As the headline states, the DNC protests have continued the fine tradition of left-wing organizations splintering into factionalism, in this case caused by the usual liberal-’left’ sellouts. For those of you who have missed it (it certainly isn’t getting much in the way of media attention-surprise surprise), the protests, originally organized under the (rather clever, I have to say) Recreate ‘68 banner. What the organizers are referring to with ‘recreate’ is the protests against the Vietnam War at the 1968 DNC, and presumably, the broader history of left activity in 1968.
Of course, nothing like this could go on without some splintering. (more…)
Categories: Politics
Tagged: 1968, Cynthia McKinney, Democratic National Convention, Democratic Party, horse race, protests, sellouts, US Presidential Election
Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which has been at the centre of several controversies within the U.S. labour movement in the past few years (Change to Win Coalition, SEIU vs California Nurses Union, et cetera), has been accused of abusing the trust of some student volunteer organizers on several U.S. university campuses. Jack Stripling wrote an article about the students concerns for Inside Higher Ed that’s pretty interesting; I would encourage you to check it out. The students, who had been helping SEIU organize service workers (mostly food services + janitorial), feel SEIU has treated them as ‘pawns’. They have released an open letter detailing their problems with SEIU at several campuses and listing a series of demands for SEIU to do: improving internal union democracy, fight for better contracts with Aramark, stop using students and campus workers as pawns in corporate campaigns. (more…)
Categories: Higher Ed · Labour
Tagged: company unions, framework for fairness agreement, SEIU, unions, UNITE HERE
