Solidarity 156, 30 July 2009

How to negotiate: tips from the US labour movement

Tips from The Troublemakers' Handbook, a publication from Labor Notes in the USA, http://www.troublemakershandbook.org . * Negotiating committees that are not sufficiently linked to members often make the mistake of thinking the force of their arguments along will help them win... Member solidarity is the most important element in successful bargaining. * In almost every negotiation there is a moment when the boss gets up and yells. Committee members should be told to anticipate that moment, and when it actually happens they will not be intimidated. * The company must trust the negotiating...

Occupations, workers' control, and workers' government: readings

Readings from Genora Johnson Dollinger, Leon Trotsky, and Antonio Gramsci. See also: the background notes ; pdf version with these readings and the items below on "How to negotiate" and "How to win a sit-in"; How to win a sit-in , by Amy Offner: excerpts , or full text ; How to negotiate : tips from the US labour movement. The Flint Sit-Down Strike 1936 Genora Johnson Dollinger Remembers the 1936-37 General Motors Sit-Down Strike A considerable amount of preparatory work was done before the strike. That preparatory work was done by radical parties. We had several very active organizations in...

Background notes for readings on "occupations, workers' control, and workers' government"

Notes on the readings : FLINT 1936 Excerpts from an account by Genora Johnson Dollinger, who was a leader of the Women's Auxiliary. The occupation was decisive in winning union recognition in the US car industry. Genora Johnson Dollinger was a left-wing member of the Socialist Party USA who became a Trotskyist. * What happened. The car industry in the USA (and elsewhere) had been a bastion of non-unionism. The car firms paid relatively high wages but policed their workers fiercely. Ford had an internal police force, and also monitored workers' lives outside work. Henry Ford sympathised with...

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