Singlejack Solidarity PDF
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SINGLEJACK SOLIDARITY CRITICAL AMERICAN STUDIES SERIES George Lipsitz, University of California-Santa Cruz, series editor SINGLEJACK SOLIDARITY Edited and with an Afterword by GEORGE LIPSITZ Foreword by NORM DIAMOND STAN W E IR Critical American Studies Series UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS MINNEAPOLIS • LONDON Copyright 2004 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota Information on previously published material in this book is on pages 367-69. Every effort was made to obtain permission to reproduce copyright material in this book. If any proper acknowledgment has not been made, we encourage copyright holders to notify us. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520 http://www.upress.umn.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Weir, Stan. Singlejack solidarity / Stan Weir ; edited and with an afterword by George Lipsitz ; foreword by Norm Diamond. p. cm. — (Critical American Studies series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8166-4293-1 (he : alk. paper) — ISBN o-8i66-4294-X (pb : alk. paper) i. Weir, Stan. 2. Labor unions—United States—Officials and employees—Biography. 3. Labor unions—United States—Biography. 4. Labor movement—United States—History—20th century. I. Lipsitz, George. II. Title. III. Series. HD6509.W456A3 2004 33i.88'o92—dc22 2004011937 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer. 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 i "Singlejack" The term singlejack originated with the hard-rock miners of the American West. The drilling of holes for the insertion of dynamite was a tough and dangerous job. The miners worked in pairs, with one kneeling to hold erect the steel drill, which he would turn slowly as his partner drove it into the rock with blows from a sledge (or single jack) hammer. They would switch tasks now and then, and because the job demanded as much mutual trust as skill, many lasting friendships were formed. Around the turn of the century, on-the-job organizers for the Western Federation of Miners and the Industrial Workers of the World brought additional meaning to singlejack. They used it to describe that method of organizing where dedicated advocates are developed one at a time on a highly personalized basis—as between partners. In turn, still broader veins of definition can be extracted from this rich historical term. We like to apply it to that private bond that ideally is sparked between a reader and a book. We hope you agree. —Note from publisher to readers appearing on the copyright page of all Singlejack Books This page intentionally left blank Contents Foreword Norm Diamond xi I. Working-Class Cultures Meetings with James Baldwin 3 What Ever Happened to Frisco Jeans? 17 C. L. R. James: Revolutionary Artist 21 The Role of the Individual and the Group in the Creation of Work Cultures 26 Work Force Writers on the Rise 29 I Am Lonely 32 II. The Human Costs of Automation New Technology: A Catalyst for Crises in Collective Bargaining, Industrial Discipline, and Labor Law 39 The Human Cost of Automation 68 Containerization Makes for a Lonely Waterfront 73 Luddism Today 76 Effects of Automation in the Lives of Longshoremen 91 III. Solidarity Networks Unions with Leaders Who Stay on the Job 109 The Need for Labor Networking 149 Rank and File Networks: A Way to Fight Concessions 151 Introduction to Coordinadora 153 Strike in Spain Reveals Sickness and Cure 156 Longshoremen and Marine Clerks of Spain Building New Kind of Union 160 IV. Workers, Politics, and Social Change Eric Hoffer: Far-Right True Believer 167 The Artificial Isolation between Radicals and Workers 185 Workers: Second-Class Citizens 187 Bill Akagi and the Union 190 The First Recorded Strike in History: 1170 BC 192 Early U.S. Labor Policy Revealed by Archives Find 194 V. The Vanguard Party and Worker Self-Activity A Leninist Vanguard Party Dying in a Foreign Land 199 Life in a Vanguard Party 208 After the War 214 The Vanguard Party: An Institution Whose Time Has Expired 216 Contribution to a Discussion on Bert Cochran's Labor and Communism 221 The Vanguard Party: An Obstruction to Worker-Intellectual Alliances 227 VI. Primary Work Groups The Informal Work Group 235 Just a Matter of Gloves 252 West Coast Longshoremen and Informal Workers' Control 256 Review of Punishment and Redress in a Modern Factory by Carl Gersuny 275 VII. The Failure of Business Unionism, the Rank and File Alternative American Labor on the Defensive: A 19405 Odyssey 281 USA: The Labor Revolt 294 Doug Eraser's Middle-Class Coalition 310 The Failure of Business Unionism 324 The Australian Dock Strike Stan Weir and George Lipsitz 338 Stan Weir: Working-Class Visionary George Lipsitz 346 Notes 357 Publication History 367 Index 371
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