Socialist Action /July 1999
Boston Amtrak Workers Rally to Save Jobs
By JACQUELINE BOYLE
and DAVID WALSH
BOSTON-On June 12, over 300 Amtrak workers of the commuter rail system
here attended a rally to defend their jobs. Members of the 16 rail unions
gathered to oppose the contracting-out of the system to private companies
and the resulting threat of mass layoffs.
The extensive rail system has been operated by Amtrak under contract
for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) since 1987. Last
year the MBTA announced that it would "unbundle" its agreement
with Amtrak and accept bids for the operation of each department individually.
The first contract to expire is that for the mechanical department; four
private companies, as well as Amtrak, submitted bids. Apparently, Amtrak's
was not "competitive" enough: The contract has been awarded to
the newly formed Bay State Transit Services Co., which was able to underbid
the competition by pledging to eliminate at least 200 jobs.
Workers have voiced growing concern about the problem over the past year.
On Jan. 19, some 200 Amtrak workers staged a protest during the 100th anniversary
celebration of Boston's South Station. However, union leaders have restricted
their response to a lobbying campaign directed at their "friends"
in state government.
The possibility of a fightback appeared when leaflets began to be distributed
to passengers and workers by a group calling itself Commuter Rail Workers
United. The sheets offered information about the MBTA contract process and
the backgrounds of the various bidding companies, and warned that "we
would strike before we let them break our unions."
Unfortunately, the final message of every leaflet was an appeal for readers
to call the offices of the governor and state legislators to protest the
changes.
One leaflet invited workers and their families to a rally to save their
jobs. Workers (and some families) showed up at the rally in a fighting mood,
filling the IBEW hall, carrying signs, and ready to cheer any call to action.
But there was no such call. The speakers who lined the platform were
not the leaders of the laborers, mechanics, electricians, and all the others
who keep the trains running for Boston. There was no open mike for the workers
to voice their ideas.
Instead, the gathering was treated to the demagogic speeches of a dozen
local and state politicians. They were introduced by Charlie Moneypenny,
international representative of the Transport Workers Union.
Moneypenny, whose union stands to lose the most by the contract change,
has been the chief organizer and spokesman of this campaign to petition
Democrats to rescue commuter rail.
The politicians took turns heaping scorn upon the MBTA, giving sentimental
tributes to organized labor, and making fervent vows to stand firm against
the scourge of union busters-"and in return, remember us at voting
time in 2002!" The less-than-rousing theme that emerged from several
such speeches was that the next offensive in this battle must be a public
hearing in the state legislature.
The only attempt at militancy was a call for a sickout by a member of
the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the only rail worker
besides Moneypenny given a moment to speak.
It became clear, when a high-level Amtrak manager was gushingly introduced
from the floor, that the rally was not the work of a broad inter-union committee,
as implied by the name Commuter Rail Workers United. The group is actually
a handful of local union bureaucrats working in collaboration with management,
which is also at risk of losing a lucrative contract.
Although the workers who came out to the rally responded enthusiastically,
the ranks of labor played practically no role in the event and were left
without useful information or plans for future action.
But a plan is urgently needed. Even if Amtrak submitted a lower bid for
the contract and were allowed to continue operating for the MBTA, the new,
restricted budget would be the perfect excuse to squeeze further concessions
out of its workforce. Layoffs, frozen wages, and deteriorating conditions
are on the agenda for commuter-rail workers no matter which company becomes
their employer.
The labor bureaucracy has no solution to this crisis. But they have to
appear to be doing something. In order to maintain their shaky position
between a restive membership and their bosses, they have to wring out the
last ounce of credibility in labor's Democratic Party "friends."
Labor's collaboration with politicians is a dead end. All Democrats and
Republicans, no matter how sincerely they may speak about defending workers'
rights, are representatives of business interests. Relying on their good
graces, rather than on working people's own decision-making and strategic
power, has resulted in decades of defeats.
The first step in an effective response will be to raise a discussion
of strategy in every rail local. Then a democratic intercraft committee,
with equal voice and vote for all, can begin to weigh the options available.
The only way to stop these attacks on jobs will be through the use of
the time-honored tactics of the labor movement-mass demonstrations, outreach
to labor's real allies in the community and, ultimately, the strike.
Socialist Action /July 1999 |