Lies: A Journal of Materialist Feminism - Libcom

had ten residents each, up from eight. The shower aide, previously
required to give 10 showers a shift, now gave seven.
Were these changes victories? It was an ambiguous situation. On my
end, I was lucky they had not fired me, or anyone else. But despite
the distressing experiences, engaging in this necessary struggle was
important. It injected fear into this racist, ugly bureaucracy. It let
them know that we could come together, and when we did, they had
a lot to lose. It made them a little less arrogant and it gave us some
dignity.
~
“Use labor law as a shield, not a weapon,” is a slogan I have often
heard in labor organizing circles. It gets at how labor law in the US is
not strong, and should not be relied on by workers trying to organize
on the job. No law can substitute for collective action by politically
conscious, courageous workers who take their liberation into their
own hands. At times, labor law even serves to suppress militant action.
That being said, during low periods of struggle, labor law can
buy time and space for organizing. NLRB Section 7 gives workers
the right to concerted action around working conditions. If one can
prove that management retaliates for collective organizing, then the
employer will be mandated to post a letter in the workplace informing
workers of their legal right to organize.
The posting that the NLRB mandated my bosses put up for three
months didn’t save me from their covert harassment, but it did save
my job. It also became the talk of the workplace.
“It’s like they apologized! Unbelievable.”
“We have to know this law. We have to use it.”
“But the law won’t protect us unless we already take independent
collective action. If we hadn’t given the petition all together, we
wouldn’t be protected in the first place!”
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JOMO