Luigi Rinaldi reflects on an organizing campaign at a grocery store in Rhode Island. This continues our series “Pushing Through,” which reflects on what it takes to develop an organizing campaign into a full-fledged union. From 2014 to 2017 I was part of an organizing more »
**We recently lost our email subscription list due to technical difficulties. Please re-subscribe with your email at the bottom of this post!** Jason Fults talks about his experience organizing with the IWW at Ward’s Grocery in Gainesville, FL in 2008. Interview by Marianne Garneau. How did more »
The IWW is distinct from most unions — we don’t collect dues through the employer, and we rely on “shop committees” of workers taking direct action in the workplace instead of contracts serviced by a paid external staff. Using this approach, the IWW has sometimes more »
Martha Pierce describes how a solidarity union handled a couple of urgent health and safety issues. Staff at this workplace are organized under the IWW. The summer of 2018 wasn’t a smooth season for the workers of Stardust Diner. However, it showed a perfect example more »
This story, from a small restaurant with majority IWW presence, describes some strategic mistakes that were made around a march on the boss. To me, the story has a particular significance: it is an example of the growing pains solidarity union organizing campaigns experience. Many more »
Robin J. Cartwright explores the historical origins of “workplace contractualism” in the U.S. — the predominant model of unionism, whereby workers and employers negotiate a contract. He notes that employers themselves pushed for the contract system in order to tame unions, and to engage union more »
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 more »
Mike Hellman recounts the solidarity union campaign at Whole Foods in the Bay Area, which lasted from 2010-2014. Interview by Marianne Garneau. Tell me how and when you got involved. I was involved from 2010 to 2014. For the 2-3 years preceding my arrival on more »
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 more »