"There seems to be something of a simmering strike wave in the country," said Frances Fox Piven, professor of sociology and political science at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center and author of many books, including Poor Peoples' Movements.
The one-day strikes held by the fast-food workers, like the recent wave of strikes at Walmarts around the country, are something different from a traditional strike (though we've seen those in recent months too, most dramatically with the Chicago Teachers Union). The one-day strike, organized to disrupt business but not to shut it down, Piven noted, isn't about winning. It's about identifying the group, about respect, about demonstrating to other workers that they can take action, but not exposing the workers to the risk of prolonged loss of the income they have little of already.
"They're organizing and advocating for low-wage workers in ways that are not in an established New Deal framework," Ruth Milkman, sociologist of labor at the CUNY Graduate Center, and at the Joseph F. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies, explained. The difficulties of running a traditional National Labor Relations Board election are well-known now.
"That system has become so dysfunctional, increasingly people are looking for alternatives," Milkman continued. "Structurally it makes sense given the rollback of New Deal reforms that we've seen, the growth of inequality, the extreme immiseration."
Like organizers before the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, the organizers working with low-wage workers these days focus on issues beyond just those of the workplace; it's worth noting that this campaign began with NYCC organizers working on housing issues. Connecting labor and community issues is a hallmark of NYCC's work, and campaigns like this one, like the organizing of grocery store workers, child care providers, car wash workers, is the legacy of its founder, Jon Kest, who passed away this week of cancer on the eve of the workers' rally. Greg Basta of NYCC said, "Seeing this campaign come to fruition was what really was keeping him fighting."
via truth-out.org
These stories are inspiring, as well as the Occupy movement. But i suspect this is the beginning of something long term, something that will involve a great deal of failure and violent suppression before we see any positive results. I think as long as we are prepared for a long fight, maybe over several decades, something good is bound to come out of it. There are alot more of us than there are of them. :)
Posted by: Alain | December 12, 2012 at 12:14 PM
I had meant to ask you about this passage I recently read on Paul Krugman's blog:
"I think our eyes have been averted from the capital/labor dimension of inequality, for several reasons. It didn’t seem crucial back in the 1990s, and not enough people (me included!) have looked up to notice that things have changed. It has echoes of old-fashioned Marxism — which shouldn’t be a reason to ignore facts, but too often is. And it has really uncomfortable implications.
But I think we’d better start paying attention to those implications."
When a liberal is noticing that marxist economics may explain what is happening we have entered a new day. What do you make of it, if anything. while Krugman is the far end of what is tolerated in mainstream political discussion, he is largely marginalized in terms of actual policy. But I wonder if someone like him could become more radicalized? And if so, would he lose his perch at the NYT? Interesting times.
Posted by: Alain | December 12, 2012 at 03:41 PM