What a union 'take out' looks like

When the Teamsters' James Hoffa says he wants to "take out" the Tea Party, what exactly does he mean? A 2003 labor settlement offers some clues

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"We will not threaten to kill or inflict bodily harm, make throat slashing motions, make gun pointing motions, challenge or threaten to fight or assault employees, threaten to sexually assault non-striking employees or their family members, threaten to follow non-striking employees to their homes, use racial epithets or obscene gestures at non-striking employees doing business with COMPANY, or on any security guard, supervisor, or manager of COMPANY or neutral employers doing business with COMPANY in the presence of employees.

"We will not videotape or photograph any non-striking employees of COMPANY, or vehicles of COMPANY or its non-striking employees while engaging in coercive activity observed or known by those being videotaped or threaten to release the photographs, names, addresses, or photographs of non-striking employees.

"We will not prevent any non-striking employee from accessing a COMPANY vehicle or COMPANY vehicles or the personal vehicles of non-striking COMPANY employees.

"WE will not threaten to fine or cause the discharge of non-member employees because they cross a picket line or refuse to go on strike.

"We will not threaten to cause any employee's discharge if they do not engage in strike or picketing of COMPANY or any neutral person doing business with company.

"We will not attempt to harass or intimidate employees or security guards on COMPANY property by using mirrors to reflect sunlight into the eyes of COMPANY drivers or use mirrors or laser pointers to shine light into the eyes or video cameras of security guards."

And that's just page one!

So, if Hoffa were to say that he intended to take me out, I'd up my insurance coverage.

This severe recession has imposed extreme pain on millions of working people — and formerly working people. Desperate times lead to angry talk. Most often, angry talk is just a way for people to vent emotions.

Yet it's also worth remembering that the United States has not only a long and bloody history of political violence but also a nearly equally long and even bloodier history of labor strife. In the recent past, labor strife has receded as unions have become more professional. But there's no guarantee that the future will look like the past, especially as the pain of this recession extends and deepens.

The job of keeping the social peace does not fall upon only one faction or another. Nor is social peace only a function of what people say. The best guarantor of social peace is prosperity, shared on terms that seem fair to most social actors. That guarantee has not been honored these past four years, and all with a stake in society have reason to feel apprehension about the events that may lie ahead.