We talked about the strikes by fast food workers here. Commenter VidaLoca is in Milwaukee and sent us this account:
I read your post yesterday with interest as my hometown — Milwaukee — is one of the national centers (with NYC, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis) for the movement to organize fast food and low-wage workers.
In Milwaukee, the strike yesterday was the second so far (the first was May 15). In no case has a worker lost their job. The second strike was bigger by a factor of about 50%, in terms both of restaurants struck and workers striking, than the previous action. The geographic reach was also expanded from the inner-city to the parts of the South side that did not see strikes last time.
I’d like to begin by correcting a statement made in an article you linked in your post: “These strikes … carry the flavor of Occupy Wall Street protests …”. The one thing that stands out in my memory about the Occupy movement was its strategic disorganization. This fast-food movement is in no way disorganized. It is in fact highly organized and highly disciplined. It is true that (like Occupy) it’s using a set of tactics that have not been tried in the labor movement in recent memory, but the tactics themselves are not new — they recall the tactics used by organizers of industrial unions in the ’30s and are based in the idea of a labor-community alliance to win a struggle that both benefits labor (the workers) and the community as whole. The tactic is applied in two ways:
1. Community rallies at selected locations on the day of the strike, calling on workers to walk off the job (the locations are of course selected on the basis of previous knowledge of workers inside who are planning to strike). The rallies travel from place to place on school buses, picking up workers and ralliers.
2. Community members walking the workers back the work the day AFTER the strike. Groups of 10-15 people accompany a striker back to their next work shift following the strike, to stand behind the worker and tell the store manager that they need to accept the worker back to work unconditionally and with no reprisals.Here’s an example of how the second point worked: my friend and I just got home from doing one of the day-after walk-backs, with an employee of a restaurant on the southwest side of town. A group of a dozen of us reported to work with him at the start of his shift; we marched up to the counter, asked to see the manager, and when the manager arrived told him that he had to take the employee back unconditionally. All the other employees were staring at us as we did this. In this particular case it ended uneventfully as the manager was cool with the whole thing, so we got back on the van and returned to the strike office (in our case the manager was a company employee of a company store — so if all his workers get raises he gets a raise too, and he’s not making very much. At the individually owned franchise shops things can get more tense…). On our return we found the next shift of community volunteers arriving to walk back the next set of workers; our job was done so we left.
The importance of the community support tactic is that it is a huge force multiplier: the union can’t send staff people out in anywhere near these numbers so they don’t even try, they just facilitate. Community people — LOTS of community people — are behind this because they have friends and family that work in these places and because they recognize that the jobs are basically for shit: Milwaukee will remain stuck with a depressed economy as long as these jobs set the standard here (and they DO set the standard, the “real” jobs disappeared long ago). That brings in additional forces such as elected officials (yes, several of them showed up to help out this morning) and clergy folk. The people in the community all see what’s going on — and tell their friends and family that if they want to strike the union has their back, the community has their back, and the union is tied into the community. The other workers in the places see this too and they start to lose their fear of walking out as they see the tactic succeeding.
Of course it goes without saying that there’s no way this ends here; if you’d like I’ll keep you and Balloon Juice posted.
Best,
VidaLoca
Hang in there, VidaLoca, because Mika Brzezinski says she’s coming out to join the strikers.
c u n d gulag
Keep up the good work, we’re pullin’ fer ya!!!
As for Mika showing up – normally, I’d say “WTF cares?”
But Cup O’ Schmoe’s show is the DC Villagers favorite – it’s like “Captain Kangaroo” for older politically inclined people.
So, if Mika showing up and it raises some awareness, then I’m all for it.
MomSense
Yay!! Go VidaLoca!
Baud
Thanks for sharing, Kay. Glad to see this happening in Scott Walker’s state.
Josie
Thanks, Kay and Vida Loca, for the good news. We need to see more positive and well organized movements to help low wage workers.
the Conster
For some reason, Morning Joe has been discussing inequality a lot – they gave Robert Reisch and the filmmaker who made Inequality For All – coming to theaters in September – a lot of airtime this week. I guess the plutocrats have become too brazen.
the Conster
For some reason, Morning Joe has been discussing inequality a lot – they gave Robert Reisch and the filmmaker who made Inequality For All – coming to theaters in September – a lot of airtime this week. I guess the plutocrats have become too brazen.
the Conster
For some reason, Morning Joe has been discussing inequality a lot – they gave Robert Reisch and the filmmaker who made Inequality For All – coming to theaters in September – a lot of airtime this week. I guess the plutocrats have become too brazen.
the Conster
FYWP
VidaLoca
Well, damn — so she did. Thanks for this, Kay — I would not have seen it otherwise. I sent your link along to some people I know; we may be able to help her out.
The most interesting point about that article is not Mika: although the publicity that would be generated by having Mika, Joe, and that whole clown posse in town would be good for the cause, it’s over and done in 24 hours and nothing much changes. The interesting point is the involvement of elected officials — the organizing drive is consciously set up to force them to take sides. So good on Keith Ellison, he’s on the right side. We’re trying to force the local ones to take sides as well.
Linda Featheringill
I am so impressed with the tactic of accompanying the worker back to his /her job! Community pressure does have an effect on employers.
Aaaaaand, the other workers see that a worker can fight back without losing employment.
Brilliant!
GregB
I am hopeful that we are on the cusp of a renewed era of agitation and participation of labor.
The big money folks have run the show for a long time and the nation is in a shambles because of it.
The more attention it gets the better and good on Keith Ellison, Mika and Joe. Even better on Kay and the folks hitting the streets.
This is only the beginning.
SiubhanDuinne
@Linda Featheringill:
Linda, I was just about to say the same. I really like the recognition that the community at large is invested in the workers’ welfare. It’s a terrific tactic. It not only reassures the other workers, but it sends a clear message to the employer/manager that their customers (the community) are paying close attention.
SiubhanDuinne
@Linda Featheringill:
Linda, I was just about to say the same. I really like the recognition that the community at large is invested in the workers’ welfare. It’s a terrific tactic. It not only reassures the other workers, but it sends a clear message to the employer/manager that their customers (the community) are paying close attention.
VidaLoca
@Linda Featheringill:
There was another case, later in the morning than the one I mentioned, in which things did not go so smoothly. 13 people went to one restaurant with a young woman who had gone on strike to walk her back to her shift and the manager told them that he was too busy to deal with them and refused to take the young woman back.
In these cases the protocol is strict: DEescalate any conflict, get everyone out of the store, huddle up and figure out a plan. Contact the mother ship and DON’T start freelancing in the mean time. The plan they figured out was to go back to the union office and light the bat signal.
The next time, 50 people showed up and brought an attorney. This time the manager suddenly wasn’t so busy. Now the young woman is back on the job.
And all the other workers see that if things get difficult the union and the community can pull in a lot more folks to help with the persuasion process.
VidaLoca
@Linda Featheringill:
There was another case, later in the morning than the one I mentioned, in which things did not go so smoothly. 13 people went to one restaurant with a young woman who had gone on strike to walk her back to her shift and the manager told them that he was too busy to deal with them and refused to take the young woman back.
In these cases the protocol is strict: DEescalate any conflict, get everyone out of the store, huddle up and figure out a plan. Contact the mother ship and DON’T start freelancing in the mean time. The plan they figured out was to go back to the union office and light the bat signal.
The next time, 50 people showed up and brought an attorney. This time the manager suddenly wasn’t so busy. Now the young woman is back on the job.
And all the other workers see that if things get difficult the union and the community can pull in a lot more folks to help with the persuasion process.
Barry
Good luck! Where are donations being accepted?
Barry
Good luck! Where are donations being accepted?
Xantar
I also raised an eyebrow at the comparison to Occupy Wall Street because this whole effort seemed a lot more focused and well-organized than anything OWS could dream of. Where have those guys gotten off to now anyway?
gbear
@VidaLoca: This is really impressive.I hadn’t realized the amount of organization and discipline that goes into these actions. Bravo.
And I love the term ‘strategic disorganization’, although it describes my workplace far to well.
Gex
@VidaLoca: FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! That is awesome. I’ve just move to Minneapolis, I should find out if Ellison is my rep.
Dee Loralei
That community walk-back thing is brilliant! So is getting local pols and church leaders involved. Great work VidaLoca! And thanks Kay for bringing labor issues to this place too.
VidaLoca
@Xantar:
Welp, the Milwaukee ones are here.
Kind of a futile gesture when the cops outnumber the protesters…
Gex
@VidaLoca: I love that. I love everything about this. That is AWESOME!
And I just realized, now that I live in Minneapolis, Ellison is my rep, not Kline. What an upgrade!
Villago Delenda Est
You know, this strikes me as the beginnings of a mass movement similar to those of the late 19th century. One that will further extend and refine those gains won, literally, with blood, sweat, and tears. It will also open the eyes of a lot of young people that things like the 40 hour work week and the minimum wage were quite literally bought with the lives of workers.
This is inspiring stuff. Transformational. No wonder the vermin of the MSM are trying to ignore it, at the behest of their Ferengi masters.
scav
@VidaLoca:
I don’t know, depends how it’s managed / presented. It could certainly be interpreted and publicized along the lines of how powerful the ideas are behind the few protesters and how much the authorities want to control them. Might be some profitable avenues to explore now especially with themes of surveillance (some bipedal drones jokes?) and the differential impact of budget cuts on police activity (clearly they’ve enough to stand around en masse just watching while “presumably” having enough to deal with more active, even violent crime) versus other govt activities. Are they cutting teachers and librarians while cops stand around?
A good part of the time, people rail on how people just don’t make the long-term commitment to causes and actions. Doesn’t seem entirely fair to mock those that do based on the number of cops that show up. It’s not as though as being an unwilling yet silent doormat is non-futile.
Spaghetti Lee
This all sounds like great news! Let’s keep it going.
Roger Moore
@the Conster:
For some reason, FWYP has been discussing inequality a lot. I guess its errors have become too brazen.
Violet
@VidaLoca: That is really fantastic! Thanks so much for this post, Kay. And thanks, VidaLoca for the excellent work and the insight into what’s happening on the ground. Love the organized tactics and support for workers.
Roger Moore
@Linda Featheringill:
This. Imagine if a whole shift does the same trick. This is how unions win power.
Violet
@Linda Featheringill: Agreed. The accompanying of the worker back to work is just brilliant strategy. And the effect on all the other workers watching it happen is compounded for extra support. You bet they’ll be talking about it at work, after work, at home, with their friends. That’s how the word gets out.
scav
@Violet: The other thing it’s building (we can hope) or at least emphasizing is,the community’s involvement with and support for workers. Not just union workers, or workers in a specific plant or industry. Community support for fellow community members in their role as workers. That’s a lot broader and what I especially like about community members walking them back. Unions can’t substitute for a lack of broad-based community support, especially when enacted into laws.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Roger Moore: I think doing progressively might work better, now just one worker, next time two, then three…
Violet
@scav: Yeah, definitely. It’s a tangible way of showing how the entire community is affected by the jobs and low wages. It’s such a great way to build community and get people involved who might not be otherwise.
I also think it shows how “unions” aren’t some sort of monolithic “other” that only benefit people who work in the auto industry (or some other industry), but they are people who band together, organize, and stand firm in their demands. It’s almost like Unions 101: The Beginning Stages. People in the US know precious little about unions. They have to learn it all over again.
smintheus
This is really heartening. Great strategy to involve community activists that way.
VidaLoca
@scav:
Scav, your point about management and presentation is well taken and I agree with a lot of it but I know some of the people that are organizing that demonstration, I work with them closely and have high respect for their efforts — but I think it’s a fair criticism to say that their approach to these issues stops at delivering themselves of an emotional response. And to call it “futile” is merely taking note of the fact that nothing much changes as a result of their efforts, well-meaning though they may be.
OK, but the available choices are not limited to “being an unwilling yet silent doormat” and bringing out the black-clad anarchists.
scav
@VidaLoca: Critique away about specific individuals and your evaluation of specific tactics — more than fair. I saw far too many students protesting apartheid in California as a cheap and trendy way to maintain their tan. Open-air sit-ins in front of the Admin Building or Library are great places to meet passing friends and chat. Down side of choosing visible locations. I just got a little irked at the idea that number of cops detailed to the event was a measure of anything meaningful — look at the numbers needed to take out small fawns. Still, showing up is an important first step. No, they won’t get far without organizing, but perfect organizers get further with bodies that show up too.
scav
@VidaLoca: And what’s with the immediate dragging out of black-clad anarchists? That just smacks of some personal issues clouding things. Many well-meaning people that like but hope to improve governance are entirely ineffectual and disorganized.
Mike in NC
Media reports that Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, and Rick Perry — Republican governors and GOP “superstars” (yes, they really wrote that) — will attend a re-election fundraiser for Nikki Hailey in South Carolina.
Hoping that a stray meteorite will be in the vicinity that day.
goblue72
@Xantar: They are still sitting in circles wiggling their fingers at each other and bonging on their drums. Meanwhile, organized activists interested in true systemic change have moved on to more productive things. Like bringing back the Wobblies wildcat strike strategy adapted for working under the anti-labor restrictions of Taft-Hartley.