Like strikes such as those of screenwriters (WGA) and actors(SAG-AFTRA), recent news is marked by numerous worker movements in theUnited States. ---- This should not surprise us, however, the countryhas been crossed throughout its history by intense struggles where thebourgeoisie has more than once wavered before regaining control, alwayswith brutality and racism. Of course, our national press avoids beinginterested in these subjects as much as possible and prefers to presentthe country from the angle of the American dream or by making fun of theso-called idiocy of its inhabitants.We will briefly present the situation in the country since Covid, basedon local meetings and articles from the American press. Since 2020, thecountry has been marked by the national Black Lives Matter protestmovement and its fierce repression/repression by the Americanbourgeoisie. In the midst of the Covid crisis, discontent has alsolargely focused on the question of salary.During this period, many employees (often the most precarious and unableto work remotely) found themselves unemployed following the liquidationof their companies or massive layoffs by large companies (1).Working conditions in the country are particularly harsh and wages verylow for those paid at or just above the minimum wage. To give somecontext, the federal minimum hourly wage is $7.25 (no increase since2009) and is in effect in many states. No state, even the most"progressive", exceeds $16 per hour. Currently, nearly 30% of workershave an hourly wage of less than $15, while the minimum hourly wage fora decent living is estimated at $25 in 2023, or even more in certainregions.Beginning of the end of Covid, resumption of the struggle by workersSince the Reagan era and the advent of neoliberalism, the number ofstrikes and their importance have decreased constantly until the end ofthe 2010s with on average less than 100,000 strikers per year (2).However, just before Covid, the number of strikers recorded in one yearjumped to almost 500,000 in 2018 and 356,000 in 2019. A trend wastherefore beginning to emerge with a resumption of struggles involving astrike, a mode of action considered extreme by American union bureaucracies.In 2021, when the recovery began and Covid became a less and lessimportant daily subject, spontaneous and sometimes original movementstook place. The "Great Resignation" of 2021 actually corresponds to alonger trend with an increasing number of departures since 2010 (3).Quitting your job has often become the only way to get better pay orbetter working conditions. It is rather the media coverage of thismovement, particularly via social networks, which was able to make animpression and initiate the resumption of this movement after the "Covidbreak".This media coverage also highlighted the "striketober" (Octoberstrikes). Here again, social networks helped to spread the movement andwe can wonder if this has not contributed to the recovery observed todayat the national level. During the striketober, numerous local strikestook place in various sectors: education, caregivers, food workers, etc.During that same year, workers at Amazon and Starbucks began organizingto found the first unions at these two giants.The situation in 2023Since this resumption of the struggle, an Amazon warehouse and more than360 Starbucks coffee shops are now unionized. And this despite thebrutal anti-union fight put in place by these companies. Unions are alsopopular and nearly 70% of Americans support them.However, even if the number of union members increases, the unionizationrate is at its lowest since the early 1980s at only 10.1% in 2022. (4)The situation is therefore still largely in favor of the capitalists inthe workplace struggle. Especially since American law largely disfavorsthe formation of unions and limits the right to strike. However, thestrikes carried out in 2022 and 2023 have often been victories, even ifnot all demands have always been met.This is the case of strikes led by screenwriters and actors. Thesestrikes, particularly difficult and long (146 days for screenwriters!),allowed these workers to obtain significant increases in theirremuneration and secured for their benefit, at least temporarily, theuse of artificial intelligence in their domain. We can also take as anexample the strike of automobile workers which for the moment has madeit possible to obtain, among other things, a salary increase of almost25% over 4 years at Ford and Stellantis.For the most part, these struggles are being waged without nationalcoordination between workers from different sectors. But solidarityinitiatives were put in place: Starbucks workers came to lend theirsupport during the screenwriters' strike pickets, who returned the favorby towing in front of cafes. The future will tell us whether thesevictories, like these solidarity initiatives, will lead to moreorganized actions at the national level (which will then flirt withillegality as American law is strict in this area).A question may come to mind when looking at this situation: how is itthat strikes resumed with such intensity at the end of the 2010s? Andthis while traditional union leadership remains quite cautious aboutthis mode of action?Although several factors can explain this development, we will focus onone in particular: the recovery of union organizations. At a conferencein New York of the Democratic Socialists of the USA (DSA), severalworkers who had actively participated in strikes or unionization came totell their stories. These examples highlight an important point to whichwe will return in conclusion.Take the example of the nurses at Montefiore Medical Center in January 2023(5). These workers won their strike after only 3 days, while theManagers had warned that they would never give in during preliminarynegotiations.According to Michelle Gonzalez (unionist and nurse), this strike wouldnever have taken place a few years ago, when the previous unionleadership was in place.Thus, this flash strike is the result of long work to regain control oftheir union by the workers concerned. The rank and file thus had toreorganize to eject the corrupt union leadership. In this new direction,the union leadership is made up of workers who participated in thismovement to take control and must be held accountable. Michelle thenexplained that this organizational work linked the collective andstrengthened the balance of power during the strike, leading to victory.This process of taking control of the union, which those concerneddescribe as being similar to that of creating a union, also took placein the shadows before most of the major strikes of 2023. This is thecase for the strike of UPS delivery workers or for the ongoing strike ofauto workers (UAW). Among the latter, the corruption cases allowed thebase to regain control and elect Shawn Fain in March 2023, whoimmediately confronted the leaders of the major automobile groups (andalso proudly wore a " Eat the rich" during a video which was then widelyrelayed).These victories can also be explained by the solidarity between new andold workers.To reduce salaries and other benefits, companies hire new employees withnew, less advantageous contracts, while maintaining the benefitsreserved for former employees. This system ("two tier system") has beenwidely denounced and has led to numerous strikes, notably at Kellogg's,John Deere and UPS. Although it has not been abolished, in particularbecause of corrupt union leadership, it remains an example of the factthat workers will not be bought off so easily.ConclusionAs in the rest of the world, Covid was only a very short break forcapitalists. The workers' struggles resumed very quickly. The recentstrikes, widely publicized and supported, will undoubtedly inspire newones. Even if this remains to be put into perspective, the victoriesobtained enlighten us on the procedure to follow: organize in a unitedmanner. Trade unionism has many faults, but it allows us to create acollective, a bond, an essential element in waging the difficultstruggle to put an end to capitalism. The testimonies collected alsoshow us that the first step is to talk with your colleague, yourneighbor or any other person who shares the same difficulties as us. Itis in the exchange between individuals that a united collective can beinitiated, capable of overthrowing the union leadership and forcing theemployers to bend through a continuous and unlimited strike. Finally,Americans are returning to the recipes that have worked in their richhistory of social struggles. Let us hope that soon American workers willorganize across the country and, why not, with their comrades in Franceand elsewhere.QuichemanSources:1https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/25/nations-12-largest-employers-laid-off-thousands-during-the-pandemic.html2https://www.statista.com/chart/19407/number-of-striking-workers-in-the-us-per-year/3https://hbr.org/2022/03/the-great-resignation-didnt-start-with-the-pandemic4https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/union-membership-rate-fell-by-0-2-percentage-point-to-10-1-percent-in-2022.htm5https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/01/12/montefiore-mount-sinai-nurse-strike-ends-staffing-ratios/Video recommendations:Interesting Youtube channels covering American news (in English):SomemoreNews, Second thoughtVideo to understand the right to strike in the USA (in English):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ac...Journal of analysis of American news: https://www.jacobin.comTo understand the history of American struggles: "An American People'sHistory" by Howard Zinn (the book is quite long but it's definitelyworth it, listen to it as an audiobook if you know English)http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4007_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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