Harvey - The Trade Unions must Act. The Arsonists Must Pay

By Sean O'Torain - Facts for Working People, September 3, 2017

Global Warming: The Arsonists.

This Blog has carried two articles on the catastrophe in Texas and Louisiana. They have dealt with a number of points in relation to this. One is as one article said that the capitalist class, their media and politicians are gushing over how wonderful it is that people are working together and helping each other. No matter the color of a persons skin, no matter what religion, working class people are helping each other out. This is very positive and shows how in crisis working people can unite and work together. This shows the potential for working class people to unite and struggle together on all issues which affect their lives.

But we should not be fooled by what is going on with the capitalist class, their media and politicians. It would be a different story entirely with these forces if the working people were uniting to fight for better pay and conditions and a better life. No you have to always see not just what is being said, but by whom it is being said, why it is being said, when it is being said. In this case the capitalist class and its media and politicians want to direct everybody's gaze to the way working class people are working together and helping each other out so they can divert attention from the cause of the catastrophe. The cause of the catastrophe is the mad drive for profit of capitalism and the resulting heating up of the planet. This is why we refer to "The Arsonists". The capitalist class are the arsonists. They are burning up the planet. See the fire now raging in Los Angeles.

What the capitalist class, its media and its politicians are doing has to be seen in this way. An arsonist sets fire to a street of houses. The residents flee from their homes and in doing so help each other escape. The capitalist class and its media and politicians all they talk about is how wonderful the people are who have been burnt out in that they help each other. But they never mention anything about the arsonist. If this happened people would be aghast. They would be outraged. They would demand the arsonist be hunted down and dealt with. But because capitalism controls the media and the politicians there is not a word about the arsonists who caused the climate change, the global warming that resulted in this catastrophe in Texas. We must demand that capitalism and its climate change and global warming is ended. Hunt down the arsonists, hunt down and end capitalism.

As the catastrophe develops it becomes more clear that there is a major problem of pollution and contamination from the explosions of chemical plants and the flooding of all kinds of plants. Not only in Texas and Louisiana in this catastrophe but everywhere US capitalism is poisoning the American people. The air, the water, the food. And not only when there is a major storm. Remember Flint? The water there is poisoned by lead and other chemicals as the capitalist dominated state and city governments cut spending so they can reduce the taxes on the rich. We need to use our imagination. People have been killed in Texas. People will die in Texas as the contaminated air and water takes their toll. Texas is one the most deregulated states in the USA. That is with the least controls over capitalist industry. One result is that plants do not have to tell what chemicals they are using. People are living next to poisonous plants and do not even know. The Governor and all the state's politicians go along with this. These people are murderers. Millions die due to capitalism's profit driven pollution of the air, water, food. Yet all we hear is about the "terrorists".

The Texas Catastrophe and the Trade Unions.

In one of our other articles on the Texas catastrophe we wrote the following in relation to how working people in Texas were helping each other out:

" However once again while working class people act we have the trade union leaders missing in action. Their inaction must be condemned and is enraging. The union leaders should be mobilizing their members to go to the South East Texas and South West Louisiana area to help. Instead as usual the trade union leaders do nothing. These leaders have to be removed." 

We believe this is correct . However we believe we should have been more specific in our previous article. There are 462,000 union members in Texas. 76,000 in Louisiana. This is by no means an insignificant number. Over half a million.They are organized in hundreds of union locals and in scores of labor councils. The Union leaders should have mobilized these members. However they will not do so. So what we suggest is the following. Immediately if this has not already been done all union halls must be opened to give shelter to the people who no longer have a home to stay in. Simultaneously with this the rank and file of the locals and labor councils should immediately hold meetings of their members, and from this  convene a conference of action. From this establish a labour center to help the victims of the catastrophe. From this mobilize the members to act to help. At the same time reach out to the 14.6 million union members throughout the US and the millions internationally and ask for help material, financial and also personnel. Send resources to Texas and Louisiana, come to Texas and Louisiana and help. All this to be coordinated by the Labor Center for helping the victims of the catastrophe. There would be a huge response to this appeal.

This would do a number of things. First of all it would not allow the capitalist agencies and institutions to monopolize the dealing with the catastrophe. The very agencies whose resources are being cut by Trump and his capitalist class who in turn are causing the climate change and global warming. Agencies like the Red Cross cannot be trusted. This has been shown on multiple occasions where they have been present and have refused to account for the money they were sent. Haiti is one such example. Such action by the trade union rank and file and the trade union movement would also have another very positive affect. It would put the organized working class at the centre of the work to help people in this catastrophe. It would show that the working class could act independently and solve problems. This would help increase the class consciousness of the US working class and allow it to begin to see that it itself could solve problems it did not have to rely on the capitalist class and its institutions. By taking this action this would also allow the issue of who was to blame for the catastrophe to be raised. As the trade union rank and file rebuild and recovery effort went ahead the demand could be continuously raised for "The Arsonist", that is the capitalist class to be identified and dealt with. Such initiative by the trade unions would also give it increased credibility to demand an end to the deregulation and the lack of zoning which has been part of this catastrophe. 

Every major problem the US working class faces should be confronted by mobilizing the working class movement. Part of this would be mobilizing the existing trade union membership and from this building the trade unions, organizing the unorganized. This would have a dramatic change in the consciousness of the US working class. It would help the working class begin to see itself as a class and to see that it could act as a class and deal with the problems with which it is faced. This would be a step towards the working class seeing that it could build a new society, end capitalism and build a new democratic socialist society.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author’s.