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<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white;
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face="Times New Roman"><img
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white;
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align="center"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR:
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white;
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white;
TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
align="center"><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR:
black"><font face="Times New Roman">AFTER ITS
DISASTROUS DEFEAT ON NOVEMBER 4, WHICH WAY NOW
FOR THE LABOR MOVEMENT?<o:p></o:p></font></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white;
TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
align="center"><font face="Times New Roman"><b><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">[Please
forward widely.]</span></b><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">There is no
disagreement within the labor movement that we
took a very big hit in the November 4 elections.
Labor's worst enemies among the politicians </span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black;
mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> </span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">-- Scott
Walker in</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt;
COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> </span><st1:state
w:st="on"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR:
black">Wisconsin</span></st1:state><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> and John
Kasich in</span><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt;
COLOR: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> </span><st1:state
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">Ohio</span></st1:place></st1:state><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">, who led
the charge against public employees' bargaining
rights -- registered significant victories. A
large number of other Republicans across the
country share their anti-labor bias.</span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR:
black"><br>
<font face="Times New Roman">But what about the
Democratic Party, supposedly the party that
represents the interests of workers? It was
repudiated by millions of workers who either
stayed home on election day or cast their ballots
for the Republicans.</font></span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">In 2008,
Obama was elected president, and Democrats won
control of both Houses of Congress. <span
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Hope<b> </b>was
in the air. </span>But in short order, the
Democratic Party betrayed its promises to labor
--- without whom the Democrats could never have
won the election. No legislation guaranteeing full
employment was enacted. No infrastructure funding
was approved. No labor law reform was passed. No
"card check" ("Employees Free Choice Act") saw the
light of day. No end to deportations and the
breakup of families transpired. Instead, a bill on
health care authored by the very conservative
Heritage Foundation was pushed through Congress
without even a promised public option, making the
insurance companies happy but leaving vast</span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">numbers with
no health care or patently inadequate coverage</span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black">.</span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> And
anti-worker trade bills were relentlessly pursued,
wars and occupations in faraway countries were
escalated, and more recently Democrats joined
Republicans in allowing unemployment compensation
for the long-term unemployed to expire while food
stamp funding was cut further by $8.6 billion.</span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">In short,
the President and Congressional Democrats, with
the exception of only a small minority, turned on
labor and in the process fueled the
disillusionment that led to</span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black;
mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> Tuesday's </span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">vote.</span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black;
mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> </span><b><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">Tens of
millions of workers have had it with the
Democratic Party</span></b><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">. According
to the latest Gallup Poll, 58% of the</span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black;
mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> </span><st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">U.S.</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black;
mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> </span><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">population
has concluded that a new party should be formed.</span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">A CBS exit
poll taken on election day reported that 63% of
Americans believe that the economic system favors
the wealthy. Dissatisfaction with the status quo
is very widespread and disgust with both major
parties runs deep. All that is missing is
leadership that only the labor movement and its
community allies can provide to bring a new party
into existence. </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:
Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white;
TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
align="center"><font face="Times New Roman"><b><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">A Bankrupt
Strategy</span></b><span style="FONT-FAMILY:
Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white;
TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
align="center"><font face="Times New Roman"><b><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span></b><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">Unfortunately,
up to this point, too many labor leaders have
doggedly stuck with the Democratic Party. But the
rank-and-file increasingly reject this strategy.
So the generals in labor are losing their army as
the labor movement sinks ever more deeply into
crisis.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial;
COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">Today labor
is a junior member of the Democratic Party's
coalition. But it is the big corporations and
banks which continue to control that party.
(Seventy percent of the Democrats' funding comes
from the big corporations and some millionaires
and billionaires.) To be sure, Wall Street gave
the Democrats more money in the 2008 elections
than to the Republicans, but this time around they
gave more money to the Republicans. When the
Democrats win, Wall Street wins. When the
Republicans win, Wall Street wins. But either way,
labor loses.</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY:
Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">We have to
ask: What in the world is labor doing in the same
party as the corporate elite? Shouldn't we be in
the same independent party -- <b>that is, a party
without the bosses</b> -- as the civil rights
movement, communities of color, the youth, working
farmers, immigrants, and progressive social
movements?</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial;
COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white;
TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
align="center"><font face="Times New Roman"><b><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">Where Do
We Go From Here?</span></b><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><b><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span></b><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">Tough times
lie ahead for the labor movement<b>.</b></span><b><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black;
mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> </span></b><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black">Blaming
Obama for all that has gone wrong -- of course he
bears his share of the responsibility -- won't get
us out of the mess we are in. What is urgently
needed is a debate throughout the labor movement
regarding what we must do in the political and
electoral arena from this point on. Let advocates
of sticking with the Democrats have their say. But
let advocates of independent labor/community
political action have their say as well.</span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"> </span><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR:
black"><font face="Times New Roman">There is no time
to waste. The labor movement can be revitalized if
we adopt as our slogan "The Bosses Have Two
Parties --We need One of Our Own!" and take the
concrete organizational steps to bring such a new
party into existence. The alternative is for labor
to continue to suffer further horrendous defeats
and disappear as a viable social movement. The
choice is ours to make, and it will determine
where we in labor go from here.<o:p></o:p></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><i
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><font
face="Times New Roman"><span style="FONT-SIZE:
14pt">Issued by the Labor Fightback Network.</span><font
size="3"> </font></font></i><i
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black;
mso-no-proof: yes"><font size="3">For more
information, please call 973-944-8975 or email
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:conference@laborfightback.org">conference@laborfightback.org</a> or write Labor
Fightback Network, </font><st1:address
w:st="on"><st1:street w:st="on"><font size="3">P.O.
Box 187</font></st1:street><font size="3">,
</font><st1:city w:st="on"><font size="3">Flanders</font></st1:city><font
size="3">, </font><font size="3"><st1:state
w:st="on">NJ</st1:state><span
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><st1:postalcode
w:st="on">07836</st1:postalcode></font></st1:address><font
size="3"> or visit our website at
laborfightback.org. Facebook link</font></span></i><span
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Calibri; COLOR:
#1f497d"> : <a moz-do-not-send="true"
title="https://www.facebook.com/laborfightback"
href="https://www.facebook.com/laborfightback"><font
color="#0000ff">https://www.facebook.com/laborfightback</font></a></span><i
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black;
mso-no-proof: yes"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><i
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black;
mso-no-proof: yes"><o:p><font size="3"> </font></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font
size="3"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: black;
mso-no-proof: yes">Donations to help fund the
Labor Fightback Network based on its program of
solidarity and labor-community unity are
necessary for our work to continue and will be
much appreciated. Please make checks payable to
Labor Fightback Network and mail to the above
P.O. Box or you can make a contribution online.
Thanks!</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR:
black"><o:p></o:p></span></i></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><i
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><o:p><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN:
0in 0in 0pt"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR:
black"><o:p><font size="3"> </font></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></o:p></p>
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