We Are Worth More
by VanessaVaile
The intersection between precariat protests by low-wage workers and close analysis of the National Labor Relations Act is an important lesson that adjunct academic labor should not ignore. There is a place and a clear purpose for us in this approach. Now to add this blog to the overflowing feed reader and look for more articles by Jack Metzgar to read and, of course, share.
Last month a few hundred retail and fast-food workers, from places like Sears, Dunkin’ Donuts, and McDonald’s, walked off their jobs for a rally in downtown Chicago. Carrying signs saying “Fight for 15” (or “Lucha Por 15”) and “We Are Worth More,” these workers make $9 or $10 an hour, at best, and they figure they’re worth at least $15.
A one-shift walk-out and protest by a few hundred out of the thousands of such workers in the Chicago Loop and along Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile cannot have the economic impact of a traditional strike – one that shuts down an entire workplace or industry for an extended period of time and, therefore, can bend an employer’s will. And these workers’ chances of getting $15 an hour any time soon are worse than slim. This “job action,” bolstered by community supporters organized by Action Now and with help from Service…
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As the Adjunctiverse Turns 