Dan La Botz

Dan La Botz
Personal details
Born (1945-09-08) September 8, 1945
Chicago, Illinois, U.s.
Political party Socialist Party USA
Spouse(s) Sherry Baron
Children Jake, Traven, Reed
Residence Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater Southwestern College
San Diego University
University of Cincinnati
Profession Teacher,
Historian,
Journalist,
Truck driver

Daniel H. La Botz (born August 9, 1945) is a prominent American labor union activist, academic, journalist, and author. He was a co-founder of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) and has written extensively on worker rights in the United States and Mexico. He is a member of the socialist organization Solidarity, which describes itself as "a democratic, revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization,"[1] which comes out of the Trotskyist tradition. La Botz ran in 2010 for a seat in the United States Senate for the Socialist Party. He is also a member of the Brooklyn branch of the Democratic Socialists of America and a co-editor of the socialist journal New Politics.

Early life and career

La Botz was born in Chicago, Illinois but grew up outside San Diego, California.[2] He attended Southwestern College and San Diego State University. When he was in college, he opposed the American involvement in the Vietnam war and supported the United Farm Workers. He is a leader of the socialist organization Solidarity,[3][4] which describes itself as "a democratic, revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization"[5] and which comes out of the Trotskyist tradition. In the 1970s, La Botz worked various jobs in Chicago before working as a truck driver.[2] Within the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), he was a co-founder of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU),[4] a reform caucus partially maintained by members of Solidarity. TDU began in 1975 when a small group of freight Teamsters, some from the International Socialists (IS) group in Berkeley, CA met in Chicago, Illinois and founded Teamsters for a Decent Contract (TDC). The IS later merged with other organizations from Trotskyist traditions to form Solidarity.

La Botz subsequently worked as a community and union organizer and later a journalist.[2] La Botz worked in the 1980s as a journalist in Chicago and Mexico City and as an author on topics of workers' struggles and unions in the United States and Mexico. He earned a PhD in American history at the University of Cincinnati in 1998. He later became assistant professor of history and Latin American studies at the Miami University,[6] the University of Cincinnati and the Northern Kentucky University.[2] La Botz is an editor of Mexican Labor News and Analysis (MLNA).[4][7][8] In May 2010, La Botz was working as a Spanish teacher at Waldorf elementary school in Cincinnati.[2]

Senatorial campaign

Dan La Botz
Campaign U.S. senate election in Ohio, 2010
Candidate Dan La Botz
Affiliation Socialist Party of Ohio
Status Lost

On February 19, 2010, La Botz announced that he was running for the United States Senate in Ohio on the Ohio Socialist Party ballot.[9] He subsequently gathered 1,200 signatures to gain ballot access.[10] La Botz was the only Ohio candidate running on the ticket of the Socialist Party USA.[2]

In the United States Senate election in Ohio, 2010, SPOH candidate La Botz received 25 thousand votes (0.68%); the Republican winner Rob Portman received 2.125 million votes (57.25%) and the Democratic candidate Lee Fisher received 1.448 million votes (39.00%).[11]

United States Senate election in Ohio, 2010  [11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Rob Portman 2,125,810 57.25% -6.61%
Democratic Lee Fisher 1,448,092 39.00% +2.85%
Constitution Eric Deaton 64,017 1.72% N/A
Independent Michael Pryce 48,653 1.31% N/A
Socialist Daniel LaBotz 25,368 0.68% N/A
N/A Arthur Sullivan (write-in) 1,512 0.04% N/A
Majority 677,718 18.25%
Total votes 3,713,452 100.0
Republican hold Swing

Published works

Books

  • The Crisis of Mexican Labor. University of Texas: Praeger Publishers. 1988. p. 206. ISBN 0-275-92600-1.
  • Rank and File Rebellion: Teamsters for a Democratic Union. University of Michigan: Verso Books. 1990. p. 336. ISBN 0-86091-505-0.
  • Edward L. Doheny: Petroleum, Power and Politics in the U.S. and Mexico. Praeger Publishers. 1991. p. 202. ISBN 0-275-93599-X.
  • A Troublemakers' Handbook: How to Fight Back Where You Work and Win!. Labor Notes. 1991. p. 262. ISBN 0-914093-04-5.
  • Mask of Democracy: Labor Suppression in Mexico Today. South End Press. 1992. p. 223. ISBN 0-89608-437-X.
  • Democracy in Mexico: Peasant Rebellion and Political Reform. South End Press. 1995. p. 274. ISBN 0-89608-507-4.
  • Made in Indonesia: Indonesian Workers Since Suharto. South End Press. 2001. p. 395. ISBN 0-89608-642-9.
  • Cesar Chavez and La Causa. Pearson Longman. 2006. p. 210. ISBN 0-321-18764-4.

Pamphlets

  • La Botz, Dan; Clement, Chris; Luce, Stephanie; Post, Charlie (2000). Beating back the corporate attack: Socialism and the struggle for social justice. A Solidarity pamphlet. Detroit MI: Solidarity.
  • La Botz, Dan (1997). The fight at UPS: The Teamsters victory and the "new labor movement". A Solidarity pamphlet. Detroit MI: Solidarity.
  • La Botz, Dan (17 May 2009). Obama, the crisis, and the movements. Working paper. Detroit MI: Solidarity.

References

  1. ↑ Solidarity | A democratic, revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization official Web site.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Landon, Simone ("Dan La Botz, a long-time family friend," is the first sentence of this essay. Its third section begins with "When Dan first told me about his bid for Senate, he called and said, 'I’ve got a story for you.' 'Oh yeah?' 'A Cincinnati school teacher is running for US Senate.' ) (8 May 2010). "Socialist for Senate". The College Hill Independent ("The College Hill Independent is an alternative weekly newspaper [sic.] written, designed and illustrated by Brown and RISD students for the Providence community. It’s existed since 1990." Brown identifiers herself as a Brown student graduating in May 2010.). Retrieved 10 July 2011. External link in |newspaper= (help)
  3. ↑ "Dan La Botz". The Nation. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 "Dan La Botz was a founding member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union Archived 1999-10-03 at the Wayback Machine. and is the author of Rank and File Rebellion: Teamsters for a Democratic Union (Verso). He edits the biweekly Mexican Labor News and Analysis and is a member of SOLIDARITY."La Botz, Dan (1997). The fight at UPS: The Teamsters victory and the "new labor movement". A Solidarity pamphlet. Detroit MI: Solidarity.
  5. ↑ "Solidarity: A democratic, revolutionary socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization" official Web site.
  6. ↑ "Protesters gather to mark year since shooting prompted riots in Cincinnati". Gettysburg Times. April 8, 2002. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  7. ↑ Nash, Ken; Rosenberg, Mimi (February 18, 2010). "Building Bridges National: Focus Mexico Crisis Upon Crisis". Building Bridges Coalition: Your Community & Labor Report. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  8. ↑ L. Sherman, Jerome (September 10, 2006). "Labor turmoil following disaster draws in USW". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Dan La Botz, Cincinnati School Teacher, Socialist Party Candidate for U.S. Senate". CincinnatiBeacon.com. February 18, 2010. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  10. ↑ Flannery, Gregory (March 23, 2010). "Maybe it's Time for a Troublemaker". Streetvibes Newspaper. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  11. 1 2 "State of Ohio 2010 General Election November 2, 2010 Unofficial Results". Ohio Secretary of State. November 2, 2010. Archived from the original on November 9, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.