Solidarity unionism
Model of labor organizing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Solidarity unionism is a model of labor organizing in which the workers themselves formulate strategy and take action against the company directly without mediation from government or paid union representatives.[1] The term originated in a 1978 book Labor Law for the Rank and Filer by Staughton Lynd who described a model of organizing promoted in the early 20th century by the Industrial Workers of the World which eschews the formality and bureaucracy of government-recognized unions, which Lynd and co-author Daniel Gross refer to as "business unions."[1]
Supporters feel that enabling a union which does not need to win support from a majority of workers makes it easier to organize and gain workplace improvements.[1] This model was tried in the early 2000s by the IWW to organize Starbucks unions in the United States.[1][2][3][4]
History
According to the Industrial Workers of the World, Solidarity Unionism is a term coined by Alice and Staughton Lynd, but also is inspired by works from Martin Glaberman, C.L.R. James, and Stan Weir.[5]
The IWW's current advocacy of Solidarity Unionism originated in 2002 from the article "Open Source Unionism: A Proposal to American Labor" by Richard B. Freeman and Joel Rogers.[4] The text argues that traditional unionism was not working, and that to increase membership, open-source unionism (OSU) would welcome members before they achieved majority status. OSU would Treat union membership as a long-term civic and social affiliation, not just a workplace contract[6]
Throughout 2002 and 2003, then IWW General Secretary Treasurer, Alexis Buss, developed the idea and wrote a column in the Industrial Worker called "The Minority Report" which had 5 editions spanning from July 2002 to June 2003. These articles say, that a workplace committee can organize for a contract, with or without a National Labour Relations Board (NLRB) certification election, and that the difference between staff-driven unionism and solidarity unionism, is that the staff negotiates and holds responsibility for the enforcement of that contract. With solidarity unionism the workplace committee would assume those responsibilities.[7]
