Costco workers in Norfolk have unionised and Costco are seething.
The win condition is the workers owning the means of production. In the meantime, it’s a struggle to take as much of our labor’s value from our employers as possible, because we’re entitled to all of it.
Sure, and that’s great. I’m in favor of that. But how does viewing cooperation as collaboration in a class war further those objectives?
“Fuck you for trying to be better” isn’t a viable strategy for the midterm goal of “more fairness”.
If you’re in favor with what I’ve said, then we’re probably not in much disagreement. We’re probably misunderstanding each other on a point not worth quibbling over.
It’s the viewing it as intrinsically hostile, and the (seeming) delight at the perception of “hurt” to the business almost over the benefits it brings to labor.
I don’t view organization as an intrinsically hostile act. It can be defensive or hostile depending on the business, and often is, but it needn’t be if the business doesn’t make it so.
Even in a situation with collective ownership, you still have a voluntary organization of that collective.
That organization isn’t hostile.
Why would an employer ever employ someone if there is no net gain to the employer? You are not entitled to all the value of your labor unless you are self employed and that sounds like a lot more difficult than showing up to work for 40 hours of work that’s been organized by someone else.
It doesn’t sound like you’re a syndicalist, it sounds like you’re either a capitalist or a worker with Stockholm Syndrome.
I am both a unionist and a capitalist. I have spent 10 years of my career as an involved IBEW member; going to unit meetings, voting, and salting companies. I have spent the last three years as a business owner. I like to think of myself as an ethical capitalist. My employees get paid union wages, which is higher than most companies in my area. The only reason I haven’t unionized my company yet is because it doesn’t fiscally work as a small, young company. The burden of the cost of labor would destroy my company. I would not be able to compete in any tangible way with my competitors. To give you an idea: the burden per hour of a journeyman electricians union renumeration package is close to $70/hr. In order to support that burden as well as other overhead: building, vans, tools, insurance, bonds, software, phones, office supplies, I would have to bill well over $120/hr. Now the question is: as a business owner, why would I be taking any risk in employing someone if there is no net gain for all the work done in the background as well as getting stiffed on invoices? The other question is: is everyone cut out to be their own employer? What about the people that only have the ability to show up to work and not organize new clients and new work, what do they do? I’m all for living wages, good working conditions, fair treatment, and and and, but what’s the benefit to me as an employer for providing these things to an employee?
They shot at people trying to unionize, and if it wasn’t for Marxism they would have succeeded. Show a little respect for the people who literally risked death to ensure we wouldn’t all be enslaved in company towns.
Guess what, you’re on lemmy.ml, and this is a syndicalism comm.
This is the IWW community
Let me stop you there. Because that’s all this is, a community - within a decentralized social network. And that’s awesome. But don’t marginalize the IWW by pointing to this comm like it perfectly represents the IWW’s ideology.
I honestly think that many of the Marxists and Communists I meet in the ActivityPub universe are some really great folks, but you bunch are way to serious.