#union 101

[a-method-in-it]

Just saw that walmart post and i was wondering. Any tips for consumers to help further push union aid? All i really know is donating to the cause and applying to be a scab and not showing to make it harder for them to find actual scabs

So donating is always awesome! (Especially to strike funds).

Sending pizza or other food to picket lines is also always appreciated and helps boost morale. If there's a picket line happening in your area, you can also join them, or just honk in support as you drive by. Feeling like the community is behind you can help people stand strong and stay united for the cause.

Also, unions will sometimes ask for public shows of support, such as asking customers to sign an open letter or show up to non-picket events to publicly show support --- Starbucks Workers United, for instance, has had several "Sip-Ins" in the last couple years where they ask customers to come in with supportive signs and hang out.

In fact, I recommend anyone looking for ways to support unions to get on the supporter mailing list for Starbucks Workers United --- they will definitely tell you what to do to support any unionized stores in your area.

And one other campaign I'll mention that's timely as I write this in November 2023: If you are flying Delta in the near future (or just, like, ever), ask for a supporter kit from the AFA to support the Delta flight attendants in unionizing! They will send you a button declaring yourself a supporter and some little cards with info for flight attendants on how to sign a union card, if it seems like any flight attendant on your flight is interested. And either way, it's really encouraging for any flight attendant who supports the union drive to see customers expressing solidarity.

Finally, sometimes unions will also ask for support for more general labor issues, like the PRO Act (somehow still not passed because fuck Kyrsten Sinema), or even just stuff that would help workers in their industry. Strippers United, for instance, has a petitions page. So supporting those causes or calling your representatives about labor issues can do a lot.

[racefortheironthrone]

Hi- er, this is my first-ever writer's strike, how does one not cross a picket line in this context? I know how not to do it with things like Amazon and IRL strikes, but how does it apply to media/streaming?

Hi, this is a great question, because it allows me to write about the difference between honoring a picket line and a boycott. (This is reminding me of the labor history podcast project that's lain fallow in my drafts folder for some time now...) In its simplest formulation, the difference between a picket line and a boycott is that a picket line targets an employer at the point of production (which involves us as workers), whereas a boycott targets an employer at the point of consumption (which involves us as consumers).

So in the case of the WGA strike, this means that at any company that is being struck by the WGA - I've seen Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Warner Brothers Discovery, NBC, Paramount, and Sony mentioned, but there may be more (check the WGA website and social media for a comprehensive list) - you do not cross a picket line, whether physical or virtual. This means you do not take a meeting with them, even if its a pre-existing project, you do not take phone calls or texts or emails or Slacks from their executives, you do not pitch them on a spec script you've written, and most of all you do not answer any job application.

Because if this strike is like any strike since the dawn of time, you will see the employers put out ads for short-term contracts that will be very lucrative, generally above union scale - because what they're paying for in addition to your labor is you breaking the picket line and damaging the strike - to anyone willing to scab against their fellow workers. GIven that one of the main issues of the WGA are the proliferation of short-term "mini rooms" whereby employers are hiring teams of writers to work overtime for a very short period, to the point where they can only really do the basics (a series outline, some "broken stories," and some scripts) and then have the showrunner redo everything on their lonesome, while not paying writers long-term pay and benefits, I would imagine we're going to see a lot of scab contracts being offered for these mini rooms.

But for most of us, unless we're actively working as writers in Hollywood, most of that isn't going to be particularly relevant to our day-to-day working lives. If you're not a professional or aspiring Hollywood writer, the important thing to remember honoring the picket line doesn't mean the same thing as a boycott. WGA West hasn't called on anyone to stop going to the movies or watching tv/streaming or to cancel their streaming subscriptions or anything like that. If and when that happens, WGA will go to some lengths to publicize that ask - and you should absolutely honor it if you can - so there will be little in the way of ambiguity as to what's going on.

That being said, one of the things that has happened in the past in other strikes is that well-intentioned people get it into their heads to essentially declare wildcat (i.e, unofficial and unsanctioned) boycotts. This kind of stuff comes from a good place, someone wanting to do more to support the cause and wanting to avoid morally contaminating themselves by associating with a struck company, but it can have negative effects on the workers and their unions. Wildcat boycotts can harm workers by reducing back-end pay and benefits they get from shows if that stuff is tied to the show's performance, and wildcat boycotts can hurt unions by damaging negotiations with employers that may or may not be going on.

The important thing to remember with all of this is that the strike is about them, not us. Part of being a good ally is remembering to let the workers' voices be heard first and prioritizing being a good listener and following their lead, rather than prioritizing our feelings.

[muffinlance]

Do you get the impression the live action is treating us like utter morons?? Like I thought that making it aimed at an older audience would open the doors for more subtle story telling, but no, they're just using monologues to tell us eveything! Like in the second episode Katara's like 'oh his power isn't that he's the avatar, it's that he ~connects~ to people'. Girl we're not idiots we can see that!! And the first episode with Aang's goddawful 'I don't want this responsibility' monologue

THIS, YES. The word that keeps coming to mind is definitely "subtlety". The show for literal children? Had it. The remake for adults? Not so much.

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 94

Danny has no clue what he’s just agreed to but Ellie seems happy about it, so it can’t be too bad. Ellie is honestly surprised but more than a little touched her template-dad gave her permission to let her new clone-union-totally-not-a-revolution use his lair as a home base. Now she just needs to help Klarion figure out how to make those portal-bracelets for each of them…

[a-method-in-it]

In this case "tentative agreement" means that the studio execs and the union's bargaining team have reached a deal --- however, it can't be final until all WGA members have a chance to vote on it.

Unions are democratic institutions. The people who negotiate are doing so on behalf of the membership (sometimes the negotiators are themselves elected, sometimes they are chosen by elected union leaders, but they are always ultimately accountable to the members). So even if they say "This is a good deal and we are happy with it," it can't take effect until the members sign off.

In this case, you can pretty much guarantee that the members will approve it. I mean, they achieved all of their goals! Which is presumably why union leadership already decided to call off the strike.

But right now, members have until October 9, 2023 to cast their ballots on whether or not to ratify the contract.

Just to clarify my mind a bit, does the WGA meeting a ‘tentative agreement’ mean not all the meets were met to what they want?

[ibenology]

The “The Magnus Archives to Dracula Daily pipeline” is so real it’s palpable

[offsidenewsco]

"Gordie Howe was the best player in the world, not just great but a full step above whoever dared to beg for second place."

Read the second installment of @sergeifyodorov's history of the #NHL here.

[tadpolebobatea]

Maid Tella (bet you thought you'd seen the last of me. nope still here)

I'll be real. feels slightly out of place to post this after last weeks peakness but honestly. the blorbo. But I've been threatening maid tella for a while, so here

(ftr loop 100 is wearing a maid outfit because hes too tired to protest it)

Alt. version

(loop 101 was almost certainly forced into by Gina and Ichico)

[tlwebb]

[a-method-in-it]

Hey I saw your reblog of the Walmart union post and I am not a high school kid but do you have any knowledge of how to unionize academic positions like grad student or postdoc, especially when the lines are blurred between "worker" and "student"? I know it's been done and I know about the big UC strike but I haven't found many resources for people unionizing their own universities.

I don't have any direct experience with grad student unions, but I can tell you what I do know.

Overall, I would assume that the basic process of unionizing in higher ed would be similar to unionizing anywhere. I have a longer breakdown here, but the general steps are: Talk to your coworkers; figure out which ones might be interested in unionizing; get a small but dedicated group together; contact a union that represents people in your industry; and work with them to get a majority of your workplace on board.

There are a few things I do know about grad student unions that might make a difference in the process.

One thing is that grad student unions are relatively new --- and in fact even today, the legal status of graduate student unions is still potentially fragile, depending on which party controls the White House and by extension gets to appoint people to the NLRB (related point: please vote Democrat). But as of the most recent NLRB decision on the matter on 2016, they do have the right to unionize.

Because they are a new phenomenon, different groups at different universities have unionized under different unions, but most seem to be under the American Federation of Teachers.

You can find some stuff on their website here. They don't have a how-to guide on how to get started or anything, but it gives you a sense of what sorts of issues their members are fighting for, which can be useful when talking to your own co-workers.

(Though also, some of the best issues on that front can also be things specific to your workplace: That one admin everyone hates, or new policies from the president's office that everyone knows are trash and going to make things harder, or the fact that no one is apparently going to do anything about the head of your department being a petty tyrant, etc. etc. etc.)

Another thing that being a recent phenomenon means is that there are a lot of people who have experience doing the exact thing that you want to learn how to do. So if you want to hear a first-hand perspective, I suggest looking up some recent, successful union drives, seeing which grad students are quoted in the articles, and maybe reaching out via social media or email if they have a public email address.

In my experience, union organizers tend to be happy to share their experiences, and it can be the best possible resource to know what you might be getting into.

[tips-from-a-tech-worker]

Personal post time again!

I'm fairly bad with opening up tumblr, but I have, after several years, finally figured out how Ko-fi works. I've set up a page there and will be posting updates on my organising zine series there (as well as here!).

Additionally, you can find ways to support me, and also buy some of my terrible art prints I have made.

Link here: https://ko-fi.com/henryishuman

I will be posting an update on part two of the organising 101 zine series soon!

Solidarity, folks. <3

[ourflagmeansstrike]

This was also quote tweeted and amplified by OP in the comments!

Via ashleyn1cole and ReallyMighty on twitter

[quietwings-fics]

start talking, don't stop

Rating: General Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Fandom: Supernatural Ship: JakeSam Additional Tags: Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Developing Relationship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, 3 Sentence Fiction Wordcount: 161 Summary:

Jake's first experience of Sam's vision migraines.

Jake is still figuring out where he fits here (the only one who hasn't got months of hunting together on his side, the only one who didn't know who the others were when they were dropped into Cold Oak) when it first happens. The visions, Jake knows about, but no one told him about afterwards, the way Sam would curl in on himself and hiss in barely contained pain from the following migraine, and there's no one else in the motel room better qualified to do something about it.

So Jake just starts talking to distract him, keeps his voice low and steady and tells Sam about anything he can think of, which mostly ends up being about his little sister from the first time he took her to get her hair done to working extra shifts to pull together more money for her birthday, and Sam listens, breathing in and out as slowly as he can, eyes shut and relaxing.

(Enjoyed it? Any interaction is welcomed. You can even support me on Ko-Fi <3)

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I've learned that the only thing you have to do to impress gentiles is to show the most basic of knowledge about judaism

[proustianlesbian]

i am honestly so in chock at how my post about boris volynov's birthday had and is still getting so many notes 😭 !! why me ? why just today, a few days after it was posted ? but it's what he deserve 🥺🥰🥹 !! a lot of thank yous to everyone who shared it, i spent a while searching for good pictures and i hope he knows he is loved (at least by me haha) and known even outside of ex-ussr countries !!

[nando161mando]

Are Unions Democracy? | 101