"In an economic crisis such as ours the reformists will talk and sometimes walk to the left, using radical language, engaging in symbolic “direction actions” (like the symbolic and stage-managed arrest of union brass during Occupy, achieved through the hijacking and disempowerment of the larger struggle), and generally seeking to harness the radical energy that a crisis moment produces.
Once added to the ranks of the SEIU, new union members go from having one boss to having two, and the union helps the capitalist manage the exploitation of the worker, while allowing the worker to sometimes blow off a little steam. The relationship of worker and boss is of course never challenged, as the union has agreed in advance not to strike, contracts get longer and longer, concessions are made in every bargaining session, and stewards are often indecipherable from management in grievance procedures. Even materially speaking, the union in 2014 can do little for the workers actively except prevent them from taking the kind of radical action necessary to build a society based on human needs, not exploitation.
This is a delicate balance which contemporary reformist groups, from immigration rights to alternative labor, routinely navigate when they attempt to harness the political energy of people who capitalism has no future to offer, into reformist efforts which will ultimately frustrate their struggles. Attempting to cynically use people whose needs can only be achieved by revolutionary struggle is a potentially explosive gamble, and the amount of muscle groups like the SEIU hire to manage the crowd demonstrates they are acutely aware of this. And on July 29th, things almost got out of hand. (In reference to fight for fifteen)”