Dec 20, 2024
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Hello, Canadian customers!
Canada Post workers are on strike. I learned about this from my shipping client, PirateShip, whose chatbot cheerfully suggested just using UPS instead.
I don't cross picket lines.
Folks in Canada: if you would like to buy a holiday gift from Shapeshifters, may we suggest a gift card? Your recipient can craft their own custom chest binder from us and receive it in the new year, after CUPW has resumed service.
If you'd like to support the strike and get your postal workers the wages they need to live, here are some ways to help! In particular, do send annoyed email about your delayed holiday packages to Doug Ettinger, Canada Post CEO. If he paid his people, your mail would get there.
So on the topic of Bar Association: we saw that Worf crossed the picket line and O'Brien and Bashir didn't, and I assume Sisko also didn't because of what his orders were for Odo, but what about the rest of the DS9 main cast? Who crossed vs. who supported the strike?
I feel like all the Federation characters except for Worf honored the picket lines. Odo wouldn't have if left to his own devices because he can be a bit of a fascist, tbh. Nog would never have stabbed his dad in the back by crossing.
That leaves Kira. I think, being a rebel at heart, she'd never cross a picket line. If things had continued after Kira got back to the station, she might've even been tempted to do... other things to encourage Quark to fold. Things involving fire.
I don't see the point in politicians in power standing on picket lines- if you really support the workers, you're the one in the position to give them what they want.
Don't tell me the president of the USA doesn't have the power to lean on companies and get them to give their workers a better deal...
It's a bit different when it's oposition politicians- I've got time for someone like Zarah Sultana coming to stand on the picket line to an extent.
But when you're the executive, coming to stand on the picket line is just using workers for your own self promotion.
I understand that most unions have a formal or informal policy of not crossing another union's picket line. In the event that two or more unions share a work space, doesn't that mean that if one strikes, the other is effectively coerced into joining the strike, with all of the costs and none of the potential gains? This very issue has come up in the Vancouver, Canada transit system recently, so it's not just a hypothetical.
If there is a formal rule, it usually takes the form of a contractual right for individual workers to choose to honor picket lines, so that workers aren't penalized or lose their jobs for refusing to cross.
Those contractual rights are pretty rare at least in the North American context. Secondary boycotts (when a union launches a boycott against a company that does business with a struck company) or secondary pickets (when a union pickets a company that does business with another company) are usually not legal (It's a bit unclear whether they are legal in Canada), and the union having a rule that forbids workers or penalizes them for crossing another union's pickets would constitute a secondary boycott/picket and would be illegal under (at least U.S) labor law. Even the "right to conscience" steps up close to the line (pun intended).
That being said, sometimes unions do collectively bargain for that right - my old union (UAW 2865) had it although most U.C unions didn't have it, and the Teamsters usually have one because it's a big part of their internal culture (...when it suits them).
That being said, I do take issue with the framework of "coercion," and I certainly don't agree that the other union faces "all of the costs and none of the potential gains."
At its most fundamental level, the labor movement is and has always been about solidarity - about recognizing that we are all interconnected, that we share a common struggle and a common enemy. To be a part of the movement, to be in community with your fellow workers, is to accept a responsibility to act in solidarity with one another - and enforcing that responsibility as a price of membership in the community is not coercion, because without that no social group of any kind could exist. It's the same thing with prohibitions against scabbing or otherwise collaborating with the enemy during a struggle.
And just as that spirit of solidarity requires us to act in concert with the other members of our union, it also requires us to act in solidarity with other unions and the working class everywhere. This is not done out of guilt or moral altruism (this is a big part of my problem with the modern conception of "allyship" on the left), but out of a belief in reciprocity: we stand with others so that they will stand for us.
Or as someone more eloquent than me once put it:
This polygon.com article is a really good overview of who should and who should not be promoting struck content.
What I took from it is that, at this time, there are no calls for any boycotts; just support. Unless you are considered to be an influencer and/or you aspire to join SAG-AFTRA and/or WAG in the future, it is okay to create and share casual content. Your fanfiction, fan art, and cosplays are not replacing any union jobs. The article also makes a point of saying that whether you feel comfortable creating fan content during these strikes is a very personal decision. But it's important to note that those who do choose to continue creating casual fan content are not crossing picket lines.
The article closes with this message:
AT THE END OF THE DAY… Remember: The studios benefit from confusion about these rules. When in doubt, listen to what the official union channels are saying. Some individual members may say stuff that contradicts the guidance, but you can check out the official SAG-AFTRA and WGA websites to verify any information. Right now, the best way to support the striking workers is to donate to strike funds and show solidarity on social media.
Workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are striking after two years without a contract.
Two years ago, after abuse and harassment from managers came to light and a document outlining pay disparity across departments was shared around, workers at the PMA voted to form the first wall-to-wall union at a museum in the United States. Upper management claims to have been bargaining in good faith, but instead they continuously stall negotiations or simply fail to show up at all.
Workers at the PMA make far below the national average, with the lowest paid workers only making $15 an hour. Meanwhile the new CEO makes 700k a year and upper management makes well over the national average. The museum hired the same union busting law firm that Amazon and Starbucks uses and recently spent $230 million on renovations to the building.
But the workers are not just striking for fair wages. They do not have affordable healthcare, to the point many employees are putting off getting medical treatment simply because they can’t afford it. There is no paid parental leave, no real job security, and very few opportunities for upward movement within the museum. Management has offered insultingly small raises (3% with no account for cost of living and inflation) after years of staff getting no raises at all.
Today, October 7th 2022, was the 12th day of their strike. A new CEO started the first day of the strike and has not made an effort to speak with union reps at all. Today scabs were spotted hanging the upcoming retrospective exhibition of Mattisse’s work as all the art handlers are outside on strike.
You can help! Share stories and posts on social media (@pmaunion on twitter and instagram) and show your support for the strike. If you are in the Philadelphia area and have some time, go join the picket lines! They are out there every day, rain or shine, and love having people join in. If you are a member of the museum, cancel and/or do not renew your membership and make sure the museum knows why you are doing this. If you have the means to do so, donate to their strike fund (I will add a link in a reblog), any amount helps! Most importantly, DO NOT CROSS THE PICKET LINE. There are so many great museums in Philly you can visit instead, or donate the price of your ticket ($25 for adults, $23 for seniors, and $14 for students) or the cost of your membership to the strike fund.
I worked at the museum for a year and the staff is some of the greatest people I have ever met. They are incredibly hard working and so passionate about what they do, that’s why they are striking- so they can keep doing the work they love in conditions that are fair, equitable, and livable. Please do anything you can to help, even if it’s just telling your friends and family about this.
UPDATED with times: The Writers Guild late Monday confirmed the times and locations being targeted by the WGA West in Los Angeles and WGA East in New York for strike actions and picketing, after th…