UPS workers in Minneapolis expressed support for a city-wide general strike on Friday, January 23, to force the withdrawal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) paramilitary forces from the city and secure the prosecution of those responsible for the killing of Minneapolis resident Renée Nicole Good.
A coalition of unions and community organizations called for a city-wide “day of action” on Friday, urging residents to participate in “no work, no school, no shopping.” Workers interpreted the call as a general strike to use the power of the working class to shut down economic activity and oppose state repression.
However, the trade union apparatus has moved swiftly to suppress any independent action by workers. Teamsters Local 638, which has over 5,000 members in Minnesota and North Dakota, circulated a letter warning members that participation in a work stoppage would violate their labor agreements with the corporate bosses. “The collective bargaining agreement that applies to you includes a no-strike provision, so you are not legally permitted to strike,” the statement declared.
Yeah, more proof that while unions are useful, they exist within the structure of capital and cannot conceive of standing against it wholly. They are a subservient tool that capital briefly allowed but have been bringing to heel for decades. I’ve seen this first hand in my own union and the leadership often fails to recognize their own role in perpetuating capital, often only for crumbs of the crumbs of the pie.
Modern unions protect the job not the worker