Building Strong Strike Support

During his time in Detroit, Labor Notes’ recently departed editor was a coordinator of strike support committees for the American Axle and Northwest mechanics strikes. Here he shares a few hard-earned tips on how (and how not) to build support committees. . . .

Editor’s Note: During his time in Detroit, Labor Notes’ recently departed editor was a coordinator of strike support committees for the American Axle and Northwest mechanics strikes. Here he shares a few hard-earned tips on how (and how not) to build support committees.

Maureen Taylor of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization speaks at a June tribute for the American Axle strikers.

As the clock struck 4 p.m., committee organizers paced anxiously around the empty banquet room. Dinners for 500 strikers and supporters sat simmering in unclaimed trays. By 4:30 the mostly still-empty room had reduced some of them to open worry.

In this case—a June tribute dinner for American Axle strikers—the day was saved by hundreds arriving an hour later, on “union time.” A few lessons on building a strong, well-running support committee could help a newbie strike supporter avoid all that anxiety in the first place.

GETTING A MOVE ON

As in a good contract campaign or a strategic strike, strike supporters should begin building as early as possible, ideally before a contract expires and a strike is likely.

In the real world, though, supporters—and often even strikers—have little to no control over how long workers are out walking pickets. An early start can cut the risk of being too little, too late.

While the American Axle Strike Support Committee, in a recent example, was built quickly, stayed organized, and pulled off a major event, it could not overcome the sobering fact that it was organized a week before the 87-day strike was over.

The committee, for all its good work, was mostly limited to building support efforts for strikers suffering from the settlement’s aftermath.

STARTING UP

Because major strikes have been infrequent this decade, support committees are often built on an ad hoc, local basis. In many cases, you need to pull together a group of individual activists you can quickly count on for your initial committee meeting.

Do you already work with a group of solidarity-minded union members or other activists in your workplace or community? Pull them in. Know sympathetic clergy members or community organizers? Bring them along.

If you are lucky enough to be in a city that has an active Jobs with Justice chapter, a central labor council with a “street heat” committee, local unions with a history of supporting other pickets, or labor-supporting community coalitions or activist groups, woo representatives from them. Keep in mind that these groups are not set up Red Cross-style for instant solidarity relief; pulling them in takes as much patient effort as bringing in individuals.

Strike support efforts in the Detroit area, for instance, often fall back on a loose network of groups such as the Action Coalition of Strikers and Supporters and the Wobbly Kitchen, both of which came out of the Detroit newspaper strike more than a decade ago.

Call and confirm with everyone you reach out to that they are coming to the first meeting.

WORKING WITH STRIKERS

Another important initial step is to get buy-in from the strikers themselves. This may seem like a no-brainer, but messy circumstances can make this tricky. A good goal is to have as many strikers and strikers’ family members as you can participating in the committee meetings, with solid lines of communication and trust between strikers and backers.

A good union either will have already marshaled its supporters before the strike or will be eager early on to find and work with supporters.

While the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association had no initial plan for community support in the Northwest Airlines mechanics strike in 2005, the union did reach out to fledgling supporters’ committees in several hub cities in the first weeks of the strike.

SUPPORT LABOR NOTES

BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

Give $10 a month or more and get our "Fight the Boss, Build the Union" T-shirt.

AMFA Local 5 took it an extra step by forming a solidarity committee of members who went out and walked other unions’ pickets, inspiring others in turn to join up with their strike support committee.

Unfortunately, a number of union leaders will be reluctant to work with outsiders or in some cases outright hostile. Sometimes you just need to respectfully convince skeptical or suspicious officers or members that outside support can open another, useful front in their fight.

Think about the best representative from your committee, such as a retired member of the local or a well-known community member, to approach them.

In other cases, where undemocratic or incompetent officers reign and may be antagonistic, look for other local officers or rank-and-file members you can work with—and damn the torpedoes. Tough fights throw up new activists and leaders from the ranks; seek them out.

ONWARD AND UPWARD

Regardless of your starting point, work relentlessly to broaden your initial support base. Make pitches for your committee at other meetings you attend—and organize others to do the same at theirs.

A public letter of support or a petition can be an organizing tool. As its first task, the American Axle committee wrote a solidarity statement that connected the strike to the broader concerns of the Detroit community.

The statement was used not just to make a symbolic argument for solidarity, but to pull in and publicize a wider range of support by approaching an ever-growing list of key signers. The statement was made into thousands of flyers and distributed (make sure to have a union bug on it) to a wide range of organizations.

As more names were added, different versions with the longer lists were produced. Many of those listed turned out small groups for the June dinner.

Use all the media available to get the “y’all come” message out. Write a short press release and send it around to the local press. Set up a simple website on an easy-to-use, free host like blogger.com. Example:
Detroit Support: Detroit-area union and community members working to support unions..

If the strike is national or regional, look outside your city for other committees. A nationally coordinated network, as in the 1992-1995 Staley lockout or the 1985-86 Hormel strike, can be powerful.

FORCE MULTIPLIER

Once you have your committee built, figure out where to put your energy. Each strike has its particular needs, and the committee will have to hash out a number of questions. Does the strike look like a winner?

If yes, focus on building broader cross-union and community support and providing logistical support for picket lines. If no, then you may need to also figure out a more dramatic plan of action. Because strikers are shackled by a wide (and increasing) range of legal prohibitions, such as not being able to block scabs and deliveries, outside supporters can play an important role in militant actions. Make sure to get buy-in from committee members and strikers about their comfort range.

Solidarity efforts have arcs. A well-thought-out timetable of escalating actions will strengthen the overall effort. Start small with less-risky actions such as a community rally and work up the scale.

One example of a middle-range action was a car caravan at the Detroit airport in which mechanics strike supporters drove round and round in the terminal, snarling traffic. Well-supported strikes have upped the ante even further: the Detroit newspaper strike brought out hundreds who blockaded press plant gates over and over again.

Relearning the art of building support committees is a necessary piece in the overall revival of labor’s strike weapon.