EndChryslerStrike101007

End Chrysler Strike??

The Chrysler "strike," just like its

predecessor at GM, is a fabrication of the International to make

workers feel as if they are accomplishing something. Look back at the

last two Constitutional Conventions. Each of them wasted part of the

second day with contrived rallies, complete with pre-printed posters

and way-loud music, that accomplished nothing except to 1) provide

colorful photo ops to show the members back home, and 2) distract the

delegates from the business at hand (in 2002, looting the

International Strike Fund of $75 million to keep the IEB afloat in the

event of a REAL strike at GM, a motion which slipped through as

delegates strained to see what the "picketers" were doing in the

doorways). When you add those to the IEB's so-called "democratic

election" process that effectively quashes any contenders months

before the convention, and the black hole into which each Local's

resolutions to amend the Constitution disappear, it's plain to see

that the International is playing us, using us as pawns. We've had our

"strike," and it's struck terror into the rank and file. Now let's

adjourn for some nice kool-aid.

--Kris Finley, retired

UAW Local 2300, Ithaca, NY