can’t scare me, i’m stickin’ to the union
January 31st, 2007 by elliottGREAT news, friends! This just in:
The food service workers at what for many of us is our beloved alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College, have finally unionized!!
this watershed comes after years of hard fighting on the part of students and workers at SLC, where earlier union drives had faltered. when i was at SLC, students launched a campaign to get the school to supplement workers’ paychecks to provide the living wage denied them by FLIK, the company the school had contracted to do cafeteria work. the strategy culminated in a demonstration outside a meeting of the board of trustees in 2004, and the push was ultimately successful. i thought i’d post some photos from the action.
as we agitated for the 2004 campaign, Flik workers were continually intimidated and threatened by management. several people were told they could be fired for attending our rallies, or associating with students who were known organizers. still, one brave worker came out to our final rally with her husband—when i got the news telling me the workers had unionized, 
a friend said that folks at the unionizing meeting were reminiscing about this action and wanted photos. that maked my heart get all big and cry.
(fun fact about the 2k4 action: little did the SLC board of trustees know that, if they hadn’t agreed to raise worker wages, we had a plan in place to blockade the building. mwa-ha-ha, motherf—ers!)
now Flik workers at Sarah Lawrence are signing up with Service Workers United, a union for multi-service companies formed by SEIU and UNITE HERE. the grain of salt: a meerkat informant in the labor movement tells me that the SLC workers were probably unionized because Service Workers United bartered for the right to contract with all the workers of the company that owns the company that owns Flik.
this is a tricky truism, that big unions actually like multinational corporations if it means they can contract with thousands of constituents in one fell swoop; in the process, workers often become chips that are bought and sold between C.E.O.s and union bigwigs.
on the other hand, at least workers at SLC now have a legally-protected organization through which they can fight for dignity and justice in their workplace. and they can always count on solidarity from the students and former students at SLC, who keep their fight in our hearts!
SI SE PUEDE!
Congrats all around! fascinating point on your “grain of salt” about how the larger Union can often times be the actual controlling factor in the fate of the many being screwed by the few.
makes me wonder about large groups, in general: is it possible for a system to exist in which people aren’t “chips” to be bought and sold, when the sheer numbers of people are so large? it’s kinda like government I suppose – the math is simply not on the side of the individual’s plight.
Comment by eric — January 31, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
Math is never on the side of any specific individual’s plight. However, I believe that groups can be formed to preserve and advocate for individual’s rights and thus alleviate suffering across the board. Perhaps in our own way we are/can be one of those groups.
As for group size, psychologists have determined that 12-15 people is the maximum for efficiently reaching consensus and working co-operatively. All things said and done it is amazing that it is possible to unite any large group of people under one banner and make them feel aptly represented.
Comment by jesse — January 31, 2007 @ 8:39 pm
ah, looking back at those pictures makes me so proud and happy. A delightful start to what I hope will be for all of us a long and fruitful career of stickin’ it to the man, and holding institutions accountable.
Thanks for posting this Elliott.
Comment by Tal — February 1, 2007 @ 9:22 am
word up, great news about Flik workers finally having a union… too bad about the larger play at hand. Its good to see progress being made on the home front, refreshing.
-a
Comment by alex — February 1, 2007 @ 3:49 pm
Hello! Does anyone know of a website for the progress of the on campus union? There is a lot of talk about changing food companies on campus right now, and some of us students are organizing to demand worker continuity and make the school commit to writing sustainability and humane labor conditions (on campus and at other levels of production) into the new contract with Flik or another company if they do decide to switch. Any history or information ya’ll have would be real helpful. Best, Rachael
Comment by Rachael Richardson — November 19, 2007 @ 1:22 pm