What's your actual workplace practice?

So, I should say that I'm not a steward. That's partly because I don't want to be in a legal and policy position to ever be obligated to tell anyone to come in during a strike. However, I am in a workplace with multiple unions. When we have strikes, the first thing I do is begin talking to non-union workers and workers in other unions about not crossing picket lines. I always to try to propose collective ways not to come into work (all coming to the picket line together, for example, and calling in one after another). And, I've had success. And have taken shit from my union and management for it.

That said, I've recruited workers to join a striking union on the grounds that they want to strike but want legal cover. This isn't ideal, but if someone is joining a union so they feel they can strike, I'd rather have that situation than them coming into work.

On a related note, I was speaking to the PGCE student teachers at my school about not coming in on the last strike and was having success. Until, of course, the NUT sent them all letters telling them to come in

I just want to up this part of S's post.

I would agree with baboon and disagree with syndicalists here. I wouldn't say that here stewards are parrots, quite the opposite, they are usually the most militant workers. As baboon says, militants as stewards are often the best at recruiting members and looking to workers like the union is fighting for them.

There is probably a difference with the US here, because stewards are just workers on the shopfloor, acting as a rep in their own time. They are nominated by members in their shop (nominally there will be elections, but union elections are almost never contested as there is always a shortage of volunteers rather than a surplus).

In terms of what you would do in the example baboon raises of Unilever, well basically I agree with chilli.

I mean I totally support his position of not being a union rep, which is ideological the the position I support revolutionaries taking.

However, in my role as a union rep what I do in these circumstances is call joint meetings in advance of any action, trying to get people to stick together, trying to get people not to cross each other's picket lines. And as chilli says, despite any reassurances often the best way to get people to join the strike is to recruit them to the union. In the run-up to our 2008 pay strike I organised the recruitment of over 100 members to the union. Including most of the GMB members in the sections (the GMB was not taking strike action, and so effectively supporting mass scabbing). Of course some unions, however, like the NUT cover different grades, so you can't recruit them, so as much as possible you have to just ask them informally not cross your lines, and argue for people not cross theirs when they take their action.

kind of why i'm not posting more on this thread! since i've got very very little experience, posts that i've drafted up have turned into the kind of organisational concepts you describe, rather than sharing actual practice which is far more useful.

i'm following and reading this thread though, and want to see it continue...

Also stewards in US unions are often just workers on the floor acting on their own time. Practices on this vary quite a bit (time off, other benefits for being a steward etc).

Syndicalist, union rules differ that normally you need to be nominated by a couple of members in your shop. If two people stand in one shop, they can often job share the role. But if more than that stand then there would have to be an election. (N.b. at my work which has 10,000 people at it, there has not been an election in years, as there are about three times as many stewards vacancies as there are stewards)

Good bump. I remember earlier in the thread someone asked about the committee model proposed by SolFed. This is from an article due out in the next Black Flag:

Better than we know ourselves: a ruling class view of the trade unions.

I'll post it up in the library once the next Black Flag comes out.

It's based on the trade union section from this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-be-Minister-Gerald-Kaufman/dp/0571190804

When How To Be A Minister was first published in 1980, it received rave reviews. When it was out of print, copies became as prized as gold-dust and were known to disappear from the House of Commons Library. Recommended to incoming ministers in the Thatcher and Major governments by the Cabinet Office, it is also used as a primer by overseas governments. Gerald Kaufman, former Minister and Shadow Cabinet member, brought the book up-to-date in this revised edition. It remains the most authoritative guide to the processes of government ever published...

I mean, it's independent of the any recognised trade union but, at least in my workplace, when issues come up we make judgement call at which level we want to involve the union, if at all. We also stress, as you can imagine, that sometimes organised workers need to fight the union as much as the boss. In fact, I gave a presentation to a joint union meeting just last week and much of the conversation afterwards centred around just how shit the unions are and how, first and foremost, how we need to support each on the shopfloor.

All that said, I should stress that in the forthcoming article the workplace committee model is mentioned only in passing, pretty just the bit I've already quoted.

edit: overly-long post will come back and edit with fresh eyes. Repeated myself but forgot to say, I'm struggling to find anyone who wants to get together as a team/ shop/ workers committee (excluding people I meet at union meetings from other shops), I feel without this I won't be able to do much.

I'm a shop steward. I agree that mainstream unions do create problems for workers, that they dilute and divert the struggle and confound and betray it, and that we should be critical of some of the things they do and their broad social role. I also think Unions present real opportunities to make our lives as workers slightly better now, to get our own back on the bosses from time to time, help us to get away with slacking or other anti-work pro-social things from time to time and they present opportunities to build working class self organisation skills. It presents opportunities to get people involved in struggles to win small victories (or loose and be sold out by union leadership with shitty concessions). Engaging in class struggle, even if at a reformist level, can elevate class consciousness and solidarity. I think I would not be able to do as much stuff to try and make work more bearable and open up discussions where I can share my politics if i weren't a steward. If I ever have to do something clearly anti-worker I will resign as a steward and make it known why (if sensible to do so).

I use my role to open up conversations about politics and work issues where I give a few of ideas from an anarchist perspective (subtly) and encourage people to stand up for themselves and each other if the bosses/ government try to screw us over (more than usual). Workplace anarchist stuff is still pretty new to me. So far I have had some promising conversations and have just been trying to get people help via the union if they might need it (partly because I think it might help their politics develop, mainly because I want to help however I can when management gives them shit). I try to:

- help with individual problems my workmates are having (even if it ain't always going to advance the struggle, it still beats work) trying to spot potential for collective action

- get a better appreciation of what people's problems at work are and assess and try and gently nudge their willingness to take action to improve their lives make work more bearable or resist worse pay/conditions by giving the bosses shit or using their own rule books against them (if collective action just isn't going to happen and someone is facing a disciplinary has an individual grievance or whatever)

- tell my workmates about all the shitty stuff I know about what the government has planned for public sector workers- and my own local authority's efforts

- explain what the union is doing, talk about what might happen if the union looses or sells us out and what we might be able to do to resist with or without the union, and what I think we were capable of doing with or without the union

- tell my workmates what I think about how work would be much better if it wasn't managed by a hierarchy but by workers and the local community directly (on few occasions)

and so on. I am new to it, and so far I've only got really full-on ranty political with a couple of people in my team who I know well and trust. When there has been a group discussion about work or economics or the government I have made tentative but politically honest little statements to convey the idea I think we are in a class-based conflict, we can't put any faith in the political parties and we need to fight back together as workers (often avoiding misunderstood buzzwords like communist and anarchist though).

I hope to get more of my workmates out on strike when there next is one, but most people I've spoken to who didn't strike last time (N30) still seem reluctant to do so next time. Only 1 non-union member didn't cross the picket in my team (not because of me) only one person joined the union in order to join the strike. My team is shamefully lacking in solidarity though, it's very socially fragmented. I'm not sure if this is true for my whole shop yet.

Having the chance to go on union training and speak
to other workplace militants who want to get other people involved in struggles is also good. Its good to talk to union militants and reps about the limits of unions as they are and the potential of grassroots organising (against the established union rulebook).

So I feel like right now the steward thing is best for me in my workplace, its fun and its useful to me and my workmates as far as I can see. If my workplace was different I would probably follow the SolFed workplace organiser model more closely. As I said, if I had to do anything I felt in direct conflict with my political views I would cease to be a steward, I do know sometimes it diverts my energies but not to the extent it outweighs the opportunities it brings up. Thinking about it I might join SolFed to talk about this stuff more... but I talk about it a lot already so maybe not

I too think this is a great thread, and hopefully people can contribute their experiences. I thought I'd share my own work situation, in the hope others may have advice/experience to share.

I work in a small manufacturing plant in Christchurch, New Zealand. There's probably 12 or so on the payroll — 3 full timers, and the rest part timers. The make-up is predominately working class women who are skilled machinists, mothers, and have been with the company a long time. We work directly with the boss, and the vibe is very paternalistic — "we're all a family" sort of thing.

Due to the size and the nature of the environment, its tricky to organise. My co-workers overwhelmingly think the boss is good (as far as bosses go), despite being on shite wages or not having contracts. They like the flexibility (the boss is happy for people to come and go, take leave etc). This situation is super common in NZ. I read that over 94% of workplaces in NZ have less than 30 workers.

Whenever there are issues I try to involve the entire workplace, and despite being loyal to the boss my co-workers know differences exist between us and him. For example, we joke at how many holidays the boss takes, and when there was an issue of sick pay some of the most loyal stuff shocked me by adding: "he may play nice but he knows exactly what he's doing." Apparently before my time they also staged a go-slow one summer.

Yet when I touch on the issue of contracts or wages, the response I often get is: "no contract means he can't hold us to anything either"; or "if we asked for higher wages he couldn't pay them, we'd be out of a job etc". It can be quite disheartening at times, but I hope that in examples of real conflict that the sense of us vs him may crystalise better.

I'm only there one day a week now, but I try too:

— take note of issues/grievances, and jot them down
— keep an eye on a few workers who are more outspoken and ready to challenge the boss
— use humour during smoko's to highlight the differences between the boss and us (this seems to work quite well).

Overall, I haven't committed to any major action, simply because I literally sit next to the boss when I'm there (I do a bit of web/design stuff now). And paternalism is ripe. But knowing this is a common situation, I thought small workplace organising tips would be a good thing to discuss on this thread.

In this discussion of individual workplaces many seem to lose sight or are completely oblivious to the "big issues" which have a major impact in individual workplaces and what workers and militants can do there concerning the class struggle. Such as the pace of the employer offensive, the role of Governments in intensifying its pace and inspiring private sector employers to follow suit, repressive industrial legislation which makes most industrial action let alone direct action illegal and suicidal in small and non strategic workplaces; and the critical importance of assisting workers self organisation and big actions in strategic sectors in slowing down the employer offensive in terms of preventing new waves of speed ups and staff cuts and raising workers morale generally in less strategic sectors and in particular small workplaces.
For an example of this "slowing down" the employer offensive see "Anarcho-Syndicalist Strategy for Australia, Today" in the archive section of our web site www.rebelworker.org which looks at the defeat of Govt plans for restructuring of the CityRail station network for privatisation and a new wave of speedups railways ub NSW in Sept 1999 prior to the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.
A pamphlet which throws important light on this phenomena is "Dare to be Daniel" by Wilf McCartney - which looks at the emergence of a syndicalist catering workers union in London in the years immediately prior to WWI. Despite extremely difficult circumstances involving small workplaces and casual work situations - a syndicalist union emerged using on the job tactics which won many actions. However, the rise of this union must be seen in the context of the backdrop of a massive upsurge in direct action in the transport and mining sectors which raised the morale of workers in the less strategic catering sector and so combined with syndicalist propaganda - they stuck their necks out and combined with others on this project. See "British Syndicalism 1900 to 1914" by Bob Holton for a discussion of this back drop.
This activity in strategic sectors would probably take the form of assisting militants pursue a "boring from with" approach given such sectors are likely to be highly unionised. However without massive assistance in getting their "organisational ball rolling" eg networking of militants, regular workplace workplaces, web sites, flyers etc, they won't get very far and would require syndicalist groupings "setting priorities" to get this work done - and not getting involved in every issue or struggle going on and under the sun. Despite clutching claytons "strategy documents".

Yes, I would also like to stress that instead of responding to the comment of asn people should stay on topic, and asn can start a new thread if he wants to discuss that.

I agree - the thing is though, a lot of us feel uncomfortable discussing our actual organising activity so publicly, it's something which is better done within our organisations. Most of the time, workplace activity is also very mundane and non-eventful, at least from my perspective.

You don't have to talk about specifics to identify your workplace or your employer, just ballpark stuff about your general approach I think would be interesting.

I just want to post a bit about my limited workplace practice.

I've always worked fairly precarious jobs, mostly in food and retail. This is why when I learned about the IWW 6 or 7 years ago I joined. Unfortunately I didn't get my first training until about 2 years ago. But since then I've been through three, plus went on a salt retreat for Unite-Here which mostly was practicing AEI since they sorta leave O and U to the staff organizers. It was still useful, and there were many revolutionary workers that were salts.

Anyway I got to echo the just building relationships stuff, getting to know your co-workers story. Most of my jobs have been at most 6 month stints before I'd be laid off or the boss was trying to shake things up and get people to quit, which really worked to be honest, until I became more conscious of such things. The relationships thing is hard though considering the length a lot of these jobs has lasted.

Well so in practice when I have taken action it mostly has been trying to form the informal workplace resistance groups that I think are good precursors or the self-organized embryo of future independent worker committees that SolFed and the IWW try to build (we use the same 101 training basically).

Building these committees is no matter if you are in a union or just want to organize is really I think the first step. It is what the unions that do organize in the USA all take as the first step, the issue I think that is most important is about their autonomy. In the IWW this has translated to the "union committee" often being separate from the IWW as a whole. I do think asking folks to take out a card does give more ownership over the struggle over time and helps folks become more identified with longterm struggle as an anti-capitalist minority, but I still see value in having "open" worker committees, especially as the trend is towards open shops and no official collective bargaining (i.e. Wisconsin all unions are "minority" unions now, have to get people to voluntarily pay dues and take out cards). Other unions don't give the committee that much autonomy, some even have the staff pretty much dictate or get rubber stamped approval for their ideas and strategies within the committee, making the committee more a vehicle for them winning a contract and getting more dues money, and not a vehicle for direct workers struggle by the workers for the workers.

Okay so a lot of that was more abstract but it's what I've noticed in my work in IWW and trying to become a salt with Unite-Here and then backing out before I got into a shop, it just wasn't for me.

So again really my practice was mostly identifying leaders and getting them to take small actions about grievances on the shop floor. Like one night at a Chicken Wings fast food joint electric current was going through all the water when we were mopping the floors and when any of us touched equipment we got shocked. Well once I realized this was happening, cause a worker got me to touch stuff and I got hella shocked, our little workplace resistance group all did a march on the boss to his backroom where he was sleeping, with his fucking cat (gross), and knocked on his door until he came out and fixed things. That type of stuff.

Oh and he went OB. Which is probably great for the workers who are now working there (it went under new management) cause he was a really shitty boss.

EDIT:

Also just want to chime in about sorta the typical left communist thing I hear a lot of calling for meetings of all workers or assemblies, that lead to strike committees, that could lead to workers councils, etc Well I have often heard also from some left communists about things called struggle groups or struggle committees, would these be like the independent worker committees SolFed and IWW (US) speak of? Mainly I say this, because as others have probably said elsewhere we've had really shit luck starting off with mass meetings in struggles at workplaces. It seems to me the first thing to do as a communist/radical minority is try to get informal workplace groups to become more over struggle groups/committees that eventually once they have more power on the job could potentially if it made strategic sense call for mass assemblies (regardless of union affiliation or sectors). If then through lots of struggle you got to the point that that was fairly regular I could see strike committees and if campaigns extended geographically workers councils or whatever. But for now it seems to me setting up these struggle groups is the most important first step for organizing.

Good post Sab, what's OB?

So an interesting thing about this, is these committees are independent from SolFed there seems to be a lot of emphasis on that, and when I am feeling more ultra-left I'd say I agree, (edit: it seems like I did above). What I do know though is that I've heard on and off around Recomposition folks is that they think we really should instead be trying to recruit people to the IWW, and it provides longer term commitment. Maybe that is actually the same additude that SolFed has, that ideally you want folks to join then revolutionary union, but you will respect peoples autonomy at same time?