Mumia Abu-jamal's Radio Essays

{col. writ. 10/3/07} (c) '07 Mumia Abu-Jamal The recent contract approval by the executive committee of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and General Motors (GM) marks a turning point in relations between labor and management. It may also mark the transition between unions as a representative of workers, and management as a representative for the owners. That's because, if the UAW members agree, the union will (at least partially ) administer almost $30 billion bucks in pension funds. If the general membership signs on, it lifts a $50 billion burden from the backs of GM managers, and places the lion's share of it on the back of the union. In one fell swoop, the union performs the function of GM management! For GM, this is a masterstroke; for the UAW, it may prove a trap, or the first step of the end of unions, or at least pensions as we know it. The trade union movement came of age by becoming the laborer's institution, and the de facto representative of its workers. In the earlier half of t