Freightliner Five – problemet med en byråkratiserad fackförening

Lastbilsfabriken Freightliner i USA, som ägs av Daimler-Benz, avskedade för ett år sen 5 anställda då dessa ansågs ha lett en strejk för bättre arbetsvillkor och säkerhet. Deras lokala fackföreningsavdelning som är en del av UAW kräver att de ska få tillbaka sitt arbete med lön för all tid de varit borta från fabriken. Just idag, den 9 maj, ordnas diverse solidaritetsaktioner för Freightliner Five runtomkring i USA. De fem arbetarna har en egen webbsajt och presenterar sig själva så här:

We are members of the 2007 Bargaining Committee for United Auto Workers (UAW) local 3520, Cleveland, NC. On April 2, 2007 our Local’s Strike Committee voted to strike. Our International Union was of the opinion we should accept a weak contract offer. They tried to force us to take a contract with 22 open articles and 86 open Health and Safety issues back to our membership for ratification. The proposed contract if raitified by our membership as proposed by the Company would have been the first UAW 2 tier contract negotiated in a grossly profitable company. Frieghtliner LLC, was more profitable in 2006 than all other years combined, yet they wanted us to take contract concessions and the International UAW was OK with this. We are/were employed by Freightliner LLC, at the Freightliner Truck Manufacturing Plant in Cleveland, N.C. On April 3rd, 2007 (5) five of our Bargaining Committee members were terminated by our employer along with (5) five other officers and (1) one rank and file member of our Union for instigating and/or supporting and/or participating in an unauthorized work stoppage. At the time of our terminations our collective bargaining agreement had expired. We thought our International Union would support us and do everything in their power to help us get reinstated to our jobs. What we didn’t realize was that the UAW is actually a passive, Company ran Union that has no desire to help their members. Our International Union, has in fact, done nothing to help or support us in our struggle for justice. They have encouraged our membership to illegally suspend us from our positions as officers of our local and encouraged them to put us on trial for conduct unbecoming a Union member.

The UAW promised us help at our Unemployment hearing . They told us an attorney would represent us at the hearing. Luckily, we retained an Attorney ourselves. We arrived at the hearing and our employer informed the special hearing commissioner that no Representative for the UAW would be there to assist us.

De fem falls illustrerar väl problemet med byråkratiserade fackföreningar som inte längre stöder arbetares kamp för bättre villkor, utan hellre gör upp med arbetsgivarna i slutna rum, på samma sätt som svenska LO i de pågående förhandlingarna om ett nytt huvudavtal inte bryr sig om vad svenska arbetare tycker, utan förmodligen kommer att sälja ut väsentliga och viktiga rättigheter, bara byråkratin räddas. En linje och inställning om dock kritiseras hårt från vissa fackförbund som exempelvis Byggnads. Hamnarbetarförbundet och deras kamp i Göteborgs hamn som jag skrivit två artiklar om tidigare är ett exempel på motsatsen till en byråkratiserad och stelnad fackförening.

Intressant?
Bloggat: Trotten,
Läs mer: Om Fordarbetares villkor, Facklig kamp,
Borgarmedia: E24, SVD, DN,
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om USA, Arbetarklass, Arbetarkamp, Ford, Mercedes, Daimler-Benz, Freightliner, Freightliner Five, Fackligt, Facket, Politik, Samhälle

Liked it? Take a second to support Anders_S on Patreon!