The Scab

I have heard enough the last two days of the "unconscionable", "illegal", "selfish" actions that our courageous fellow municipal employees are currently undertaking. The worst comes from those in private industry who complain that they don't get 3% a year, a pension, etc. Who do you think you have to thank for your 5-day work week, overtime pay, paid holidays and vacations, health insurance, child labor laws, and a minimum wage?
The fact is, there is an anti-union, SCAB agenda being pushed by those in power in this country. Anyone who goes along with that agenda is a SCAB. If you're not familiar with what a SCAB is, read on:

THE SCAB--by Jack London

After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, and the vampire, he had some awful substance left with which he made a scab. A scab is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a water brain, a combination backbone of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles. When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and angels weep in heaven, and the devil shuts the gates of hell to keep him out. No man (or woman) has a right to scab so long as there is a pool of water to drown his carcass in, or a rope long enough to hang his body with. Judas was a gentleman compared with a scab. For betraying his master, he had character enough to hang himself. A scab has not. Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Judas sold his Savior for thirty pieces of silver. Benedict Arnold sold his country for a promise of a commission in the British army. The scab sells his birthright, his country, his wife, his children and his fellowmen for an unfulfilled promise from his employer. Esau was a traitor to himself; Judas was a traitor to his God; Benedict arnold was a traitor to his country; a scab is a traitor to his God, his country, his family, and his class.

Too many people in this country, including the members of our own union, have been hurt by sellouts -- SCABS -- including the leader of our union. Now she masquerades as a real union leader, standing behind Roger Toussaint's shoulder. Meanwhile, she did not have the foresight nor the intestinal fortitude to defy the Taylor Law and join the TWU in a December strike, rather than submit to a disastrous fact-finding process. This is despite the fact that it was brought up by a member of the Union's Executive Board. The fact that she is standing behind this great leader when she did not even stand up for her own members is an absolute disgrace.

Sometimes -- perhaps even often -- morals trump laws. If Rosa Parks followed the law, blacks would still be condemned to the back of the bus. If the Founding Fathers followed the law, we would be pledging to the Union Jack every morning.

The stand the TWU is making is not shameful; it is just the opposite, for it is truly a shame to capitulate rather than stand up for fundamental values as Rosa Parks and Thomas Jefferson did.

However, this is not a fight just for Jefferson, Parks, and the TWU. Anyone else who does not act is complicit in the union busting agenda. Lest you think it's an impossible fight, think again. TWU President Roger Toussaint and his New Directions caucus only came to power in 2001. Like some UFT opposition caucuses, New Directions grew up as a rank-and-file caucus. Its main focus was opposition to the incumbent bureaucracy and it struggled for years to win the members' confidence. These activists gathered around a rank-and-file newsletter called “Hell on Wheels.” Over 15 years since its inception New Directions won many divisional and Executive Board posts. (This is from many sources; you can read more by Googling New Directions). Sound familiar?

Of course, we have a long way to go just to have a democratic union. Right now, as my friends have mentioned here and on the UTP website, the process is rigged in favor of our incumbent leadership. However, with hard work good things can happen. Plus, remember this: if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

-- your humble UTP webmaster.