BY JOHN SARGE
AND DENNIS RICHTER
DETROIT-How can working people fight against massive overtime for some and part-time or temporary work with low wages for others? How can workers win a shorter workweek with no reduction in pay? What can U.S. workers do to organize solidarity with workers in Mexico? Are the Labor Party Advocates an example of independent political action?

These and many other issues facing working people were discussed and debated at a gathering April 28-30 of more than 1,200 union members and officials, members of various political groups, and students who took part in a conference entitled "Stress and Struggle in the Changing Work Place." The gathering was sponsored by the publishers of the monthly journal Labor Notes.

The meeting drew participants from a broad range of unions - auto workers, teamsters, steelworkers, oil workers, teachers, members of rail crafts, postal workers, and public employees. Many in attendance were local union officials and shop stewards. At the opening session, when asked who was presently or had in the past been a shop steward, about a third of the room raised their hands.

The conference agenda opened daily with plenary sessions featuring a panel of speakers on different topics. In addition there were 65 workshops and 15 meetings for conference participants organized by industry. Workshops covered a broad range of topics, including "Fighting for the Shorter Workweek," "Lessons of the 1994 GM Strikes," "Stopping Sexual Harassment," "Running for Local Union Office," and "Building a Rank and File Caucus."

The organizers of the gathering called for support to Labor Party Advocates - a formation projected by a wing of the labor officialdom to try to pressure the Democrats and Republicans to make some concessions to working people - as an important priority for the labor movement. They also favored building opposition caucuses in the unions, electing progressives to union posts, and replacing top AFL-CIO officials.

More than 120 international guests from 15 countries, including South Africa and Bolivia, participated. The largest number of unionists from abroad came from Canada, Mexico, and Germany. A number of the German delegates were members of the metalworkers union I.G. Metall.

The first plenary session heard reports from members of striking union locals in Decatur, Illinois.

Other plenary sessions heard presentations from union fights around the world. Officials of the South African Chemical Workers Union spoke on the situation facing workers there. At another general session Benedicto Martinez of the Authentic Workers' Front in Mexico, spoke on the devastation caused by the economic crisis in that country. Dave Yettaw, president of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 599, reported on the successful strike last October that forced General Motors (GM) to hire hundreds of new workers in Flint, Michigan.

At a workshop on the fight for a shorter workweek, workers from the I.G. Metall union reported that the bosses were trying to get around the 35-hour workweek, won through a successful struggle, by increasing overtime work.

Wolfgang Schaumberg, an I.G. Metall worker at GM from Bochun, Germany, said, "We are part of those German workers who reject arguments of nationalism and competitiveness as a way out of the economic crisis." Schaumberg added, "That is why we're in the U.S. The fight for the shorter workweek must become an international struggle."

Other participants in the workshop pointed to the massive international movement it took to win the eight-hour day as an example for today's struggle.

At a workshop entitled "Women Maquiladora Workers Organizing on the U.S.-Mexican Border," Elizabeth Robles and Carmen Valadez described the conditions that exist for more than 600,000 workers in 2,000 U.S.-owned factories. Sixty percent of the workforce is women; the majority are young. The companies, aided by the government, try to intimidate workers who join unions, the unionists explained. In some plants supervisors beat workers who "get out of line."

During the discussion a debate ensued when one participant asked if unions in the United States have sent organizers to help out. "We don't need unions in the U.S. to send us organizers or money, we need real solidarity," Valadez explained through a translator.

Betsy Farley, a member of the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen and the Socialist Workers Party, said, "We should build solidarity in the form of workers in this country opposing the policies of the U.S. government, like the agreement Washington forced on the Mexican government that requires that country to mortgage its nationalized oil industry. It's not always popular to oppose our own government but it's what we must do to build real solidarity." Valadez added that "workers in the U.S. should call for canceling the Third World debt."

A number of participants in this workshop attended a late evening showing of The Frame-Up of Mark Curtis, a video about the framed-up unionist and political activist. A worker from Guatemala, three women maquiladora workers, a union organizer from California, as well as a meatpacker, auto workers, rail workers, and a public employee, attended the showing. Two maquiladora workers endorsed the Mark Curtis Defense Committee.

Supporters of Mark Curtis got a good hearing for the case from conference participants. More than 30 people signed up to learn more about activities in their areas and 10 people bought the new pamphlet, Why is Mark Curtis Still in Prison?

John Sarge is a member of UAW Local 900 in Wayne, Michigan. Dennis Richter is a member of United Transportation Union Local 1006 in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.  
 
 
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