[Marxism] Ron Carey: Working Class Hero by Deepa Kumar

[PoliticNow at aol.com]

Ron Carey: Working  Class Hero
by Deepa Kumar 
Ron Carey, who led the Teamsters in perhaps the most important strike of a  
generation -- _the 1997 UPS strike_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=VembBxx8qLwC)  -- died of lung cancer on  December 11, 2008 in New York city at age 72. 
Carey will be remembered by all the people he inspired with his courage and  
commitment.  As a young UPS driver in the Queens UPS hub in 1955, Carey was  
infuriated by the way in which workers were treated by management.  He said  of 
that time: 
_I immediately found that the daily conditions at UPS were not  good. _ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=VembBxx8qLwC&pg=PA186&lpg=PA186&dq="I+immediately+
found+that+the+daily+conditions+at+UPS+were+not+good.")   It was very 
frustrating to me, the way they  demeaned people, the way they talked to them in such 
a condescending way. . .  .  Many times I found myself biting my tongue not 
to strike out at the  manager.  I wasn't a shop steward at the time, and I felt 
like shouting  out "Wait a minute!  That's a human being you're talking to -- 
 my God!  Give the guy a chance to answer, and get out of his face."   
Carey then turned his anger into a commitment to spend the rest of his life  
fighting for workers' dignity.  He first ran for shop steward, then  trustee, 
recording secretary, and then president of _Teamsters  local 804_ 
(http://www.teamsterslocal804.org/) .  In his struggle for workers' rights he not  only 
had to go up against UPS, but also the corrupt leadership of the Teamsters  
union.  If workers faced humiliation and hardships on the job, they had  little 
sympathy from union representatives.  As _Carey_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=VembBxx8qLwC&pg=PA186)  put it, "Union guys would come down,  most of them 
were six-foot-two characters . . . why would you tell them about  your 
problems, and did they really care?  They never came to see the  members. . . .  It 
was the Hoffa years, it was a time of mobsters and good  old boys." 
During these years, Carey developed a method that he would return to often:  
listen to and mobilize rank-and-file members, and speak out and organize 
against  the company.  Once in office, as President of Local 804, he carried 
through  on his promises.  He slashed the bloated salaries of union officers, he set 
 up a system of 24-hour representation where at least one member of the union 
 board was available at all times to listen and respond to workers'  
problems.  He led the Local for 20 years, during which time he negotiated  some of the 
best Teamsters contracts in the nation.  After two decades as  president of 
Local 804, Carey ran for president of the Teamsters with the  support of the 
rank-and-file group, Teamsters for a _Democratic Union_ (http://www.tdu.org/)  
(TDU), 
His 1991 election victory against entrenched old guard candidates spoke to a  
desire for change within the union.  Carey once again eliminated all the  
perks enjoyed by the old guard.  As he explained, "_We got rid of the limousines, 
the luxuries, the union's private  jet._ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=VembBxx8qLwC&pg=PA189&dq="We+got+rid+of+the+limousines,+the+luxuries,+the+union's
+private+jet")    I cut my own salary from 225,000 to  150,000.  We 
eliminated one of the layers of union bureaucracy . . . [and]  put the IBT on a 
financially sound direction. . . .  We expanded and  strengthened the organizing 
department.  We tried many different strategies  to mobilize members, involve them 
in the union, [and] make the union  stronger." 
He was able to win some gains for UPS Teamsters in 1993, but it was in 1997  
that a real victory for the union movement was won.  A full year before the  
contract with UPS expired in 1997, Carey and his organizing team had 
distributed  surveys to rank and file members to determine what they wanted with the new 
 contract.  Members were then engaged in the process through the contract  
campaign strategy.  Yet, UPS was determined not to give an inch to the  
Teamsters. 
On August 4, 1997 Carey called a national strike against UPS.  185,000  
Teamsters walked off their jobs and ground the company to a halt.  This was  
perhaps Carey's finest moment.  As a union leader who had risen from the  rank and 
file, who had experienced the frustrating and humiliating conditions of  work 
at a giant corporation, and who had spent his entire life fighting for  
workers' dignity, he was able to give voice to the anger and aspirations of not  only 
UPS workers but the US working class as well.  
By the mid-nineties, workers in the US had lived through over two decades of  
wage stagnation, job loss, lengthened working hours, greater stress, and a 
lower  quality of life.  Carey gave voice to these conditions and challenged the 
 hubris of corporate America:  
_This is really a fight about good jobs._ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=VembBxx8qLwC&pg=PA80&dq="This+is+really+a+fight+about+good+jobs.")   This is 
not just a fight about Teamsters and their families, it is  about working people 
in this country.  You have big companies in this  country that are shifting 
to part-time, low-wage, throwaway, disposable jobs,  subcontracting the work 
out.  Those are some of the vital issues.   And as I say, it's a shame, and 
working people have said, "Enough is  enough." 
I think this is a fight for good jobs in America.  It's a fight that  working 
families have been taking on the chin.
The UPS strike shifted the terms of discussion around the economy and cast a  
spotlight on inequality.  In a country founded on the myth of class  mobility 
and the American dream, class polarization was exposed and the  corporate 
media were forced to acknowledge this disparity. 
The UPS strike could have marked a turning point for the labor  movement.  
The Teamsters won their best ever contract with UPS, and they  had the support 
of the American people.  The public supported the Teamsters  2-1 over UPS, 
indicating among other things a shift in favor of labor  unions.  This was the 
moment when the one-sided class war being waged  against workers since the 1970s 
could have been turned into a two-sided war.  
Yet, the momentum was lost.  Carey was expelled from the Teamsters union  for 
supposedly violating campaign fundraising rules.  The corporate elite  heaved 
a collective sigh of relief that a militant union leader was punished for  
daring to stand up to them.  And instead of defending Carey, the labor  movement 
stood by and let him fall.  In September 2001, Carey was cleared  of all 
charges against him in a federal court.  Yet, he still remained  banned from the 
Teamsters union.  The Teamsters under the leadership of  Jimmy Hoffa Jr. sought 
to erase Carey from the union's history.  Rather  than remember the lessons 
of the UPS strike, and learn from Carey's successes,  the Teamsters leadership 
wanted to bury his memory. 
It was in this context that I met Ron Carey.  While working on my book  on 
media coverage of the UPS strike I was amazed to read everything that Carey  had 
said and done.  I had to record his life and his experiences and so set  up 
an interview with him.  When I went to meet him at his lawyer's office  in 
Washington DC, I expected to meet a person who bore the scars of a witch hunt  
that drove him out of the union, as well as the weight of a life spent fighting  
an uphill battle both against powerful companies and corrupt union  officials. 
 Yet, Carey was not worn down; instead, he was enthusiastic,  lively and 
animated.  And it dawned on me that it would take that kind of  fighting spirit to 
lead the life he had. 
I will never forget this encounter.  And when Carey came out of ten  years of 
being out of public life to speak at my book launch in 2007, I was  humbled 
and grateful to this kind man for his gesture.  His speech was  fiery and 
inspiring, as if not a moment had passed since the strike.   Rather than dwell on 
the injustices done to him, Carey spoke to the potential of  ordinary working 
people to fight against corporate greed.  To the end, he  had faith in the 
rank-and-file.  As he put it, "I am very proud of all the  members who fought and 
who sacrificed to win respect and dignity, not just for  themselves, but for 
their co-workers and for their union and for workers all  over the world. . . . 
 It was an honor and a privilege for me to serve the  Teamster membership."   
Ron Carey inspired and touched the lives of thousands of union members and  
activists.  In my conversations with Teamsters around the country, I have  
heard a range of stories that exemplify Carey's compassion, his courage, and his  
dedication to fighting the good fight.  He showed through example that it  is 
possible to reform a corrupt union, to mobilize rank and file workers, and to  
stand up against a powerful multinational company like UPS and win.  These  
are important lessons to leave behind as the US economy grinds deeper into  
recession.  Ron Carey will not, and should not, be forgotten. 
  
____________________________________

Deepa Kumar is the  author of _Outside the Box: Corporate Media, 
Globalization, and the UPS  Strike_ (http://books.google.com/books?id=VembBxx8qLwC) , 
which includes a lengthy  interview with Ron Carey.  Carey's speech at the book 
launch in 2007  remembering the UPS strike can be found on YouTube at 
<_youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-upPC7E7k_ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-upPC7E7k) >. 
 
_http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/kumar161208.html_ 
(http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/kumar161208.html) 

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