Diane Gutenkauf, in response to Henry Grunder's claims of American labor
unity wrote:
____________
Funny, that's not how I read labor history. One of Debs' great failures was
that
he was unable to achieve the above. The United Workers of the World NEVER
became
a major player in the labor movement because they were unable to unite
workers
from all professions. Workers couldn't think of themselves as united for a
common cause and couldn't get beyond " I'm a brakeman, I'm a steel worker."
Socialism will never work in this country, despite some very notable
achievements. (Debs was the party's last charasmatic leader and he died in
1926.)
_____
snip

There might be a relationship between Debs "failure" and the fact that he was
in jail on trumped up charges during one of his presidential campaigns.  Or
the expulsion of activists during the Red Scare after WWI, or the police
murders of IWW members in the same period, or . . . well, I think I've made
my point.  Labor's "failure" was not simply a lack of internal unity then,
nor is it now.  And what does "socialism will never work in this country"
have to do with the entire labor movement?  Are a living wage and other
workers' issues "socialism"?  The Knights of Labor got closer to worker unity
than any other movement, and they were distinctly "producerist" in
perspective, not socialist (although containing socialist elements).  Have
workers' movements in the US been split by gender, race, and craft
divisions--yes.  Were these divisions actively encouraged and exacerbated by
management, police and politicians--yes again.  We will never know whether
these movements could have been successful.

To Mr. Grunder's tweaking of the sacred "Museum Professional" label, Henry B.
Crawford weighed in:
____________
Hello.  Excuse me.  We ARE museum professionals, and WORK very hard at it.
We are not labor leaders, not politicians.  We are the custodians of a
culture, and serve a higher purpose than mere petty politics.  Don't saddle
us with the guilt of today's labor and budget problems.  In our business we
are obligated to care for  and interpret our cultural patrimony, no matter
what.
__________
snip

Yes, "In our business."  This is a business, we are not vestal virgins or
regents guarding the collective family jewels.  Labor decisions get made in
this business every day, such as using the free, surplus labor of "docents,"
or paying a registrar below living wage.  And those of us who are the already
in the craft workers guild (museum professionals) look approvingly down from
above.  We aren't politicians?  Ever been to a donor or board event?  Talk
about "petty politics."  How can we be the "custodians of a culture" when we
chose to ignore some of its most critical issues in our own lives?