{"id":2130,"date":"2018-07-22T16:51:40","date_gmt":"2018-07-22T16:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130"},"modified":"2018-07-22T16:51:40","modified_gmt":"2018-07-22T16:51:40","slug":"janus-decision-attacks-all-wage-labor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130","title":{"rendered":"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Janus<\/em> Decision Attacks All Wage Labor!<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The recent Supreme Court <\/span>Janus v. AFSCME<\/span><\/em>\u00a0decision marks yet another decisive moment for the American labor movement. \u00a0This ruling overturned the previous 1977 <\/span>Abood v. Detroit Board of Education<\/span>\u00a0decision that allowed labor unions in the public sector to collect \u201cfair share\u201d dues from non-union members for the union\u2019s purpose of contract maintenance and collective bargaining. \u00a0This ruling will further decimate the public sector unions which have a 34% membership rate (the private sector is 6.5% as of 2017). \u00a0This will disproportionately affect women, particularly Black women, and people of color who have a higher union membership rate and who face vicious discrimination for gender, skin color, and national origin under capitalism. There have been an epidemic of attacks on workers at the state level with right to work laws or an erosion of public sector \u00a0collective bargaining rights.. The trajectory back to 19th Century, open-shop \u2018<\/span>work harder, keep your mouth shut and work until you die<\/span>\u2019 society is far advanced. \u00a0If the working class does not unite as a class for-itself, under our own banner and through our own methods of struggle, working at an Amazon warehouse will seem like a workers\u2019 paradise compared to what is coming. <\/span><\/p>\n

Janus<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is the result of an 80 year assault by anti-union, right-wing forces to undermine the formal legal rights granted labor under the National Labor Relations Act, the Wagner Act, of 1935 and subsequent legal gains of American workers. It should come as no surprise that the Koch family has been at the forefront of these assaults. \u00a0As summarized in an \u00a0article by <\/span>Lisa Graves<\/a><\/span>, The Koch family was an early supporter of the John Birch Society and made much of its early capital accumulation cracking gasoline for Hitler and Mussolini. (<\/span>Also see Mary Bottari,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In These Times<\/span>, \u201c<\/span>Behind Janus: Documents Reveal Decade-Long Plot to Kill Public-Sector Unions<\/a><\/span>\u201d<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

The right-wing billionaires, corporations and think-tanks that are spearheading these assaults on labor do so not through open anti-unionism, but through demagoguery, appealing to the workers and presenting themselves as pro-worker. These forces find socially backward workers to file lawsuits in the name of \u00a0\u201c<\/span>free speech<\/em>,<\/span>\u201d \u201c<\/span>worker rights<\/span><\/em>\u201d and \u201c<\/span>workplace freedom<\/span><\/em>\u201d, referring to the labor bureaucrats as \u201c<\/span>fat cats<\/span><\/em>\u201d and \u201c<\/span>union bosses<\/span><\/em>\u201d. The minor truth to these epithets does not make the desired result visible to those who simply want a \u2018free ride,\u2019 i.e., representation without paying dues. The desired results for the big money is a legal juggernaut striking collective bargaining down! Behind Janus<\/em> is a list of 80+ lawsuits against \u201csole representation\u201d by any contracting party, i.e. union.<\/span><\/p>\n

The labor laws themselves were generally double-edged swords. \u00a0While granting formal legal rights to unions, they were in response to and designed to suppress working class struggle and direct them into legal channels which prevent solidarity strikes and secondary boycotts. These laws defanged the labor movement and channeled it into a long term dependence on the Democratic party. \u00a0Purported friends of labor, the Democrats have no problem living today with the logic and content of the Taft-Hartley Act, which even Harry Truman called a slave labor law, and this cold war law prepared the future ground for <\/span>Janus<\/span><\/em>. A<\/em>fter Taft-Hartley, Janus<\/em> was always possible at any time until or unless prevented by a militant mass upsurge of the workers in their own self-interests. \u00a0Such a mass upsurge is still what is called for to change the relationship \u00a0of forces in favor of the working class. How likely this is without a fighting workers labor party is a question for history but also for every strike that escapes the control of the class-collaborators. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Labor Lieutenants of Capital<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is very telling that these reactionary forces are able to fill the void with their reactionary politics left by a pro-capitalist labor misleadership that has long ago abandoned methods of struggle that built the unions in favor of the Democratic Party and electoral politics. Labor\u2019s moment of truth happened nearly 40 years ago when Reagan broke the PATCO air-traffic controllers strike. \u00a0And again in the 1980\u2019s with the Hormel strike. \u00a0And again in 2011 in Wisconsin. \u00a0And here we are today, with the <\/span>Janus<\/span><\/em>\u00a0decision. The time to fight for the class collaborationist labor bureaucracy is NEVER!!!. That is a winning (or rather losing for workers) bet. \u00a0You can also bet that unless the workers movement charts our own independent course, with our own methods of struggle and our own politics, that the downward spiral will continue. \u00a0The unions are not going to be defended or rebuilt through the legal system or through elections. \u00a0And the coming appointment of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court will undoubtedly usher in a further erosion of \u00a0workers\u2019 as well as democratic rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Early American socialist Daniel De Leon labelled the labor bureaucracy as the \u201clabor lieutenants of the capitalist class\u201d. The labor bureaucracy is a parasitic, privileged, pro-capitalist layer within the workers movement that identifies its interests primarily with the class enemy. \u00a0They bring bourgeois ideology into the workers movement by preaching the supposed shared interests between Labor and Capital. \u00a0Their idea of \u201cstruggle\u201d is getting as many workers as possible into the voting booth to elect Democrats.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the CWG wrote in<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>Class War<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in 2013 about the Chicago Teachers\u2019 strike:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the bankrupt political methodology of the parasitic, pro-capitalist union bureaucracy that has dragged the labor movement to defeat after defeat. In virtually every labor struggle, the first thing these labor-fakers postulate are \u201ctalk shop\u201d rallies with some kind of electoral strategy, which translates into \u201cwe don\u2019t need working class struggle, let\u2019s elect \u2018labor-friendly\u2019 politicians (mostly Democrats).\u201d This was clearly the case in the Wisconsin Recall diversion, as well as in Michigan battle over \u201cright to scab (work)\u201d, where the AFL-CIO and Change to Win labor federation tops caved in<\/em><\/span>.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Teachers Point the Way Forward:<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>We Need a Class Struggle Leadership and a Fighting Workers\/Labor Party<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The recent wave of teachers strikes have provided a glimpse of what is possible. \u00a0While not clear victories, they were not outright broken by the state either. \u00a0What you saw was the usual assortment of union officials trying to shift the struggles back into the Democratic Party and elections along with a vacuum of leadership. \u00a0If there had been even a relatively small number of class struggle militants with a base in the unions, these strikes could have been very different and they could have been taken to where they should have and could have gone. \u00a0The Wisconsin struggle of 2011, the Chicago Teachers strike of 2012, the ILWU Longview struggle, and the teacher\u2019s struggles today were all primarily derailed by the labor-fakers who limit and divert every struggle, at every turn back into legal and electoral channels and the Democrats. Rank and file initiative and pressure resulted in better-than-pattern contract gains for teachers in multiple states. But everywhere the democrat\/bureaucrat layer reasserted control, no health insurance gains were won and many were the losses of these benefits. WHICH IS THE PATTERN of bargains struck by these leaderships in both federations!<\/span><\/p>\n

Not to fall into cliche but crisis and opportunity go together like bread and butter. The roadblock that the labor lieutenants of capital represent are now facing an existential and material threat to their own continued existence. In the public sector they will appear with their tin cups begging workers not to stop paying membership dues as they can no longer count on the dues check off coming in the mail every month. \u00a0Workers will rightly ask, \u201cWhat have you done for us lately?\u201d This is an opportunity for militant workers to build a new fighting leadership for the labor movement on the basis of class struggle and working class political independence.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conditions of today scream of the need for a fighting workers\/labor party, for a class struggle leadership of the workers movement to lead all the struggles of the workers and the oppressed: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>To win in the next round of contracts we need to pick up where West Virginia left off. We need to adopt class struggle methods to organize all worker organizations in any given industry or working for any target employer to take solid broad-based strikes. We need strike committees with a democratically elected, accountable and recallable leadership, that will replace the labor-faking union bureaucrats who will not fight. \u00a0A class struggle leadership that understands that there is no common interest between Labor and Capital and that will treat the strike as the class war it is. \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

We need to advance demands that address the broader needs of the working class and oppressed peoples not just to gain their solidarity and because it is the moral thing to do, but because when we broaden the social basis of our struggle the entire class rises in consciousness and potential. To that end we need to incorporate the fight for Jobs for All at a living wage into every strike. Hence the demand: 30 hours work for 40 hours pay to compensate labor for increases in productivity and to share the work. We need to demand socialized medical care under workers control as a right in every campaign. Democrats will pettifog where they don\u2019t overtly fight you. We need a fighting workers\/labor party, beholden to no one but us and the oppressed!<\/em>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0– Communist Workers Group, \u201c<\/span>WEST VIRGINIA LESSONS FOR LABOR AND THE FIGHT FOR MEDICAL INSURANCE<\/a><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor! The recent Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME\u00a0decision marks yet another decisive moment for the American labor movement. \u00a0This ruling overturned the previous 1977 Abood v. Detroit Board of Education\u00a0decision that allowed labor unions in the public sector to collect \u201cfair share\u201d dues from non-union members for the union\u2019s purpose…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,786],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-labor-struggles","category-united-states"],"yoast_head":"\nJanus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor! - Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor! - Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor! The recent Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME\u00a0decision marks yet another decisive moment for the American labor movement. \u00a0This ruling overturned the previous 1977 Abood v. Detroit Board of Education\u00a0decision that allowed labor unions in the public sector to collect \u201cfair share\u201d dues from non-union members for the union\u2019s purpose...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-22T16:51:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CWG-USA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CWG-USA\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?p=2130#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?p=2130\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CWG-USA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/51b44e1af64a64726619d31caaa07750\"},\"headline\":\"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor!\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-22T16:51:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?p=2130\"},\"wordCount\":1571,\"commentCount\":1,\"articleSection\":[\"Labor Struggles\",\"UNITED STATES\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?p=2130#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?p=2130\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?p=2130\",\"name\":\"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor! - Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-22T16:51:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/51b44e1af64a64726619d31caaa07750\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?p=2130#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?p=2130\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?p=2130#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)\",\"description\":\"For World Socialist Revolution!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/51b44e1af64a64726619d31caaa07750\",\"name\":\"CWG-USA\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6d77e5f21098eb8f278970c964dfdbef32631606bea840927e0060b507e9a34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6d77e5f21098eb8f278970c964dfdbef32631606bea840927e0060b507e9a34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6d77e5f21098eb8f278970c964dfdbef32631606bea840927e0060b507e9a34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CWG-USA\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cwgusa.org\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor! - Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor! - Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)","og_description":"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor! The recent Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME\u00a0decision marks yet another decisive moment for the American labor movement. \u00a0This ruling overturned the previous 1977 Abood v. Detroit Board of Education\u00a0decision that allowed labor unions in the public sector to collect \u201cfair share\u201d dues from non-union members for the union\u2019s purpose...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130","og_site_name":"Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)","article_published_time":"2018-07-22T16:51:40+00:00","author":"CWG-USA","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CWG-USA","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130"},"author":{"name":"CWG-USA","@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/#\/schema\/person\/51b44e1af64a64726619d31caaa07750"},"headline":"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor!","datePublished":"2018-07-22T16:51:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130"},"wordCount":1571,"commentCount":1,"articleSection":["Labor Struggles","UNITED STATES"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130","url":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130","name":"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor! - Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-07-22T16:51:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/#\/schema\/person\/51b44e1af64a64726619d31caaa07750"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?p=2130#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Janus Decision Attacks All Wage Labor!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/","name":"Communist Workers Group (CWG-USA)","description":"For World Socialist Revolution!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/#\/schema\/person\/51b44e1af64a64726619d31caaa07750","name":"CWG-USA","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d77e5f21098eb8f278970c964dfdbef32631606bea840927e0060b507e9a34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d77e5f21098eb8f278970c964dfdbef32631606bea840927e0060b507e9a34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6d77e5f21098eb8f278970c964dfdbef32631606bea840927e0060b507e9a34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CWG-USA"},"url":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2131,"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions\/2131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cwgusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}