Reality Check and Day of Action at SIUW
In my line of work I hear a variety of complaints. Some are definitely worse than others, mostly because the management of my employer are ignorant and/or lazy when it comes to reading our contract and facilitating labour relations. Let’s face it, no one calls the union office to say “guess what Karen, my manager is awesome.” I believe our members are an intrinsic part of the operation of the University of British Columbia and protecting their rights is the reason I get up in the morning. This conference has been a great opportunity to learn more about the US labour movement and the context surrounding workers' rights.
Workers in the United States are under attack. 36/50 states are “Right to Work” and it’s becoming more and more difficult for workers to organize. For those of you unfamiliar with “right to work” the simple answer is that the state can require union membership but members can opt out of paying dues yet reaping the benefits of union services (causing tension amongst workers - neoliberalism's plan to divide and conquer at its best). Union density is at about 11% and that’s mostly because of public sector jobs. The exploitation of workers in the hospitality and restaurant industry, the garment industry, the farming industry and the retail industry (where most workers are women and workers of colour) is shocking and not something I’m too familiar with. We speak of precarious work at home but it’s not the same. The threat of deportation coupled with no social safety to net to catch these workers makes them much more precarious as they fight for their lives...harsh.
I met workers of UFCW 770 - working for a grocery store called El Super. El Super is owned by a billionaire in Mexico where labour rights are scoffed at and trade unionists fear for their lives. This company makes billions. The store itself caters to the Latina/Latino/Latinx population - and in Inglewood where we were, the demographics of the area were mostly African-American and Latin. The owner of El Super just bought a $50 million yacht and yet these workers at the store in Inglewood have been fighting for a fair contract for 3 years. El Super has been taken to the National Labor Relations Board for multiple violations of labour law. From bargaining in bad faith, to the illegal firing of one of their union activists (where they were ordered to give the brother his job back with back pay). They’ve been cited for numerous health code violations including a recent video of a rat running in the produce. YUCK. This is a huge uphill battle for these workers. - they are already 3 years in an no end in sight. The least we could do was go walk the line with and for them for an hour.
We loaded 3 full school buses and my seat buddy Maria - a young, brilliant sister from east LA - a student of ethnic studies at USC. She’s going to change the world folks - I’m calling it now. She is an organizer and an activist for sweatshop workers' rights (she has this awesome bumper sticker on her laptop that simply says “FUCK SWEATSHOPS” and my response - “yes, I definitely agree with that statement”). We had the lead organizer for UFCW 770, Jean, on our bus and she fired us right up - gave us the fact sheets on the labour dispute and then handed us a sheet of Spanish chants. The long, hot ride to Inglewood ended in a residential area where this El Super was. We got off the bus and then proceeded to walk down the alley where we were met by members of UFCW 770 - we were told to be quiet and not to post anything on social media as this was a surprise picket. They handed us picket signs and then a number of them linked arms and blocked the street for us to cross.
Once we got to El Super we walked in a circle chanting solidarity for the workers. There was an international delegation which included Irene Lanzinger, our President from the BC Federation of Labour, and they went ahead of us, inside the building to demand a meeting with the manager. While inside we chanted and circled the entrance of the store. We cheered when the workers came outside and chanted in Spanish and English. Estamos en la lucha! (That was my fave). Once our delegation came out - with copious amounts of applause and hooting - we marched through to the parking lot to where there was a mic and speakers set up. We heard from Irene - who brought the fire and brimstone and brought the solidarity of the 500k workers in the Fed to these workers on line. We heard from Roz from SEIU 1000 who called on the importance of benefits and we heard from Gloria - a worker at another El Super who for 13 years, only makes $13/hour. She also called on us to boycott Driscoll’s berries as those workers are treated even worse.
Poverty wages have got to go - systemic oppression of the working poor only hurt our communities and costs the government more in the long run. Walking that line is why I do what I do. We have the right to protest in Canada (and the USA) and we must continue using our voices in solidarity with those who need it or else the workers movement is done, neoliberalism wins and we’re all screwed.
We often speak of the word “struggle” in the context of the labour movement. Struggle. Struggle. Struggle. Struggle. For me, it’s taken on new meaning. The struggle is about survival, not about an employer who makes the occasional dumbass decision. It doesn’t mean that I don’t face discrimination but that there are so many others in truly precarious and dangerous circumstances that it's important to reflect on our privilege. This was a reality check for me to recognize my privilege in so many ways. It’s hard not to have some guilt - I was struggling and Joey gave me some much needed perspective. There’s room for all of us in this movement and we all have to keep fighting to give those who need it, a bar to aspire to, something they can point to so that we rise together.
We’re called a movement for a reason - to keep moving as a collective, to link our arms together for the respect and dignity we all are entitled to in this life.
Solidarity to those workers at El Super, Their strength of character will inspire me and those who walked the line for days to come.
#siuw2016
Workers in the United States are under attack. 36/50 states are “Right to Work” and it’s becoming more and more difficult for workers to organize. For those of you unfamiliar with “right to work” the simple answer is that the state can require union membership but members can opt out of paying dues yet reaping the benefits of union services (causing tension amongst workers - neoliberalism's plan to divide and conquer at its best). Union density is at about 11% and that’s mostly because of public sector jobs. The exploitation of workers in the hospitality and restaurant industry, the garment industry, the farming industry and the retail industry (where most workers are women and workers of colour) is shocking and not something I’m too familiar with. We speak of precarious work at home but it’s not the same. The threat of deportation coupled with no social safety to net to catch these workers makes them much more precarious as they fight for their lives...harsh.
I met workers of UFCW 770 - working for a grocery store called El Super. El Super is owned by a billionaire in Mexico where labour rights are scoffed at and trade unionists fear for their lives. This company makes billions. The store itself caters to the Latina/Latino/Latinx population - and in Inglewood where we were, the demographics of the area were mostly African-American and Latin. The owner of El Super just bought a $50 million yacht and yet these workers at the store in Inglewood have been fighting for a fair contract for 3 years. El Super has been taken to the National Labor Relations Board for multiple violations of labour law. From bargaining in bad faith, to the illegal firing of one of their union activists (where they were ordered to give the brother his job back with back pay). They’ve been cited for numerous health code violations including a recent video of a rat running in the produce. YUCK. This is a huge uphill battle for these workers. - they are already 3 years in an no end in sight. The least we could do was go walk the line with and for them for an hour.We loaded 3 full school buses and my seat buddy Maria - a young, brilliant sister from east LA - a student of ethnic studies at USC. She’s going to change the world folks - I’m calling it now. She is an organizer and an activist for sweatshop workers' rights (she has this awesome bumper sticker on her laptop that simply says “FUCK SWEATSHOPS” and my response - “yes, I definitely agree with that statement”). We had the lead organizer for UFCW 770, Jean, on our bus and she fired us right up - gave us the fact sheets on the labour dispute and then handed us a sheet of Spanish chants. The long, hot ride to Inglewood ended in a residential area where this El Super was. We got off the bus and then proceeded to walk down the alley where we were met by members of UFCW 770 - we were told to be quiet and not to post anything on social media as this was a surprise picket. They handed us picket signs and then a number of them linked arms and blocked the street for us to cross.
Once we got to El Super we walked in a circle chanting solidarity for the workers. There was an international delegation which included Irene Lanzinger, our President from the BC Federation of Labour, and they went ahead of us, inside the building to demand a meeting with the manager. While inside we chanted and circled the entrance of the store. We cheered when the workers came outside and chanted in Spanish and English. Estamos en la lucha! (That was my fave). Once our delegation came out - with copious amounts of applause and hooting - we marched through to the parking lot to where there was a mic and speakers set up. We heard from Irene - who brought the fire and brimstone and brought the solidarity of the 500k workers in the Fed to these workers on line. We heard from Roz from SEIU 1000 who called on the importance of benefits and we heard from Gloria - a worker at another El Super who for 13 years, only makes $13/hour. She also called on us to boycott Driscoll’s berries as those workers are treated even worse.
Poverty wages have got to go - systemic oppression of the working poor only hurt our communities and costs the government more in the long run. Walking that line is why I do what I do. We have the right to protest in Canada (and the USA) and we must continue using our voices in solidarity with those who need it or else the workers movement is done, neoliberalism wins and we’re all screwed.We often speak of the word “struggle” in the context of the labour movement. Struggle. Struggle. Struggle. Struggle. For me, it’s taken on new meaning. The struggle is about survival, not about an employer who makes the occasional dumbass decision. It doesn’t mean that I don’t face discrimination but that there are so many others in truly precarious and dangerous circumstances that it's important to reflect on our privilege. This was a reality check for me to recognize my privilege in so many ways. It’s hard not to have some guilt - I was struggling and Joey gave me some much needed perspective. There’s room for all of us in this movement and we all have to keep fighting to give those who need it, a bar to aspire to, something they can point to so that we rise together.
We’re called a movement for a reason - to keep moving as a collective, to link our arms together for the respect and dignity we all are entitled to in this life.
Solidarity to those workers at El Super, Their strength of character will inspire me and those who walked the line for days to come.
#siuw2016
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