Sam Gindin spent most of his working life (1974-2000) as the research director of and then Assistant to the President of the Canadian Auto Workers. He then led a seminar on Social Justice and Political activism at York (which was also open to community activists). He is currently writing a book with Leo Panitch on the making of global capitalism and active in community-labour education and organizing through the Socialist Project (a group desperately trying to keep socialist ideas alive).
We need a left agenda that is not just engaged in periodic working-class struggles but is also genuinely embedded in workersā daily lives and committed to nurturing the best of the working classās historic potentials
In Oshawa Ontario, workers organize for a public takeover an unused GM plant to produce electric vehicles or supplied to fight the pandemic
Workers still have the power to shut down production but unions must have a class consciousness, including organizing the unemployed
We need to convince all those who should be with us but arenāt, elevate popular expectations, and ambitions, and stand up with confidence to those who would block us
A deeper fear lurks in business circles. Has globalization plateaued? Might the further spread of the virus āput globalization into reverse?ā
The argument for a turn inward begins with the reality that all organizing is ultimately local or domestic
The Struggle for Plant Conversion at GM Oshawa
Working class life under capitalism has shown that no matter what workers do, how good their work, how restrained their demands, and how much they accept in terms of work pressures, they will always remain vulnerable
Labour needs to develop a socialist strategy that goes beyond a single election manifesto. A look at the challenge of state transformation
The response to Bernie showed that a socialist party in the United States is possible. But there is no shortcut to building power
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