WORLD WORLDWIDE US USA - news journal UPDATE - (en) US, BRRN: Anarchists in the Labor Movement #3 (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 This is the third installment in our Anarchists in the Labor Movement

series. Click through the links to read installment #1
https://blackrosefed.org/anarchists-in-the-labor-movement-1/ with an
education worker and #2
https://blackrosefed.org/anarchists-in-the-labor-movement-2/ with
healthcare workers. ---- In this interview we speak to Daniel
Bovard-Katz, a metalworker in a midwestern U.S. state. ---- As the title
suggests, this series engages with anarchists who are active in
workplace organizing. Some of those we speak to in this series are
buildng a militant minority within the rank-and-file of their existing
union, others are organizing the unorganized through new union
campaigns, while others still are finding ways to build the capacity to
win shop floor fights in contexts where union support is not available.

In part, our aim with these interviews is simply to shine a light on the
presence of anarchist militants in the U.S. labor movement. More
substantively, we ask participants to critically reflect on their
experiences, including both successes and failures, to draw out
generalizable lessons.

Some, but not all of those interviewed in this series are members of
Black Rose / Rosa Negra.

Answers have been edited for clarity and length

Daniel Bovard-Katz - Metalworker
BRRN: How would you summarize your politics in one sentence?

Daniel: I believe in radical democracy, meaning all people having equal
power to affect society.

BRRN: Can you share some background about the campaign you are working on?

Daniel: I have worked on a lot of campaigns, organizing in my own
workplace and supporting others doing so. For my own workplace, I live
in the Midwest and work in the metal and machinery industry, broadly
defined. We're not pursuing NLRB1 recognition, so there's no determined
bargaining unit. I started organizing over frustration with working
significant unpaid overtime several years ago, but stopped after
basically winning on that issue for myself and the one co-worker in a
similar role as mine. A friend was hired into the company and recruited
someone she worked closely with, which revitalized the effort recently.

BRRN: Are you working with an established union or going independent?

Daniel: We're part of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). I was
recruited to the IWW because they seemed to be the only people
interested in organizing all workers.

BRRN: How do you see your anarchist politics as relating to organizing
for power with coworkers?

Daniel: There is an emphasis on democratic decision making throughout
the union, including at the campaign level. Otherwise, politics don't
come up much.

BRRN: Do you ever talk about your anarchist or anti-authoritarian
politics with coworkers? Do you talk 'politics' (world events, local
power structures) with your coworkers at all?

Daniel: Very rarely, and usually pretty surface level. I did have one
conversation with a co-worker where we discussed issues at work and how
to address them, but afterward he brought up Narendra Modi, who he was a
big supporter of, and said that Indian Muslims were all supporters of
terrorism. I tried to gently push back on this, talking about how people
in the US also have blamed Muslims for terrorist attacks they had
nothing to do with, but I don't think I was very successful. In
retrospect, I think that I should have worked harder at this
conversation and spent more time finding out why he said that, but I was
a little out of my depth.

BRRN: Does your campaign include others who see themselves as
'political', but are part of a different political tradition or
political organization?

Daniel: I'm not sure. I would guess everyone who has joined the union
sees themself as some sort of radical leftist, while some more
conservative workers have agreed with the need for change and even
collective action, but have not yet been asked about joining a union.
We're in the beginning stages of organizing, so this may be a difficulty
later on, but so far has not really been a problem.

BRRN: Does organizing in unions fit into your vision for transforming
society or for revolution?

Daniel: Yes, as I said above, I think the core of my belief is
democracy, in the sense of people having equal power, and unions are
perhaps the only way to meaningfully shift power in the workplace, which
is where most of the decisions in society are made. So my process would
be something like (1) form unions in all workplaces, (2) build up those
unions to the point of actually making decisions about what is produced
democratically, (3) cut out the layer of management that no longer does
anything, and (4) replace state control of society outside of workplaces
with worker control by control of the industrial production that is
needed for a complex society.

BRRN: What resources have helped you most as you've organized?

Daniel: The IWW Organizer Training program is very good.

BRRN: What advice can you share with anarchists looking to organize a
union? What do you wish you had known when you started?Daniel: You have
to build a relationship with people based on caring about them. Talk to
your co-workers and learn more about them, even before you start having
organizing conversations. Be someone who people like (or at least don't
hate) working with and talking to.

[1]National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) - the agency of the federal
government that enforces U.S. labor law and oversees some union elections.

https://blackrosefed.org/anarchists-in-the-labor-movement-3/
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