[bronxville]

STEPHEN LERNER, ARCHITECT OF THE SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION'S MUCH heralded Justice for Janitors organizing campaign, and principal theoretician behind the proposal that led to the formation in 2005 of the rival Change to Win federation, has now published a major statement on global unionism, “Global Unions: A Solution to Labor's Worldwide Decline,” in the Winter 2007 issue of New Labor Forum. In this piece, Lerner develops an analysis of the world economy and a strategy for building global unions that, he argues, “would give workers real power in the twenty-first century.” Given the importance of Stephen Lerner s many contributions to the theory and practice of the U.S. labor movement over the past twenty years, and the importance of the topic of global unionism in this era of globalization and labor's decline, this article deserves to be taken very seriously. Unfortunately, we find Lerner s analysis and his proposed strategy to be fundamentally flawed. In what follows, we will attempt to clarify our disagreements with Lerner s approach, and to propose a different strategic approach.

http://www.newlaborforum.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1084

[bronxville]

From December 10, 2004

2004 - John Sweeney disagrees with Steve Lerner and Andy Stern on the direction of the Unions...
http://www.labornet.org/news/1204/steier.htm
Janitors’ Union, Recently Organized, Strikes in Houston
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/us/03labor.html?adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1162982346-ZFlBnlXBXYmWqtGn04hcsw

STEPHEN LERNER, ARCHITECT of ...Janitors’ Union, Recently Organized, Strikes in Houston
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/us/03labor.html?adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1162982346-ZFlBnlXBXYmWqtGn04hcsw

STEPHEN LERNER, ARCHITECT of ...Change to Win
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Change_to_Win_Federation

An Injury to all...Steve Lerner
http://www.newlaborforum.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1706

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

Rotsa ruck to him.

He want to know some of the reasons he's gonna fail?

People know that the more an employer is forced to pay a union, the less the employer has to pay them.

People know that "Social Justice" isn't what they want their union dues going to pay for.

People know that unions once served a valid purpose, but that was almost a century ago and there are no more child labor horrors, open machinery taking off peoples arms and the like. They know that unions have outlived their usefulness, but are still forcing society to accept them.

People know that many unions are nothing but fronts for both the mob and the Democratic Party and they don't think unions should be involved in either.

People know that the entire premise of a union is to extort money and benefits from business entities and governments. It's like the spoiled rich kids we all grew up with. If you don't let me play I'll take my ball home and make sure NOBODY plays, and people hate that.

People don't like unions. What more can be said?

[rlmorel]

"...to win economic and social justice..."

And don't forget 'World Peace" either.

[relictele]

Can the left cite a historical or even a hypothetical example of ‘social justice’ that does not involve the no-strings-attached handing over of cash at the point of a sword?