UE and DSA have developed a framework to help people organize their workplaces (ie. strikes for non-essential workers and supplies, hazard pay, etc for essential workers) and the Bernie campaign is using its database to help sign people up. Hell yeah

4/23/2020 5:17:07 PM

I really don't get strikes. I mean, I do but I also don't. I know it isn't as entirely easy as this, but you're not obligated to work at any particular job. Why not switch jobs?

I do understand that not every town has options, and not everyone can just get up and move some place. In some circumstances, a person would need to advocate for the best the single employer in their town can offer, which could constitute collective bargaining. My question is more about outside of that scenario and why anyone would advocate for generalized striking.

4/24/2020 8:54:56 AM

Collective action is about building better conditions for everyone, not just yourself. We live in a country where political representation is heavily slanted toward the owning class, so without collective action outside of the political realm, conditions would naturally swing in their favor and against workers. And we've seen this throughout the history of this country. When labor is more organized, wealth inequality is lower and workers are able to squeeze out reforms such as 40 hour weeks, weekends, higher pay, safer conditions, etc. When labor is less organized, hours go up, pay goes down, and wealth inequality increases.

https://www.epi.org/news/union-membership-declines-inequality-rises/

[Edited on April 24, 2020 at 10:48 AM. Reason : .]

4/24/2020 10:47:14 AM