When Starbucks and Amazon go union they should have no crafts, the union contract should be one union for all Starbucks shops. But, if there are crafts, their contracts should end on the same date or there will be no power for them to weld and there will be no power for sympathy strikes. A crucial elements since Starbucks and Amazon have so many stores or warehouses throughout the United States, it is imperative that the different entities stay in contact with each other. The employees from both these businesses work hard, and they deserve the security of a union.
The other way is to not have contracts, just sign a truce for a period of time. This could remedy some of mistakes in past years, such as the meat packing plants, which had 56 different craft union contracts. So, when the craft contracts expired at different times leaving the different crafts with no power and no help from the other unions within the same business.
The same thing happened to the street car workers. First they went on a strike with all workers and they won their fight. Then they got the bright idea to split up the employees by craft, such as the oilers, drivers, electric workers, etc., and have each craft organize their own contracts expiring at different times. When it came time to negotiate a new contract, they had no power or strength and got their butts kicked and endured a humiliating defeat.
Don’t let Starbucks or Amazon chop up the union contracts by job descriptions, which can lead to division and workers pitted against each other with the only winner being the corporate owners. If done right, and with a strike imminent, all the workers can just put their hands in their pockets, stopping work, or they can start by slowing down the work pace little by little, and it won’t take long for the bosses to get the message. But all workers must be involved so no one person can be fired.
This is from the history of the old International Workers of the World, one of the most feared organizations of labor and they are still here, operating around the world on behalf of workers. They fought local, state and federal governments and also the old Pinkertons detective agency and all the strike busters with the help of the National Guard.
So, it is not easy, but it can be done and a union is the only way to a better life for the worker and their family. Unions take care of the workers and by extension their families with pensions, healthcare, good wages and safe working environments.
There are three phases of a general strike and unions must plan for one. Those three phases are: 1. general strike in an industry 2. general strike in a community 3. general national strike We need to move away from being on the defensive and move toward a good offensive. The American Federal of Labor (AFL) could not have held a general strike if it wanted to because they had thousands of different contracts that expired at different times of the year. This was done deliberately so that there is no consolidation of power for a general strike. Also, nowadays, there is no law agency that will support labor, except the National Labor Relations Board (NLBR), which has been under attack and in decline for years. This leaves the burden of change up to unions, and unless unions work together, little will change. We essentially have a combination of job trusts, which are not as strong as contracts, and the courts can break easily because the NLBR will be further weakened and essentially elim...
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