At 09:23 AM 12/10/02 -0500, rmetzger wrote:
>When I read the e-mails describing the current library crisis, I found myself
>wondering why we are here again?
...

>Community building is hard work, but it can be done.  Not by
>public discussion and private decisions, not by diverting responsibility, not
>by recapitulating the failed system of the past.  Now is the time to look to
>the future, to build a new community of scholars who will work together to
>accomplish our goals.  It would be nice to have administrative support, but
>that is not essential.  WE can be the force for change, if only we decide to
>make it a priority.
>

Thank you, Richard, for posting a very thoughtful and informative
discussion.  There aren't enough of those.

While reading your message I kept thinking that's exactly what a union is
supposed to do, quite apart from (and in addition to) collective bargaining
over pay and working conditions.  A union local would have all the
characteristics of democratic control, independence, and accountability you
describe.  And no, that isn't the same as TQM, which was, after all, only a
management strategy for union-busting.

Sadly, I fear organising a union local would be even more difficult than
rousing the few sparks of quiet indignation than outlets like this do, and
not just because of low morale, but more because of the insidious
right-wing petit-bourgeois thinking that pervades academia.

Any thoughts on organising a union at UTC?

Fritz Efaw,
Emma Goldman Distinguished Professor of
Political Economy and Inorganic Psychology.