Noam Chomsky on the American Labor Movement

An excerpt from my May Day interview with Noam Chomsky discussing the defanging of the American Labor Movement.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Noam
• Chomsky
• May
• Day
• Union
• Unions
• Labor
• Organizing
• Organize

[takotheoktopus]

Love the giant picture of Bertrand Russell.

[oldhacks]

greatness greatness. I'll say it again. he needs a youtube channel and explained how to turn on a camera, and upload thoughts.

[TheLoyalOfficer]

What is wrong with reading Ayn Rand?

Only Bolsheviks should be read then?

[mgm8822]

@AndyMH182 I'll give you an elementary lesson in labor law, since you apparently know nothing about it.

If a union is corrupt and not doing its job, workers can file a de-certification petition. At that point workers can vote as to whether they want the union in the workplace, another union in the workplace, or no union to represent them.

You cannot do this with a corporation. A corporation is a totalitarian institution that imposes top-down control on employees.

[AndyMH182]

@bigpapi255 I don't have a single problem with that, or any voluntary interaction. But when you say "union", you are hardly portraying that idea of a union, and so you almost need a different word. My union is far closer to being a corporation than it is being that type of "union"..... but you use the same word?

[bigpapi255]

@AndyMH182 How about a union with no paid bureaucracy. Just workers coming together in solidarity. Occupying the workplace until the workers have their grievances addressed.

[AndyMH182]

@bigpapi255 struggle to make unions better?

That is not possible. That's like saying you should struggle to make internal management better from within. You need to understand, these unions ARE corporations. And in present day, they don't exactly serve a function other than to be parasites off of the worker.

You know where they need unions? Maybe in China. I have my doubts, but I'll cede that point.

In 2011 America? lol me to fucking death. They make salaried positions on my dime

[bigpapi255]

@AndyMH182 Shouldn't we then struggle to make unions better? Unions clearly have done some great things in the past (8 hour day, minimum wage social security etc) so they can be used for good. They need to be democratically controlled by the workers.

Shouldn't wal-mart be owned and democratically managed by the people who work there?

[Ilikenuman]

Bertrand Russel was there too? He looks HUGE, kinda pale though...

[kennito79]

@rickbar123 United Food and Commercial Workers union

[MrRightAllTime]

probably more viewer on cow sex, whose fault is it now.

[rickbar123]

What is the UFCW?