#union organizing

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Canadian commercial actors say American actors are crossing the border and the picket line in the middle of a major US entertainment industry strike and filling the jobs of Canadian actors who have been locked out for over a year.

Thousands of unionized commercial actors in Canada have been locked out since April 2022 while The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) has been negotiating with commercial agencies to try and get a fair deal.

Now, as a result of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA actors and WGA writers strikes that have shut down TV and film productions in the United States, some Hollywood actors have travelled north of the border in search of non-union commercial work in Canada.

“Over the last year there’s been a lot of American commercials shooting up in Canada doing everything non union because they can walk around it,” one ACTRA member who requested to be anonymous told PressProgress. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #workers' rights #strike action #union organizing #scabs

[iww-gnv]

Workers at Sega of America, representing multiple departments, have voted to form a union. With 91 employees voting yes out of a total number of 212 eligible employees, the Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA (also known as AEGIS-CWA) becomes the fifth video game union in the United States and its largest multi-department video game union. The AEGIS union drive was announced in April but was a year in coming for the workers at Sega of America’s Burbank and Irvine, California, offices. AEGIS-CWA is the US’s fifth video game union overall, joining groups at Raven Software, Blizzard Albany, ZeniMax, and VR / AR game developer Tender Claws. In addition to being among the first video game unions in the country, AEGIS-CWA will also represent workers across a multitude of departments including brand marketing, games as a service, localization, marketing services, product development operations, product development, sales, quality assurance teams, and more, making it the largest multi-discipline video game union in the United States.

#gaming industry #gaming news #union news #union organizing #news #gaming industry unionization #sega #sega of america

[tips-from-a-tech-worker]

An overview of workplace organising

So you've started a new job and, unfortunately for you, there's no union. Not even a place where you and your co-workers can winge about work. So how do you resolve that? How do you Organise™?

Organising activities generally fall into the following (and often overlapping) groups:

Mapping and charting

You cannot even start organising without first understanding your workplace. Where do people work? Where are the break rooms? Who is friends with who? What positions and responsibilities do they have? How do you contact them? Etc, etc, etc.

Answering these questions is key - and often required before you can even begin talking to co-workers. Of course, this is a continuous process and, once you've got a few folks on your side, this can be a collaborative process.

One-on-ones

In organiser circles, there is a tendency to want to leaflet everywhere to announce your presence, and then immediately gather all workers together in a big meeting to then discuss unionisation efforts. This is an almost surefire way to get yourself fired and kill any appetite for organising among co-workers. On top of that, it is incredibly impersonal, shyer voices will get pushed to the side for more vocal, and potentially more conflict-driven voices.

In the IWW, the union I organise with, we emphasise the importance of one-on-one conversations, as you can find a lot more about your co-workers that way, and often things that might get lost in a huge meeting.

Of course, there is no harm in these larger meetings once you've got the ball rolling. But starting off, one-on-ones are key.

Identify movers and shakers

Some co-workers will be well-connected in the workplace. Some will be naturally more likeable than others. Some might have held social events or helped out a few other co-workers in the past. These people are your social "leaders" (for lack of a better word).

You usually want these co-workers on side as soon as you can. If you don't get them on your side, the boss or management will get them on theirs, which makes unionising efforts so much harder.

They are also very useful during organising efforts and can help out with one-on-one conversations.

Recruitment

Asking people to get involved in a union, especially in a workplace that is hostile to them, can be very tricky (and terrifying). But this is a crucial step.

Get people involved in the organising committee, create officer roles to carry out particular tasks, fill those roles democratically, and recruit your co-workers to the union.

You will actively have to reach out to people in this step. We cannot rely on the "self-starters" who are already interested and are bold enough to ask "How do I join?". A workplace is made up of everyone in it, even the shyer workers - especially the shyer workers in my experience! The union is for every worker.

Additionally, as time passes, it gets very difficult to ask people to join. Some people will start seeing benefits in their workplace but without actually putting in any of the work and think "Well, why bother?"

Planning

Once you've got a few co-workers together, have an active group of you mapping, charting, reaching out to members, and identifying issues, then you've got to start planning how to address these issues.

Pick something, anything, no matter how small. Sometimes it can be an issue where the workplace hasn't got enough office stock. Sometimes the door to the building jams and needs a couple of people to shove it open. Find the issue you want to organise around and plan how to resolve it, together.

The issue you identify can also be used to recruit more people to your cause.

Public actions

Finally, it's time to go public. But what does this look like?

I outlined a lot of actions in my previous post here. But a lot of these may be overkill depending on the issue. Sometimes you can get away with less aggressive action.

The typical way this is done is a march on the boss. This is a great way to start the escalation process and sometimes will get you what you want immediately. Of course, no action is perfect, and you'll have to get creative as the boss pushes back more and more.

In conclusion...

This was a general overview of the organising process. Of course, for brevity, a lot was skipped over. Before trying to carry any of this out, I'd recommend you take part in some form of organiser training with your respective union - the IWW Organiser 101 training is fantastic, just as an aside!

Best of luck in all your organising efforts!

Stay safe and solidarity, fellow workers! xox

#union organising #union #how to organising #how to organise #union organizing #organize #how to organize #march on the boss #iww #wobbly #tips and tricks

[smoking-witch]

Reframing common employer phrases into plainspeak

Laziness = poor ppl resting/playing, ever

Working vacation = rich ppl getting paid to rest/play

Rage applying = looking for a better job

Rage quitting = leaving toxic job/boss

Quiet quitting = refusing to do free labor

Blackmail = employees leveraging anything

Insubordination = talking about pay at work

Company culture = guilt trips & pizza as pay

Morality clause = make us look bad, get fired

"We're like family" = "we ask for favors, then never pay you back"

"We expect everyone to pitch in" = "we expect you to do free labor"

"HR is here to help you" = "HR is here to stop you from suing us"

Thx for coming to my TedTalk

#fishy business #antiwork #anti work #universal basic income #m4a #democratic socialists of america #democratic socialism #calcare #workers of the world unite #workers rights #labor rights #zero profit #worker cooperative #worker coop #tenant union #tenants' rights #tenants' union #union organizing

[adamthealien]

YOU get a union! And YOU get a union! And YOU get a union! And YOU get a strike! And YOU get a strike! And YOU get a strike, too!

Let's make a world without billionaires.

#union #unions #union solidarity #Warner Discovery #Warner Bros Discovery #unionize #eat the rich #union organizing #current events #news #politics #US politics #US news

[tenderanarchist]

Tufts University Resident Assistants (RAs) authorized a strike earlier this week in response to Tufts’ failure to make any offer for compensation in the form of a stipend. RAs at Tufts are currently only compensated with housing- they need to live on campus to do their jobs- but no stipend or wages during the semester or the three weeks of unpaid training they must attend in early august before other students are on campus. They also do not receive a meal plan.

Tufts recently sent an email communication to university students about Union activity on campus, failing to mention their bad faith attempt at bargaining over the past six months, and ending with a threat against potential strikers.

This portion of the email reads, “We anticipate everyone involved will respect our community values and one another’s right to enjoy the new semester without disruption. While we support the units’ engagement with our campus, any actions or activities that create a hostile campus environment, endanger public safety, or violate our Student Code of Conduct will be addressed by the appropriate members of our staff.”

This is a clear threat of conduct proceedings and potential expulsion against student workers who have a legally protected right to strike without retaliation. OPEIU local 153 is filing an unfair labor practices suit against Tufts University as a result of this threat and others from Tufts lawyers in bargaining meetings.

Support ULTRA, the Tufts RA Union, by signing this petition: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-tufts-resident-assistants-deserve-pay/

#Union #student workers #union solidarity #support unions #opeiu #union organizing #university #tufts university #colleges #unfair labor practices #strike #Union strike #student rights

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"The category of race was also critical to the second pillar of the CFU’s [Canadian Farmworkers Union] organizing mission: ridding the industry of contractors. Contractors would supply the labour force for the farmers and, in many cases, they held as much power as the farmers. The contractor was responsible for hiring a workforce, maintaining discipline, and making payments. The farmer would not pay the workers directly; instead, the farmer would pay the contractor who, in many cases, would retain the money until the end of the season. In many instances, the contractor was also responsible for transporting workers between the field and their homes. Since labour contractors were trying to maximize profits, the vehicles they used to transport workers predictably violated many road safety standards. As Chouhan remembers, his first contractor: “came to pick me up in an Econoline van which had no seats in it, there were people sitting on the floor which was quite a shock [laughs]. No seat belts, no nothing.” Many workers have been killed due to accidents in these unsafe vehicles, and, as recently as 7 March 2007, three farmworkers died in a rollover accident while riding in an overcrowded vehicle between Abbotsford and Chilliwack. Often, contractors were from the same social and ethnic circles as the labourers whom they employed. Charan Gill identified a “colonial mentality” in comments made by farmworkers. Since the contractors who provided them with work shared familial and cultural ties with them, some of which could be traced back to Punjab, many farmworkers did not want to stand up to the contractors. Fears of losing jobs and housing were very real, and such losses could jeopardize their immigration status. Contractors who came from the same community as the workers could manipulate the latter into believing they were on their side, and, because of this, Gill notes: “in spite of our efforts, individual interests [of workers] sometimes invalidated collective interests [of their class]” because some of those workers aspired to be contractors. Simply getting safety information to farmworkers was also difficult. Since many of the workers could not read or write in English, and some were illiterate in their own languages, they were often dependent on information from the farmer and the contractor. Contractors could intentionally mislead, omit certain information, or outright lie to their workers about their legal rights. This delayed organizing efforts. To counter this information block, organizers would try to go to local temples on the weekends, where many workers went to pray. However, the labour contractors also had control over the temple executives, so organizers were often refused the right to speak. Frustrated, the organizers developed a two-part strategy. First, they would have “kitchen meetings” in which the organizer would contact one worker for a meeting in their home, and that worker would contact neighbours and friends, so “that way [they would] not [be] afraid to be seen by a labour contractor or in the temple or in a public place.” Second, because many families used the temples for social events, the organizers would ask family members to invite the CFU and thus circumvent the temple executives as organizers of social events had the “absolute right to invite anyone they want[ed].”

These strategies helped the CFU reach out to potential members and to provide valuable information regarding their legal rights. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the CFU, contractors are still a part of the industry to this day, and anyone driving through the agricultural areas of British Columbia’s Lower Mainland can witness the painted-over shuttle buses that daily transport farmworkers from home to field."

- Nicholas Fast, ““WE WERE A SOCIAL MOVEMENT AS WELL”: The Canadian Farmworkers Union in British Columbia, 1979–1983,” BC Studies. no. 217, Spring 2023. p. 44-45.

#canadian farmworkers union #participatory democracy #union organizing #farm workers #agricultural workers #indian immigration to canada #immigrant workers #racialized workers #farming in canada #working class struggle #academic quote #strike #union politics #labour contracting #exploitation #reading 2024

[texasobserver]

From “‘Striking Does Work’: Fort Worth Journalists Win Only Newspaper Union Contract in Texas”:

On the heels of an unprecedented 24-day labor strike late last year, around 20 journalists at the 117-year-old Fort Worth Star-Telegram have ratified the only union contract at a Texas newspaper. The union victory comes after more than two years of difficult negotiations and forms part of a surge in nationwide newsroom organizing since the mid-2010s as journalists have increasingly fought back against corporate predation in a struggling industry. Workers at two other Texas papers, in Dallas and Austin, are still bargaining for union contracts after roughly two years.

Before launching the labor strike on November 28—likely the first open-ended newsroom work stoppage in Texas history—Kaley Johnson, a justice reporter at the Star-Telegram and vice president of the paper’s union, the Fort Worth NewsGuild, said negotiations were largely stuck in the mud. The Star-Telegram, which serves the state’s fifth-largest city and politically crucial Tarrant County, is owned by the McClatchy Company, a chain of about 30 papers nationwide. In turn, McClatchy is now controlled not by the family that ran it from the 19th century until 2020, but by the New Jersey-based hedge fund Chatham Asset Management. These corporate profiteers, per Johnson, were unwilling to move from a wage floor of $45,000 or consider other demands for months on end.

“The main reason we went on strike was because they weren’t negotiating at all; they were committed to stalling tactics and stonewalling,” she said. Once the work stoppage began, McClatchy swiftly cut off health insurance for the strikers and even posted temporary jobs to replace the journalists. Meanwhile, the workers raised some $51,000 on GoFundMe to sustain the effort. Suddenly, a few weeks into the stoppage, the company offered a new wage floor of $52,000 for current employees and $50,000 for future hires, along with other concessions on layoff procedures and bereavement leave. 

“It appears that the longer we were on strike, the more pressure they did feel to compromise with us, and that ultimately is what led to us being able to have those wins … so I guess striking does work,” Johnson said.

Read more in the Texas Observer.

#journalism #newspaper #union #union organizing #strike #Texas #fort worth

[alanshemper]

#wga #wga strike #union organizing #good news everyone

[leftistteendrama]

A Valentine from Brooke Davis to her crab coworkers. Happy Valentine's Day! Forming a union is an act of love!

From Leftist Teen Drama episode #2 - Brooke Davis, Labor Organizer: That Time Our Early Aughts Fave Organized Her Workplace on ‘One Tree Hill’

#one tree hill #valentine's day #valentine #union organizing #leftist teen drama

[thoughtportal]

History of Right to Work Laws

#tiktok #right to work #labor vs capital #capital vs labor #labor rights #labor movement #labor #labor movements #union workers #labor unions #trade unions #unions #american racism #collective action #union organizing #union history #labor history #history #workers rights #wages and salaries #wages

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The University of British Columbia has argued against allowing graduate research assistants to unionize, claiming they are students and not employees.

CUPE 2278, which also represents teaching assistants at UBC, filed to expand its bargaining unit by including graduate research assistants. UBC graduate assistants are set to cast ballots in a union representation vote on Monday.

Both the union and university attended a certification hearing before the B.C. Labour Relations Board this week, where the university argued against graduate research assistants' right to unionize.

"The monies they receive are scholarship awards and are treated as such and do not constitute wages received for work performed," said Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs, in a statement. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #British Columbia #University of British Columbia #post secondary education #union organizing #workers' rights #capitalism #neoliberalism

[iww-gnv]

SAG-AFTRA members have authorized their leaders to call a strike if they can’t reach a deal with the major studios by Wednesday night, when their extended contract officially expires. They would join members of the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike since May 2, broadening a labor conflict that has already disrupted film and TV productions nationwide. How did such an extraordinary standoff come about? Historians and labor experts cite several explanations, including greater cohesion among Hollywood unions, a nationwide rise in labor activism after the COVID-19 pandemic and, perhaps most important, dramatic technological change.

#sag aftra #sag aftra strike #wga #wga strike #news #labor news #union news #union organizing #do the write thing #entertainment industry

[tips-from-a-tech-worker]

Tips for organisers - Beware the "lefty deadbeat"

During organising, you'll come across plenty of people who are at the very least vocally sympathetic to the clause.

They'll quote Marx, they'll know the entire history of the Spanish civil war, and they'll share revolutionary memes on their social media pages.

But the second they're required for some form of action or task, they'll flake, they'll make excuses, and, at worst, they'll buddy up to the boss.

It's handy to know who has left-wing sympathies, but certainly do not recruit them to the organising team or IWW simply because they define themselves as a "leftist".

Someone you had previously written off as a "conservative" or "liberal" might actually end up being a fantastic workplace organiser!

As a final note, remember that you're organising with the working class, not just the left!

#tips for organisers #union organising #union organizing #union #tips and tricks #lefty #leftist #leftism #complacency

[queersatanic]

Request: unionized Starbucks worker looking for short zines

Subject: focus on labor organization and unions to help make sure all coworkers have access to theory/history to undergird their strong vibes.

The request for short zines is specifically so papers can be re-printed and replaced cheaply as needed if management finds and throws them away.

For some more background, this is a successfully unioned Starbucks location with workers who need to have some reading to help them deepen their feelings and understand the importance of solidarity, union-busting tactics, etc., during the long slog till a contract is actually completed.

This group is prolly not ready for explicitly insurrectionary anarchist material yet that might turn them off from workplace organizing.

We got some good recommendations from Filler Distro and for William Gillis's archive, but for clarity, this is an audience that needs some soft food before being ready for the tougher meat that these zines represent.

#starbucks #zines #workplace organizing #labor history #anarchism #working class history #union organizing

[celtadri]

It’s nice when management is receptive to our demands

#trees #acorns #chipmunks #union #unionize #unionization #union organizing #labor movement #superabundance #just rewards #comics #cartoons #loveamongthelampreys.com