As someone who once sat back and said “I’ll have what the Union is having.” at negotiation time - I’m sad to report that I stopped being able to do that in tough times.
And I’m happy to report I no longer have this problem, as the union expanded and now I’m able to be a member.
Believe it or not, but I’m an organizer. I believe that too many people think unionizing just happens to workers, rather than workers forcing it to appear to protect themselves. IKEA is international. Swedish coworkers can’t defend workers in the US, US workers have to demand they’re treated the same as their Swedish coworkers.
Didn’t the recent Swedish Tesla conflict spill over borders? Dock workers in Norway and Sweden refused to unload materials for Tesla as long as the dispute in Sweden was resolved.
It did, but not because the workers in Sweden pulled Norway along. The workers in Norway knew that if they didn’t stand in solidarity with their fellow workers then, then Tesla would try the same shit with them. In the US, those strikes are technically illegal (not criminal) but still happen anyway. I helped organize a walkout for CWA, and by getting the word out the teamsters showed up with equipment and we had 2 other local presidents come join us on the picket line.
This is AFAIK normal, as legal details for unions differ by country. In other words you cannot have a single global union. The per-country unions can of course communicate and plan action to be synchronized, sure. But as unions they exist separate, and have to. As in, they’re striking at “IKEA Germany”, not “IKEA”.
So we’re relying on the Swedish union to stand up for global employees without a union.
Yep.
As someone who once sat back and said “I’ll have what the Union is having.” at negotiation time - I’m sad to report that I stopped being able to do that in tough times.
And I’m happy to report I no longer have this problem, as the union expanded and now I’m able to be a member.
Believe it or not, but I’m an organizer. I believe that too many people think unionizing just happens to workers, rather than workers forcing it to appear to protect themselves. IKEA is international. Swedish coworkers can’t defend workers in the US, US workers have to demand they’re treated the same as their Swedish coworkers.
Didn’t the recent Swedish Tesla conflict spill over borders? Dock workers in Norway and Sweden refused to unload materials for Tesla as long as the dispute in Sweden was resolved.
It did, but not because the workers in Sweden pulled Norway along. The workers in Norway knew that if they didn’t stand in solidarity with their fellow workers then, then Tesla would try the same shit with them. In the US, those strikes are technically illegal (not criminal) but still happen anyway. I helped organize a walkout for CWA, and by getting the word out the teamsters showed up with equipment and we had 2 other local presidents come join us on the picket line.
not related, but I can never look at un-ionizing as a good thing to humans. I’m very pro ions.
This is AFAIK normal, as legal details for unions differ by country. In other words you cannot have a single global union. The per-country unions can of course communicate and plan action to be synchronized, sure. But as unions they exist separate, and have to. As in, they’re striking at “IKEA Germany”, not “IKEA”.
Capitolism, baybeeeeeee!!!