If there is a choice for labor between a strike or an election—always go for the strike unless there is no one on the other side like the Koch brothers and private business who will oppose the union’s election. If it is about money or taxes and dues the unions will lose all elections for those things.
All strikes must be political and all types of workers with all types of jobs and even those without jobs must be welcome to join and this will work if the strike is not a single issue and there are lots of issues to pick from, like education, universal healthcare, pensions, $15 to $18 an hour minimum wage, Black Lives Matter, inequality in income, homeless, veterans, endless wars and opportunity to better our lives.
The strikes should be hit and run—hit the streets then run back to work before you can be replaced. Also, support at places where you don’t work and hope workers at these places reciprocate. Some of the best unions to support and study at this time are the nurses and teachers. They are well educated and very organized. They also are very good speakers and can use the media to their advantage.
Labor leaders need to study the Art of War and think about using guerilla war tactics in some cases. The fight for $15 to $18 an hour minimum wage is just starting because politicians have pacified people with the promise of $15 an hour, but the measures are being slow walked to $15 and people need it now, not in three or five years. Why is it the worker has to wait three to five years to get a decent wage that will be out of step with inflation by the time they earn it, but corporations don’t have to wait to get their profits?
Yes, they are coming for us. Workers need to have one another’s backs because no one else will. Neither the broader labor movement nor the Democratic party are prepared to meet the urgency of this moment. So it’s going to fall upon the rest of us to mount a real resistance against Trump’s authoritarian takeover. We’re going to have to get our hands dirty. I don’t care if you have a good, well-paying union job and you are in the middle class now—if you see a worker being dragged out of his workplace regardless of how skilled the job and potentially taken to another country, you should be ready to be there for that worker. When I.C.E. shows up, gather around and shame them into leaving. It has worked in other places. America is sleep walking into authoritarianism, and if there’s anyone out there who is a member of a labor union that is safe—at this point— and doesn’t think this applies to them. Understand that they just haven’t gotten to you yet. They’re coming for all of us. There are ...
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