SAM DOLGOFF the unions are afraid to oppose the rank-and-file dlrectly ... • (False Promises; p. 214-215) (1). The extent to which the union leadership has Jost contact wlth the membershlp is demonstrated by a hlgh unlon offlclals sllly questlon: «... how can we get greater Joyalty from the Individual member to the unlon? Ali we fought for, the corporatlon ls now glvlng the worker. What we flnd are other thlngs the employer ls not able to glve hlm ... > The workers cannot deal wlth the employers directly, but only through thelr unlon officials. The offlclals are not guided by the needs of the members but by the terms of the contract, government agencies, courts of law and other lnstitutions which reguiate the union's operations. For example: the original agreement between the UAW and General Motors conslsted only of nine paragraphs. Today the contract conslsts of 200 pages and 1,000 paragraphs! The members cannot possibly understand the compllcated provisions of the contract. Only a staff of legal experts In labor Jaw can lnterpret the contract. For thls reason lawyers and hlred experts wleld lncreaslng power in unlon affairs. It Is agalnst such vlolatlons of thelr elemental human rights that the workers are actlvely rebelllng. Who are these workers and what do they want? «The new breed of worker» THE YOUNG workers (40 % of United Auto Workers Unlon members (UAW) are under thlrty years of age) are revoltlng agalnst the centrallzed, authorltarlan, bureaucratlc structure of modern lndustry. The new worker feels that he has Jess and less to say about hls own llfe and lnterests In the work place as the unlon offlclaldom In league wlth the employers, to a greater and greater degree, determines the condltlons under whlch he must labor. He demands Individual freedom at the polnt of productlon, In the factorles and workshops In whlch he spends the best part of hls llfe. Douglas Fraser, a vlce-Presldent of the UAW complalns that: «these young workers have dlfferent values than people of my generatlon .. ,> (ll False Promlse8. McGraw-HUl. 1974 (euaya). 98
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