#Striketober Proves Minnesota Workers Are Fed Up
COVID era has Americans striking at record numbers for better pay and benefits
By: Ashley Harris-Houdek
Welcome to the land of the free—if you're a billionaire. The US is ranked the worst country for workers' rights in the developed world. #Striketober is looking to change that.
We live in a pandemic era where corporations make record profits, the stock market is booming, but the worker's quality of pay and benefits has decreased. With the threat of COVID in the midst, there is no other choice but to strike.
The industrial revolution birthed a new type of violence, with child labor and 14-hour workdays. Unions were created to combat this violence. They advocated for the elimination of child labor, the 8-hour workday, and the revolutionary idea of the weekend.
Unions allow for collective bargaining, where workers demand certain rights, such as pensions, and collectively strike if they are not given those rights. The goal of striking is to demonstrate the value of the worker to the company and threaten the pockets of the wealthy—without labor, there is no business.
Going on strike is a last resort for workers because they risk losing their pay, their jobs, and sometimes their lives due to state violence. However, it's an incredibly powerful tool that big businesses fear. Because of this, unions have steadily decreased since 1945, with about 10% of Americans currently unionized.
Striking has been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic, but October of 2021 has seen record organization—nearly 100,000 workers in the US have gone on strike. The media have labeled this as #striketober. Some of the largest organized strikes in #striketober include the John Deere factory workers (10,000), the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees in Hollywood (60,000), and healthcare workers for Kaiser Peranente (24,000).
Even the recent Alec Baldwin manslaughter case ties back to #striketober. That day, workers on the set left on strike to protest unsafe working conditions. Hours later, the working conditions were proven unsafe, as Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed a worker on set.
Locally, nurses in Plymouth, Minnesota, have been striking for better benefits. They work under Allina Health, which has produced 5 billion dollars in annual revenue in 2020. The healthcare workers at Allina Health aren't fighting for something radical—simply that their holiday pay is increased up to the level that every other Allina branch in Minnesota has.
There is currently a nurse shortage due to COVID-19, so these nurses have lots of other options for work. Still, they are committed to investing in their communities and potentially sacrificing their jobs for a better future. Allina nurses from other locations have stepped in as strikebreakers, which are temporary, or eventually permanent, replacements to threaten the current nurses on strike. They are currently working toward a better contract with Allina Health.
I recently met with Aidan Thomson, a leader of the Young Democratic Socialist Party at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. This organization advocates for the rights of the working class through political organizing. He recently attended a rally for the unionized clerical workers on campus, part of the AFSCME 3800.
These rallies are some of many that AFSCME 3800 has held to add pressure to the campus and allow workers to realize what they are fighting for: not just themselves, but everyone rallying with them. The goal is to update their contract with the University. They have been "rallying the entire month, basically threatening to strike."
The contract updates that campus clerical workers are pushing for include:
More flexibility for vulnerable workers.
Ensuring safe spaces for all clerical workers.
Increasing the very low pay they receive on campus, especially due to the pandemic
Aidan compares this rally to the state of our country, stating that "the pandemic has opened our eyes to class consciousness… with companies like Amazon becoming worried with unionization efforts in Staten Island and Bessemer, Alabama, or the unionization efforts at various breweries all over the Twin Cities."
While October is over, #striketober is just the beginning—"workers will only continue to get even more organized to fight for the economic justice they deserve."
The AFSCME 3800 is currently petitioning the University for COVID accountability on campus. Their petition is available to sign online; simply google AFSCME 3800 petition, and you too can take part in #striketober.