Yesterday in my blog called
Worker Power, I wrote about the effort of Radical Right-wing Congressman from Georgia to outlaw or ban what they call “micro-unionism” or less than majority organizing and representation.
The UFCW is doing such a great job at organizing activists at Walmart and community, faith, and civil rights allies that Walmart is retaliating. Walmart has sued everyone they can, including an individual retired activist, Gene Lantz. Can you imagine Walmart suing an individual?
The Radical Right has a total penchant for control.
But if we can preserve our level of democracy, we can win.
Thousands of fast food workers are organizing.
And for years, immigrant workers have been organizing into worker centers.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers based in Immokalee, Florida have done an amazing job of organizing migrant farmworkers, and forcing some of America’s biggest corporations to pay better wages for those farmworkers. They have organized the workers and assembled powerful coalitions of people of faith, young activists, unions, and others to help them win against Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Burger King, Whole Foods Market, and others. One of their most powerful allies has been Sen. Bernie Sanders who is absolutely steadfast in his commitment to workers, unions, and the middle class.
With the help of the United Steelworkers, immigrant car wash workers have won great victories in Los Angeles.
The National Day Laborers Organizing Network has even entered into a national agreement directly with the AFL-CIO.
Domestic workers are ore organizing. Taxi workers are organizing. The AFL-CIO is organizing people in their homes and communities into Working America
While all this is inspiring and absolutely critical to a real struggle against yawning inequality and to preserve democracy, none of it can replace essential organizing by unions at the workplace for collective bargaining.
Now is the time for organizing at every level amongst every possible constituency to build the elements of movement and make possible a massive struggle for change.
Photo credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture on Flickr via Creative Commons License: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
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