> jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net wrote:
>
> > Waht specifically do you have in mind? It seems to me union workers
> > should, in a manner of speaking, lead the way. Non-union workers are
> > too easily dismissed from their jobs when attempting to do these things.
> > The workers who have greater institutional protections from such abuse
> > could do more in this area in spite of their smaller numbers in my
> > opinion.
>
> I think Yoshie is suggesting something along the lines of "teach a man
> to fish..." This what I focus on these days, spreading ideas,
> techniques, and training.
>
> I think we need to see more workers organizing themselves. I don't see
> union members as leading the way, because they are either telling people
> what can't be done, or they are organizers who manage workers to keep
> them powerless and dependent on the union organizers.
>
> Chuck
What do you mean by organize themselves? 30 employees of one shop should all be their own independent organization and begin making demands of management? I've seen that tried only to have management dismiss everyone and then hire new employees or re-hire some of the previous employees, sometimes at a reduced wage.
Many years ago before I opened my own place I worked at B&N as a manager and I tried to get the supervisors working towards organizing the employees to join the service workers union. I figured with a store manager not actively opposing the workers organization, and in fact encouraging them to do so, it might be easier than it would otherwise be to pull it off. I met with lots of reluctance from the employees but about the time we felt that the majority of the employees were on-board someone called the district manager and I was dismissed for a minor technical computer error I had made. The sort of thing that is routine and normally ignored because it speeds up operations. The supervisors were given retroactive raises in the hopes of shutting them up and when that failed they were also fired. One in particular was treated very badly.
Instead of trying to join the service workers union we should have formed our own autonomous organization instead? Organize ourselves! The union is slowing us down! Look out big corporation we're self-organized, have 54 members, and we're mad as hell! Bow to our demands damn you! (Or at least please don't fire us?)
Joining an existing union isn't utopia but at least it opens up a bit of breathing space so than every minor infraction doesn't become an excuse to terminate the employment of "troublemakers". How often do non-union employees pressure management into making concessions using a sit-down strike? I've never heard of one so fill me in on the use of this unused powerful tool.
Of course even if a union is approved the corp. can still shut down that location. In my example since B&N was the only bookstore in town and had only one location that would have been dificult to explain. It was number three in sales per square foot and had one of the ten least expensive operating costs per square foot too. They might have tried to open another non-union store but shutting down that one would have been hard to explain.
John Thornton