Here are a couple of recent examples of IWW organizing on the job. These were some of the stories shared at our union’s Organizing Summit in Denver at the end of April.
Bobcat Bonnie’s (Detroit)
Situation: The boss closed down our restaurant and fired all of us overnight with just a single email (The business was failing and in lots of debt).
Tactic: We were pretty well organized already, with about 12 wobblies (out of 30 employees) on staff. So, we planned an 4-day emergency picket line outside the headquarters/original location of Bobcat Bonnie’s targeting the corporate executives. We demanded jobs back or severance pay.
Action: Before we set up the picket, we emailed corporate with our demands. On the picket line, we began emailing the boss things like “Hey, we could pack up and go home right now if you just gave us severance pay or gave us our jobs back.”
Result: The boss capitulated after only two days. We got a signed agreement between our union and the company outlining the severance package. The company accidentally recognized our union and negotiated a “contract” with us because we used solidarity union tactics that weren’t legible to the boss.
Also, the rest of the Bobcat Bonnie’s that eventually closed were given notice that their stores were closing and that they should find new jobs.
Anna’s House (Ann Arbor)
Situation: This was a hippy dippy brunch restaurant in Ann Arbor and my first organizing campaign. At this time in Michigan, it was still legal for employers to require workers to submit doctors notes to call in sick. So, workers would have to pay in order to call off sick, incentivizing people to just work while sick.
Tactic: We didn’t have much power built up as a union in this shop, so we went for a mutual aid tactic instead of challenging the boss directly.
Action: We researched very cheap, affordable tele-health options for getting a doctor’s note. Then, we set up the infrastructure for something called “Anna’s Sick Fund.” We spread the word through 1 on 1s that people could sign up for the union and their dues would go toward this sick fund, and any worker could draw from it when needed. IWW members from the Ypsilanti GMB (ed note- near Detroit) also donated to the fund.
Result: This really emphasized the “caring” nature of our solidarity union and it really gained us the trust of some of the older fellow workers in the shops, especially moms. People signed up for union and we built a culture of solidarity. We built a culture of “we take care of each other, not the boss.”