There are difficult questions that arise any time we talk about the rights of workers or the prospect of strikes. The circumstances of each and every worker are unique, as are their needs, so it’s understood that not every worker will be equally enthusiastic about the likelihood of a work stoppage.
So what about the workers who rely on this paycheck to support their families? What about the ones who didn’t vote to strike or didn’t want to be in a union to begin with? How exactly does a strike benefit them, beyond the common refrain of “a rising tide lifts all boats”, even the ones who didn’t want to be in the water to begin with. I pose these questions not out of some misguided attempt at explanation; to be honest, I’m as curious as anyone else. I know the answers to these tough questions can be uncomfortable and too often they can also be vague, so I’m asking you, dear reader, for your thoughts.
When a worker, any worker, goes on strike, their employer will often stop paying them, meaning they run the obvious risk of not being able to afford living expenses like rent or food. Of course, employers know this and weaponize it to their advantage. Thinking of the writer’s strike in Hollywood for example, a studio executive earlier this year told Deadline, “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.” These are clearly not people that are bargaining in good faith.
In choosing to go on strike, workers like the 13,000 UAW laborers, are making incredibly difficult sacrifices because they believe that the short-term losses they suffer will be worth the long-term gains they’ll make by going on strike. So if an employer calls in outside replacement workers or when a worker chooses to undermine the union by crossing a picket line, they undermine any power the strike might have by allowing business to continue exploiting their labor as usual. This leaves only the striking workers to suffer the consequences.
So the real question is, how do we build and maintain solidarity despite the obvious need for financial stability? What tools are at our disposal to support one another in the event of a strike or similar work stoppage? And how can we better communicate the benefits of collective action to those who remain unconvinced? The suggestion box is open folks.
Side Items
Boebert at Beetlejuice: Lauren Boebert, the right-wing embarrassment representing the great state of Colorado, was caught on surveillance video vaping and being generally disruptive during a theatrical performance of Beetlejuice this week. On its own, this sentence is a clear indication of just how far we as a society have fallen, but behind that sentence is a terrifying reminder that the surveillance state is truly everywhere. Boebert initially denied that she was vaping, but the clear night-vision video evidence is undeniable. Truly an embarrassing lie to be caught in, especially as a grown up, and double especially as an elected official. Separately, why on Earth does the Denver theater require such clear images of its audience? I can only wonder what else they aren’t telling us
Soldiers of WHOM??: Five adults and a 15-year-old child who describe themselves as “Soldiers of Christ”, are in custody on murder charges after a woman’s body was discovered in the trunk of a car outside a popular spa near Atlanta. The woman, according to arrest warrants, was starved and beaten for weeks before she eventually died. This story is incredibly strange and obviously tragic, so I’ll be curious to learn more about these soldiers and which Christ they’re referring to, because the Jesus I’ve heard of would NOT stand for this
Liverpool Matchweek 5: