SEATS.   Although the blame should be shared between the County Board of Supervisors and the various city administrations and they both should be targeted.

The Press Citizen on Jan 17th first ran the story that cuts may very well be on the way, from budget discussions of the County Board of Supervisors earlier in that week.  Jan 17th was also the day of the annual City Fed Chili Supper, which sees the mass mobilization of Democratic Party politicians to dine at labor’s table.  Supervisor Rod Sullivan, the most vocal proponent of the County cutting funding to SEATS, was there.  What an opportunity for the union officials and the delegates to organize a protest then and there in defense of our unions and the working class against those who, anyone with eyes to see, would have known was going to impose the  cuts!  We should ask our movement why was this wolf in sheep’s clothing allowed at our dining table in the first place?   It is because of the ongoing class collaboration with those agents of Wall Street the Democratic and Republican politicians.  Action committees could have been formed that night to start to prepare the fight.  The phones and Xerox machines used every election for the Democrats could be turned into tools to mobilize labor starting now.

Where is our labor leadership?  Where is the initiative to try to mass mobilize?  Where was the plan to defeat the Patient Transport Services cuts??? Let’s unleash labors resources now! Labor must open its halls to the entire working class to organize mass meetings charting an independent course of action by our class to defeat the austerity the twin party’s of Wall St. are assaulting us with now.

Also the Sequestration cuts occurring will be used as an excuse to try to go after the social gains of 1933-73.  Why isn’t there a massive effort to try to reach out and organize the mass of the organized workers and the working class communities to build a fight back against all this austerity?   Here is our chance as a labor movement to draw a line and dig in our heels and defend the elderly, the sick and disabled.  If we don’t do it here and now, when and where will we defend lives, jobs and services against the social saboteurs?!

Below is an article on the Sequestration from a group of workers apparently part of the Emergency Labor Network:  http://laborfightback.org/

http://resistancephl.com/2013/03/01/how-across-the-board-cuts-sequestration-would-cause-great-pain-to-millions/

 Below are links to articles on SEATS:

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20130204/OPINION02/302040004/Riders-governments-benefit-from-keeping-SEATS-is

http://thegazette.com/2013/01/16/johnson-county-seats-program-hangs-in-the-balance/

http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20130218/NEWS01/302180016/City-county-officials-argue-about-where-funding-SEATS-should-come-from

http://dailyiowan.com/2013/02/21/Metro/31985.html


[1] SEATS rider/Iowa City Resident (Press Citizen 02/17 “City, county officials argue about where funding for SEATS should come from”)

 

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