Just wondering if anything good is happening somewhere. Maybe some local organizing wins? Would be nice to see something positive happening.

  • Maoo [none/use name]
    ·
    10 months ago

    Nope union density is down https://jacobin.com/2024/01/strikes-union-density-labor-movement. This has been a trend for decades.

    Joining a union as staff is not inherently a good thing to do and I would tell anyone thinking of doing it just because someone told them it's the socialist thing to do or part of "the movement" to reconsider. They are coopted by liberals and have NGO culture so unless you are ready to work 70-80 hour weeks for worse pay and have the entirety of your political organizing within it amount to getting shat on for not being all-in in Genocide Joe, get another job and you'll do more for our cause. When socialists make progress within the staff of unions it's because we already know how to organize and we create an outsized impact by getting together and forming caucuses ready for years-long strategic campaigns. You'll have to do that against opposition by not just liberals but also the Trots that will be in any large union because they have 100% bought the line that working for unions is the socialist thing to do.

    We should be organizing our own unions.

    • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      10 months ago

      Actually, union density has gone up and you're literally using Jacobin to back you up.

      • Maoo [none/use name]
        ·
        10 months ago

        100% wrong. These are public stats from the government linked in the article. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm

        • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          10 months ago

          Exactly, the government.

          You're not thinking.

          Many outlets have said that union rates have grown in their area.

          • Maoo [none/use name]
            ·
            10 months ago

            The government is the only entity tracking union density for the US as a whole. When we talk about union density it's a government-tracked statistic of how many people are in unions. If you were referring to another source of such statistics with which I'm not familiar despite me organizing in space for years and following it closely, feel free to share it.

            I'm sure union density has increased in certain locations but overall it has decreased.

            The state of organized labor in the US is not actually looking good there are just some salient examples getting headlines. Those examples are atually pretty iffy if you familiarize yourself with them.I would never use US organized labor to give people an example of current wins. That's setting them up for disappointment and maybe even nihilism when the realities make themselves more obvious later.

            For example, it is plausible that SBWU may never get a contract and will lose via slow attrition. Amazon warehouses are in a terrible state. It's really all up in the air and we should not expect big wins, particularly from SEIU's half-assery and ALU functioning mostly as a Chris Smalls fan club.

            • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
              ·
              10 months ago

              They are not. There are independent sources that cover these things, just like there are independent sources that cover strikes that say that strikes are going up statistically... even though the government says differently!

              We don't even know if they include IWW unions!

              The union rate is rising until people can give proof otherwise.

              • Maoo [none/use name]
                ·
                10 months ago

                Feel free to name your supposed independent sources

                Edit: PS the idea that union density is going up until you're "disproven" (1) is terrible logic, doesn't make any sense and (2) I already showed you the only source available and it says it continues to go down, the trend that's been going on for decades.