Ellen David Friedman: "In the US, teachers only have the right to strike protected in seven states"

BarcelonaEllen David Friedman (1952, Vermont) has been involved in activism and trade unionism in the United States for half a century, now as a member of the Labor Notes platform. This movement is once again clashing with an even more belligerent Donald Trump, advised by a businessman like Elon Musk, known for his positions against workers' rights. "They can scare us. They can imprison us. They can shoot us. But as long as you're alive, there's always something you can do," she says from Barcelona, ​​​​where she went last week to give a talk with CGT members.

What was it like to identify as a Marxist in the 1970s in the US and what is it like now?

— In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a much stronger left. Then came a long period of neoliberalism. My ideas didn't change, but I was left very much alone for years, because the left was getting smaller and smaller. Most unions in the United States are neither democratic nor militant. So there was a lot of work to do. But after the financial crisis of 2008, things started to change. And now the labor movement and the left in the United States have woken up again. It's very stimulating and exciting. We are still less powerful than Trump, but we are much stronger than we have been in decades.

What are the main threats to the workplace from Trump's new mandate?

— Musk is already trying to infiltrate the labor department. If they just put terrible people on the National Labor Relations Board [the government agency that enforces labor laws], who are anti-union, workers will have nowhere to go. Frankly, employers have been violating labor laws for years. They are not supposed to fire employees to form a union, but they do. They are not supposed to discriminate on the basis of gender, age, or political beliefs, but they do. The law has not protected workers for a long time, but now it can just go away.

In recent years, workers at companies like Starbucks and Amazon have been organizing, where this had not happened before. What is different about these movements?

— It's a period of a lot of experimentation. Some of the big unions don't have a clue what to do. They're faced with all these young, migrant, trans workers, queer, blacks, who are very angry. Our unions have long been quite conservative and many of them have been very white. But some have tried to open their doors and there are cases where this has been successful. In the Teamsters [transportation industry] or the United Auto Workers [automotive], which have been very corrupt, internal opposition has emerged and they have elected new leaders.

What is the relationship between these major unions and Trumpism?

— There are several unions, not a few, where the top leaders are very conservative, they also oppose immigration and identify with Trump. The president of the Teamsters, which is the largest private sector union in the United States, spoke at the Republican convention. However, the majority of the labor movement was absolutely horrified and voted for the Democrats. As far as the members are concerned, their opinions vary. In traditionally Republican states, where membership levels are very low and racism is still quite pervasive, working people are afraid. There are no unions to protect them, so they reflect on a dictator like Trump.

You have worked extensively with teachers' unions. How do they deal with the chaos caused by cuts in the administration?

— They are horrified. We now see teachers in some of the big cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia organizing, reforming their unions, and striking more now than there have been in the last 30 years. The number of teacher strikes has increased dramatically. Some are legal, some are illegal. But they are taking to the streets, and we hope that this will continue.

Why are these strikes illegal?

— The situation in the US is different from that in Europe. We have a national labour law, which was passed in 1935, that only covers private sector workers. Under this law, it is legal for most to strike, with some limitations. However, in the public sector, labour rights are decided on a state-by-state basis. And even within a state, you can have a different law for teachers and for firefighters. So, for example, teachers only have their right to strike protected in seven out of 50 states.

What can unions do to protect migrant workers Trump threatens to deport?

— As was the case during Trump’s first term, many unions have been preparing materials and training to give their members on what to do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comes to a workplace, such as a school, hospital, factory or farm. In Chicago, the teachers union is beginning to educate teachers so that if ICE comes to their school, whether looking for a student or a worker, they know how to resist. It’s not just a matter of knowing your rights or calling a lawyer, but of putting yourself between the person they’re looking for and the federal agents and forcing them to leave.