We have a great mix of people at the ULA program here in Amherst. That’s one of the biggest appeals that this program held for me when I applied. In my narrow corner of the New York labor movement, I’m just not likely to make friends with Machinists and Auto Workers, nor with Canadian trade unionists or union activists from the South.
My brother Dave Rossi, a Canadian Auto Worker (he’s the guy with the cheerleader on his shoulders in this picture; no, he did not throw her in the air), can get pretty riled up when he sees a pro-union bumper sticker on the back of a Toyota or a Honda. In an atmosphere where everyone is boycotting something (don’t buy Coke, don’t shop at Wal-Mart, avoid Poland Spring water, cancel your Verizon cellphone contract, etc.), it’s easy to feel a little outraged when your comrades buy a non-union product that competes directly with the company that you work for to undercut market share and threaten good union jobs.
My only quibbles are, first, that I used to drive a Toyota. It was an 18-year-old model that was given to me by a good friend when I was in dire straits and which I promptly drove to death. Income limitations and the nature of used cars makes principled shopping difficult for many. (The same goes for shopping at Wal-Mart; there’s really no excuse for driving out 25 miles from Queens to Valley Stream or Garden City in order to get cheap underwear, but it can be awfully hard for someone living in rural Arkansas to find anything but Wal-Mart to shop at.)
Second, I’m frustrated that “Buy American” auto campaigns serve to support bad, antisocial business decisions by the Bosses. SUVs are a crime against nature. Trucks and minivans are too fucking big for city streets. But these behemoths are what Detroit produces and promotes. I didn’t see many ads for compact, fuel efficient American cars during last night’s Patriots game. I saw Hummers and SUVs and pickups. Those are sexy and manly and exciting, according to the ads. With the exception of the Chrysler PT Cruiser (which, let’s face it, is German), I can’t think of a compact American car that is designed nearly as stylishly. This feels like a conspiracy to me. Since there’s not as much profit in those smaller cars, the Big Three promote the monster trucks instead and then say, see, Americans aren’t interested in compact cars. And we support this with our “Buy American” campaigns, which shoppers are clearly tuning out as they go on buying their compact Hondas and Toyotas.
It reminds me of working for the Hotel Employees union, where our emphasis shifted from insisting that if Indian casinos were to be built in the Catskills that their employees should have the free choice to join a union to lobbying to build those casinos in order to create more jobs – the destructive effects of gambling on society be damned! It’s not our job to promote the Boss’ business. It’s our job to organize workers to defend their interests on the job.
Speaking of which, Honda and Toyota have built plants in the southern United States. But where is the United Autoworkers’ organizing directed? Graduate teaching assistants in the Northeast! Yes, of course those are Right-to-Work states, and the challenges are many and the odds are long. But it’s not like the law was on the UAW’s side when they conducted sit-in strikes in the 1930’s. It’s not like Ford welcomed Walter Reuther with open arms. This is our challenge. Where are our priorities?
In the meantime, Dave Rossi is right. A good trade unionist has no business buying a new Honda or Toyota. Look for the union label, comrades.
