I had a bunch of stuff to get done around town today, and as I was in the middle of it, I drove past a lockout that's been going on for months. Every time I drive past these folks, there's always like a half dozen or so guys facing off against what I can only assume are the shitlord owners - the locked out folks are standing, holding signs, and the owners are sitting comfortably in their SUV's. I always try to honk or whatever, but I had some spare time today, so I grabbed a dozen donuts, and on my way back home, stopped by the lockout.
I had to talk my way past security, which was surprisingly easy, just saying that I was only there to drop off the donuts and then leave, which the guard seemed fine with. I walked up to where the workers were with their signs. Either the owner or some lackey chud yelled at me and said that I wasn't allowed to be there. This guy was holding a camera, filming the workers, but I shrugged and handed one of the guys with a sign the box of donuts, and told him that I'd seen them there for months, that I thought what they were doing was inspirational, and that I wanted to show support.
I don't think they've gotten many visits from anyone, because everyone seemed pretty surprised that I was there. I live in a chud hellhole that's historically anti-worker, but it felt really good to let the locked out folks know that I cared enough to acknowledge their struggle, stop by, and offer solidarity. One of the guys thanked me and called me brother, and a few others waved as I took off.
Anyway, that's my story. All of my friends are libs, but I wanted to share with some people who would get this. It was a pretty small thing to do, but hopefully enough small actions together will help people see that workers are stronger together, and we can maybe claw back some of our class consciousness.
Stopping by a picket line to drop off food for striking workers, or joining the picket line to march with them to show solidarity, are definitely praxis, and this is absolutely the correct instinct. Marxists should position themselves to be prepared to join such pickets in a more organized fashion if they can their own towns and cities to show management that the community has the strikers' back, as soon as that struggle emerges.
Marxist organizations should plan logistically to help sustain their own members' initial energy and momentum, enthusiastically support the workers' demands, provide their own leaflets in support of the strike if they can, and talk with rank-and-file workers while on the picket line. If you're a rank-and-file union member yourself you should also invite fellow union members to join the picket, to make it clear that workers from other sectors are paying attention and willing to establish cross-union solidarity. Better still if you're a member of a Marxist org and a rank-and-file union member.
If it's a union-led strike and the union leaders are weak or collaborationist in character (and in the US they almost always are), listen carefully to rank-and-file members' complaints. Maybe part-timers are expecting to get screwed when the strike is suspended and it's time to negotiate again. Maybe the strikers correctly anticipate that a few of their demands aren't going to be met. Maybe the strikers are getting paid a pittance, if anything at all, by the union to continue striking compared to their normal pay, because the union leadership didn't have the foresight to raise enough money for a strike fund, and the strike has gone on long enough that the threat of eviction is putting massive pressure on the workers to give up or even to scab. With complaints like these it should be easy to lend a sympathetic ear and put forth our own arguments for what the union leaders and strike leaders should be doing, which they haven't done or aren't doing so as to provide sufficient tactical "mutual aid" for the strikers to sustain the strike for the long haul.
Just FYI, dropping off donuts every day isn't necessarily the best idea if they get donuts and coffee on a daily basis. If a strike or lockout drags on long enough and you can afford it, bring them something more nutritious.
All excellent points, and yeah, I definitely can't afford to bring snacks all the time. This was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Thanks very much for the feedback!
