the campaign slogan from the beginning was/is $15 and a union. turns out winning money is alot easier than winning "and a union" part. Moves towards Sectoral bargaining or wage boards are ways to try to create the structure for collective bargaining while trying to leapfrog over the "organize individual fast food joints one at a time".
the campaign slogan from the beginning was/is $15 and a union. turns out winning money is alot easier than winning "and a union" part. Moves towards Sectoral bargaining or wage boards are ways to try to create the structure for collective bargaining while trying to leapfrog over the "organize individual fast food joints one at a time".
The starbucks campaign is a proof of concept that doing it store by store isn't impossible - but they aren't franchises, are more vulnerable to pressure on image, have some advantages in workforce make up, and the customer support angle is unique and better. Leafletting a Starbucks customers know they are overpaying for coffee and support workers getting a better cut. You don't hear the same - "but if they make more the price will go up" argument at Starbucks. the price is already high. you do hear that when leafeting customers at McDonalds for example.
All of these wage board and council models include how workers will have a voice in the process - some of this is dancing around how to organize them into a union. I do take issue in the piece with saying the Fast Food Workers union isn't a union. It is as much a union as Amazon Labor Union. with as many workers under contract and a better track record of winning economic gains. Workers involved in Fight for 15 or FFWU have won shop floor victories. they have gone on strike to win air conditioning in hot stores and remove discriminating bosses. The question that remains to be answered is can you bargain concrete gains through the council/board and get workers protection like Just Cause and make it easier to join the union and then act like a union at the worksite level vs. having to start the organizing at the worksite level first.
I think there is evidence from when local unions have changed leadership and undertaken a program to build power that it is a lot easier to take a union worksite with the benefits of a union contract and then organize the workers to fight than organizing a nonunion workplace. Access alone makes it easier. So if workers have a sectoral arena where they are winning actual economic improvements can you use that as a springboard to organizing workers into the union to push additional demands and enforce rules at worksite.? we'll find out
the campaign slogan from the beginning was/is $15 and a union. turns out winning money is alot easier than winning "and a union" part. Moves towards Sectoral bargaining or wage boards are ways to try to create the structure for collective bargaining while trying to leapfrog over the "organize individual fast food joints one at a time".
The starbucks campaign is a proof of concept that doing it store by store isn't impossible - but they aren't franchises, are more vulnerable to pressure on image, have some advantages in workforce make up, and the customer support angle is unique and better. Leafletting a Starbucks customers know they are overpaying for coffee and support workers getting a better cut. You don't hear the same - "but if they make more the price will go up" argument at Starbucks. the price is already high. you do hear that when leafeting customers at McDonalds for example.
All of these wage board and council models include how workers will have a voice in the process - some of this is dancing around how to organize them into a union. I do take issue in the piece with saying the Fast Food Workers union isn't a union. It is as much a union as Amazon Labor Union. with as many workers under contract and a better track record of winning economic gains. Workers involved in Fight for 15 or FFWU have won shop floor victories. they have gone on strike to win air conditioning in hot stores and remove discriminating bosses. The question that remains to be answered is can you bargain concrete gains through the council/board and get workers protection like Just Cause and make it easier to join the union and then act like a union at the worksite level vs. having to start the organizing at the worksite level first.
I think there is evidence from when local unions have changed leadership and undertaken a program to build power that it is a lot easier to take a union worksite with the benefits of a union contract and then organize the workers to fight than organizing a nonunion workplace. Access alone makes it easier. So if workers have a sectoral arena where they are winning actual economic improvements can you use that as a springboard to organizing workers into the union to push additional demands and enforce rules at worksite.? we'll find out