From IATSE to BCTGM: UNITE HERE stands in solidarity with all the labor activity abuzz this #Striketober
On behalf of the 300,000 hospitality workers and families that UNITE HERE represents, we want to extend our fullest solidarity with IATSE workers who authorized what would be the biggest strike in decades, as well as the thousands of workers at Kellogg’s factories, nurses, coal miners, and more already on strike.
Right now, it is clear that we are in a significant moment for union organizing. We have the most pro-union federal administration ever—not to mention a union leader as the head of the Department of Labor—and union favorability is the highest it’s been in decades. It is no shocker that workers are organizing now, after over eighteen months of a raging pandemic.
What we cannot do is lose this moment. Look at the collective action and energy happening across several industries. The so-called “labor shortage”—which we know is really a shortage of jobs that pay enough to live on—is a powerful bit of leverage workers have over employers right now. Workers are fed up with companies profiteering off their backs and are emboldened by this moment. Businesses have shown us that we cannot rely on them. The government has shown us that we can only rely on it for so much. What we can rely on always is ourselves, our sisters, brothers, and siblings, and our aspiration to join together in union.
To capture this moment, we must organize, and we must do so aggressively, because it will not last forever. The union movement must have the same courage as IATSE workers, Kellogg’s workers, Warrior Met workers, and healthcare workers—who are willing to walk out or already on strike.