Labor activist and author Bill Fletcher Jr. keeps close tabs on organizing efforts around the country. And from the United Auto Workers to the Teamsters to Starbucks Workers United, there have been plenty of developments to follow.
During a recent visit to Buffalo, Fletcher weighed in on notable contract campaigns:
Q: Workers at Starbucks and Amazon have won organizing elections. What is next for them?
A: The Starbucks workers and Amazon workers are going to be facing some humongous challenges. In the case of Starbucks, you’re going to need a master agreement. You can’t negotiate in every one of these stores. Amazon is going to need a master agreement.
Q: How do those workers go about securing a first contract?
A: I think the answer is twofold. One is, you have to organize a critical mass of the workforce, and then demand bargaining as a group, basically fighting for a master agreement. The second thing is, you’ve got to build community support. … The union’s got to make it visible.
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Bill Fletcher Jr. talks about the labor movement in Buffalo.
Q: What is driving organizing activity in some nontraditional sectors?
A: There has been an uptick in organizing that preceded the Covid pandemic, particularly among younger workers, that is in part a reflection of the increase in polarization of wealth in this country, and the amount of debt that people are accumulating, particularly college grads, but not just college grads.
Q: How would you assess the labor movement in Buffalo?
A: Well, there’s the strength of the labor movement in the United States, and then there’s Buffalo. In Buffalo, there’s such a proud labor history, movement, culture.
But that’s not the United States as a whole. What’s changing in the United States is, there’s a greater sympathy for unions, but we’ve lost a lot of the great culture of union activism that existed in major metropolitan areas, in many rural areas of the United States.
A lot of that has been lost, so much so that you have many people who have no idea what a labor union is.
Matt Glynn
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