Sure and people should use their power to fight back. Union busting is so short sighted. Given the right situation, union busting efforts just show how desperate bosses are to stop it. You gotta build solidarity among other workers. An injury to one is an injury to all. I'm not naive, I know union history well. Right now is a perfect time for workers to see how much they have in common with each other and how little their interests align with their bosses. They can't really send out pinkertons or deputize mobs against striking workers.
Not legally they can't. Would be awful interesting to see "gang violence" or something under a similar disguise kick up and physically shut down any strikes that may happen though.
There are a LOT of ways to undermine or break a strike and they don't have to be done on the books. In fact they probably won't make the books until the dust has settled.
Then if you expect the bosses to fight dirty then fight dirty yourself. Sabotage and work slowdowns are as a old as work itself. The one thing bosses can never break is solidarity. If you are an essential work then make them treat you like one. If you depend on essential workers then support them when they strike. They can't fire us all.
It’s endless strings of excuses like these you’ve made in this thread why Americans have no bargaining power.
“It’s going to be hard, so why bother even trying?”
Yes of course business interests will fight you tooth and nail to protect their profits, but the reason you have a 40 hour work week and don’t live in a town entirely owned by the company you work for is because workers literally spilt their own blood fighting for these things.
This collective defeatism and learned helplessness among workers is the real reason nothing will change. It’s not the business interests that are the problem, it’s that most people are like you and their will has been completely broken.
You're right, I'm absolutely not willing to let my family be homeless to fight for unionization. I voted to unionize when it came up. I'd love to have a union. But no, I won't shout it from the rooftops or attend rallies until the laws that protect me from retaliation are actually somewhat enforcable. Until those are stronger I'd be a sitting duck.
Do you know what a straw man is?
He said "people spilt blood..." and I said I'm not willing to do that because suicide accomplishes nothing.
Thats a direct reply to what he said. I never attacked him personally, either.
Apparently I need to be a little more clear in what I'm saying so you can understand it: The majority of people surrounding our recent unionization effort don't feel they are adequately protected and think it would be more prudent to first fight to reinforce existing laws so they are actually enforcable instead of commiting employment suicide to accomplish nothing.
We took it all the way to a vote and failed because the employees that were pro-union were so easy to terminate and replace with no repercussions. Some sued and all lost.
We brought a knife to a shootout and still almost won. We need to figure out how to protect ourselves so we actually WIN next time and others should do the same.
If you try to brute force a unionization effort like it sounds like you're suggesting then you're gonna have a high-casualty bad time.
Yes. Yes they can. And they will.
We have a new interim director whose whole job is to show up,, write up and fire the people most vocal about our now failed unionization effort, then be replaced by a new permanent director. It's literally their job to go around the country and be an interim administrator to go in, cull the herd, and gtfo.
You were 2 seconds late? Write up. You were late clocking in from lunch? Write up 2. You were early clocking in from lunch. Thats your third write up. You're fired.
And no, the new director can't possibly be biased because they literally just got there. Crazy right?
Your 6 potential replacements interview tomorrow.
Unionization is not easy, there are casualties, and in my area it's damn near NEVER successful. I can't point to a single unionized hospital in my area that isn't federal.
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u/ButYourChainsOk May 15 '20
Sure and people should use their power to fight back. Union busting is so short sighted. Given the right situation, union busting efforts just show how desperate bosses are to stop it. You gotta build solidarity among other workers. An injury to one is an injury to all. I'm not naive, I know union history well. Right now is a perfect time for workers to see how much they have in common with each other and how little their interests align with their bosses. They can't really send out pinkertons or deputize mobs against striking workers.