MK Lees and Marianne Garneau reexamine whether it is necessary for solidarity unions to declare themselves a union to the boss. This piece originally appeared at Libcom.org. Introduction In an election-driven workplace-organizing campaign, going public is a key step. The workers or union try to
There is a crucial difference between pulling “stunts” on the boss, and deploying tactics: only the latter mobilizes collective power. There’s a moment in the IWW organizer training when we describe the scenario of a workplace where, among other problems, the boss won’t turn the
MK Lees and Marianne Garneau describe what a solidarity union looks like in the long term, and what it can accomplish. More to the point, they argue against the popular perception that contracts are needed to lend stability to a union, or to achieve major
One of the features we will run on Organizing Work will be stories of campaigns, from the perspective of the workers and organizers involved. These stories will give a sketch of the workplace, how the campaign started and unfolded, and what its successes and challenges
A checklist of things a workplace committee should have in place before petitioning for an election with the National Labor Relations Board. The IWW has a good track record when it comes to winning workplace elections. But what does it take to get from a