The American Servicemen's Union, founded by Andy Stapp in the 1960s,
was a serious attempt to unionize the American military. There's not a
large amount of info online about this, but I remember it well, since
I was an antiwar protester on the campus of the University of Oklahoma
at the time, and Stapp was a bit of a local hero among leftist groups.
Although the main thrust of the American Servicemen's Union was
opposition to the war in Vietnam, the organization also addressed such
issues as wages, pensions, and strikes.
Here's an account from another University of Oklahoma sixties survivor:
"> It is striking that no segment of the civilian population right, left
>or center, including of course the liberal, progressive left wing,
>pro union, group, has ever had the courage to advocate
>job security, job safety, and collective bargaining rights for 'ordinary'
>GI's! Yes, good pay and benefits for war factory workers but nothing
>for rank and file military.
I beg your pardon.
In 1967, University of Oklahoma SDS members, myself included,
befriended Andy Stapp, notorious for his campaign to organize the
American Serviceman's Union. Stapp was a GI stationed at Ft. Sill,
Oklahoma (near Lawton).
My recollections are fuzzy right now, but I'm pretty sure he spoke at
OU, with SDS sponsorship. I also recall that he was court-martialed in
retaliation for his political activities, and that some of his
supporters were arrested for demonstrating on his behalf on base.
I recall attending their trial, for 'unlawful entry' onto a military
base, in Oklahoma City federal court. They were members of the Maoist
Workers World party, and its youth affiliate Youth Against War and
Fascism, and were interested in recruiting Stapp."
University of Virginia lists archive
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/lists_archive/sixties-l/0977.html
More on the American Servicemen's Union:
"American Servicemen's Union: The American Servicemen's Union (ASU)
was formed in 1968 by active-duty GIs who opposed the Viet Nam War and
oppression within the military. At its height it had 160 chapters on
bases in the U.S. and overseas on 50 U.S. Navy ships. In 1971, its
newspaper The Bond was mailed to 20,000 service people and reached
thousands more as it was passed hand to hand. Its programmatic demands
included the election of officers by the ranks; no use of troops
against strikers, anti-war demonstrators, or the oppressed
communities; an end to racism and sexism in the military and the right
to collective bargaining. The ASU was the subject of an Esquire
magazine article in August 1968 entitled "The Plot to Unionize the
Army."
Workers World: Bolsheviks and War
http://www.workers.org/marcy/cd/sambol/bolwar/bolwar03.htm
Andy Stapp told his story in a book called "Up Against the Brass,"
published by Simon & Schuster in 1970. The book is out of print, but
used copies are plentiful:
Addall Used Book Search: "Up Against the Brass"
http://used.addall.com/SuperRare/submitRare.cgi?author=stapp&title=up+against+the+brass&keyword=&isbn=&order=TITLE&ordering=ASC&dispCurr=USD&binding=Any+Binding&min=&max=&timeout=20&match=Y&StoreAbebooks=on&StoreAlibris=on&StoreAntiqbook=on&StoreBiblio=on&storeBibliophile=on&StoreILAB=on
The August 1968 issue of "Esquire," which contains the article "The
Plot to Unionize the Army," can be bought here for $8.50:
Americana Resources
http://www.amres.com/catalogs/MAEQ.asp
More than 30 years later, Andy Stapp is still around, and is active in
leftist causes and antiwar efforts:
Workers World: Prospects for GI resistance in Iraq
http://www.workers.org/ww/2003/giresist0731.php
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "american servicemen's union"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22american+servicemen%27s+union
Google Web Search: "american serviceman's union"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22american+serviceman%27s+union
Google Web Search: "andy stapp"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22andy+stapp
I hope this information is useful. If anything is unclear, please
request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before
you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
