Following is issue #26 of "The Barking Dog," which is an independent, pro-worker, pro-union newsletter put out by Caroline Lund, a member of United Auto Workers Local 2244 at the NUMMI plant in Fremont, CA. It is dated June 19, 2000.

Union Election

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who got involved in the election process to try to make our union more effective. I was elected to a Trustee position on the Executive Board. I did a lot of walking the lines and talking to people. There is overwhelming sentiment that our union is weak and divided. People feel alienated from their union. Evidence of this is the fact that less than one-half of the members even bothered to vote.

But I also felt inspired by the strong yearning for unity to face the Company, opposition to the speed-up of the line, and desire for honesty and principles in the union, as opposed to the kind of politics where "anything you can get away with" goes.

One line worker told me, "If you get elected, DON'T CHANGE!" I don't intend to change, but if I do, find a way to throw me out.

* Caroline Lund

Libel Suit Threat

Just to update you: On election day I asked both Tito and Art whether they were going to sue me or not. They would not say one way or another. Tito said they just wanted me to "back off." Back off what? Telling the truth?

Apparently they plan to just keep the threat of a suit hovering over my head. Oh, well. It's not going to make me back off telling the truth.

* Caroline Lund

Punishment for Being Sick

How dare you get sick! Don't worry, most of NUMMI management personnel have medical degrees. Just kidding. What was described in the Barking Dog recently [#25] on the way a person was treated by NUMMI's medical department: this is the way things are done. The doctor and nurses for the most part are puppets and consult non-medical personnel on medical decisions. It will stay this way until we as a Union stand up for one another.

Oh, I'm sorry, we belong to the UAW, another puppet. We as human beings, stand up if you feel at any time you were not treated with dignity and respect, or you think that someone other than a medical professional had input in regards to your condition. First ask your union representative to write you a grievance (you won't get one). Then file a complaint with the medical board (1-800-633-2322), the National Labor Relations Board (510-637-3300), the Dept. of Labor (408-291-7798), the Fair Employment and Housing (1-800-884-1684).

Remember, if you are not treated as you would be in any other medical facility, then you were treated wrong! Report it! The squeaky wheel gets the oil! ! !

* The Advocator

Trade With China

It seems the main focus right now of both our union and the whole AFL-CIO is to lobby against normal trade relations with China.

I know what I'm going to say here will be very controversial, but I'm going to say it anyway. I think working people should support normal U.S. trade relations with China. The Chinese are about one fifth of humanity and they deserve respect as a people. The U.S. has normal trade relations with many other repressive countries, so why not China. Every country needs to trade. Why punish the Chinese people for the sins of their government?

Yes, GM is shutting down plants in the U.S. and building them in low-wage countries like China (also in high-wage countries like Europe and Canada). This has shattered the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers who have been thrown out of their jobs.

But it is GM that is to blame for shutting down our plants, not China. And doesn't our country also repress the organization of unions? The U.S. also has prison labor and child labor, especially in the fields. Are Chinese workers "taking our jobs"? That kind of approach sets working people of different countries against each other. Don't working people of all countries need jobs?

Our struggle should be directed against the corporations that move plants for lower wages. It would be better if the labor movement demanded Congress pass a law requiring that U.S. corporations that build factories in the Third World must pay a living wage and provide decent working conditions.

As long as the pay gap exists between workers in the rich countries and in the poor countries, in the North and in the South, in union and non-union plants -- corporations will continue to threaten to shut down plants and move for lower wages.

It's true that the Chinese government represses the people there. But it doesn't help the Chinese people for us to support this anti-China trade campaign by our union leadership and right-wingers like Pat Buchanan. Buchanan is an anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-"foreigner", anti-Jewish, anti-union bigot. In this country there is a long history of racism against Chinese people. They have been labeled "the yellow hordes." In the late 1800s the AFL leadership led a racist campaign against immigrant Chinese workers to "protect jobs" for "Americans."

I talked with a coworker here at NUMMI who is Chinese. He thought that trade with China would help both Chinese and U.S. workers. He couldn't believe that his union was opposing it. How is this anti-China campaign going to help us working people? Our union should be supporting us against the Company, and building solidarity with Chinese workers against their government and the multinational corporations like GM.

If you disagree, write a reply, but keep it short.

* Caroline Lund

Hypocrisy Re: China

This is an excerpt from an article by Gregg Shotwell of UAW Local 2151 in Michigan. The article is about the UAW leadership's betrayal and trusteeship of UAW Local 2036 at the Accuride Corp. in Kentu cky (see BD #25 for details). Our International UAW leadership is pressuring the Accuride workers to accept a contract that would virtually end the right to union representation in the plant, let the company outsource all skilled trades work, and allow Accuride to rewrite pensions and health benefits whenever they wanted to. Here's what Gregg has to say:

"Someone needs to reiterate to [UAW President Steven] Yokich the message he sent to Congress at the rally in Washington, D.C. on April 12: "We expect you to stand up for us, Yokich said, "We expect you to stand up for worker rights, decent wages, and good working conditions." (Solidarity, May 2000) Yokich can talk tough about exploitation abroad but not at home. He can attack China's human rights record but turn a deaf ear to injustice on our own shores. He can admonish Congress about their failure to protect jobs in the U.S. yet negotiate contracts that endorse job cuts, speed-ups, and competition between locals.

Last year the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 20,000 more autoworker jobs in the U.S. than in 1978, yet Yokich scapegoats foreign competition and accepts no responsibility for the sweating and deunionization of the U.S. auto parts industry. He publicly rebukes corporate tyranny, but cuts the mike on elected delegates at UAW conventions.

Yokich should look in the mirror and repeat his advice: "We expect you to stand up for us."

* Gregg Shotwell

Prisoners Galore

A new study by the World Watch Institute found that just 3 countries hold more than half of the world's 8 million prison inmates. They are the United States (1.7 million), China (1.4 million), and Russia (1 million). On a per capita basis, Russia leads, with 687 prisoners for every 100,000 people, the U.S. is next, with 645, and China is third, with 117 per 100,000.

A Day and A Year

"The average corporate chieftain now makes more in a single day than the typical American worker makes in a year." (Source: article by David Leonhardt in The New York Times, 4-16-00)

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