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.
We have an election in two months, where the hell are the building Trade Unions? Members and organizers should be touting their wages, benefits and seeking out new members and union shops. So far, I’m only hearing crickets. While the Trade Unions sit back, the UAW have been striking and winning big benefits for their members. Then there is the Teamsters, who have taken on the Holy Grail—Amazon, the corporation. Again, just crickets from the Trade Unions. Then there is the Minnesota State model—-we can win more together than we can on our own. So why are all unions not working together? Why are all unions not talking with each other? There are two months left until the election—an election that could conceivably be the death null of unions. If we lose this election to the GOP, Trump and Project 2025, our unions will be destroyed and we’ll be back to the days of trying to make ends meet as the GOP will cut our wages, benefits will be eliminated and there will be nothing we can do abou...
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