Viewpoint: Potential UAW Strike Introduces Some Challenges
By E. Steele
The following article represents the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Detroit Socialist Editorial and Writers’ Collective or Detroit DSA as a whole.
Is a strike always the best outcome in a contract campaign? Socialists are often torn between their desire for heightened class conflict and their goal of protecting workers. Surprisingly, the answer to this question is not at all controversial among many auto workers at the Big 3.
Conventional wisdom tells us that workers would rather not strike if they can avoid it. This is why popular books such as Jane McAlevy’s “No Shortcuts” and Labor Notes’ “Secrets of a Successful Organizer” both encourage starting small and building to escalating campaigns of bigger and riskier actions. However, this attitude is not present at Sterling Stamping among the members of UAW Local 1264 who work there.
Over the past month, the strike is all anyone talks about. It’s been decades since Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) faced a major strike, so even those with high seniority are excited about their first opportunity to go out. The majority opinion is clear: “We are going to strike, and we are going to win.” Workers count down the days until contract expiration, and anyone who complains about being scheduled for 14 or 21 days straight is reassured with a grin: “Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time off soon.”
This attitude might seem ideal to a socialist or a militant unionist. Workers understand their leverage in the economy, and are ready to fight together and win! However, it is not without its pitfalls.
Most are so confident in their power that they lack much interest in a contract campaign. To be sure, the new UAW leaders are swimming upstream; the UAW has never attempted a contract campaign before at the Big 3. And leaders have had success getting workers strike ready, as their open lines of communication and publication of demands have led to broad buyin, excitement, and discussion. Still, even those who are most excited to strike will forget to wear a red shirt on Wednesday, or balk at the idea of a rally or practice picket: “Why should I spend my energy on all of that? We are just going to win it with the strike!”
Similarly, everyone is convinced that come 11:59 pm on the 14th, we WILL be going on strike. At the time of writing, the UAW’s strategy for the strike is a closely guarded secret. Possible approaches include everything from bottleneck strikes targeting a relatively small number of strategic plants, all the way up to striking every plant at all three employers. Local 1264’s participation from day one is far from guaranteed, but you wouldn’t know it from the buzz on the shop floor.
For an energetic organizer, the potential of being in the factory after contract expiration is exciting. Unfettered by contract language against slowdowns or marches on the boss, there are huge opportunities for rank and file militancy. Unfortunately, the certainty regarding the strike makes many uninterested in these ideas.
There is also the additional risk of expectations. If midnight comes and goes and we are all still at work, many may feel let down, and may lose interest in collective action, or trust in the new leadership.
Despite these problems, socialists should be excited about the developments in the UAW. When workers are conscious of their position within the economy and their inherent antagonisms with the boss, good things happen. It will take time to build a culture of rank-and-file activity, but already there have been steps forward. A decisive strike can build on these successes and create further appetite for militancy, both among workers in auto and in other sectors of the economy.
[E. Steele is the pen name of a Detroit-area auto worker.]
Check out other articles in The Detroit Socialist’s Building Labor Power series here.
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