New post: United we Bargain

post/2026/united-we-bargain.md

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+---
+layout: page
+title: "United we Bargain, Divided we Beg"
+excerpt: "Taking a day off work may not be a strike, but it is collective action."
+published_at: Fri Jan 23 10:33:28 PST 2026
+---
+
+My paternal grandparents, uncles, aunts, sister, and brother-in-law were all union. Strikes—even their threat—are a powerful tool when negotiating with management. I am pro-union, and I support strikers.
+
+Taking a day off work is not a strike.
+
+Power will only recognize threats to power, and strikes threaten a company's bottom line. If everyone takes a day off work, the effect on production can be completely eliminated by the elasticity of work. This is especially true for exempt[^hourly] employees, who are usually expected to deliver regardless of time off and have been indoctrinated over their careers into making up for "lost time". In fact, the evolution of the economy during the era of modern trade unions has made strike effectiveness more complicated—a company can weather a strike for longer if it has spread its production out across demographics[^locations] that aren't likely to participate. The effectiveness of an employee withholding their labour is basically measured by their contribution to the marginal cost of the product and that product's place in the economy. This is evidenced at the extremes by how power attempts to limit strikes in key industries, from no-strike clauses in healthcare, the Railway Labor Act,[^rla] and the union-busting of air traffic controllers.[^atc]
+
+But that doesn't mean that a daylong walkout—like what we're seeing in Minneapolis today—won't be effective. It's just not a strike; it's a protest.
+
+While it's easy to be tricked into thinking that nonviolent protests don't work, the reality is that they are a visible shot across the bow of power. Protests are a reversion to direct democracy, a show of numbers by people united by a common grievance when their elected representatives fall short. They bring like-minded people together.
+
+Most importantly though, protests are a threat of escalation. The ["3.5% rule" in political science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3.5%25_rule) is intended to assess the credibility of that threat, but it's not founded on any specific principles that make it inevitable. If you're unhappy with things, get out there and meet people who share your view. Plan actions together that will threaten power in ways that encourage better outcomes.
+
+Protests are collective action. Which makes them union as fuck.
+
+[^hourly]: As opposed to hourly/shift
+[^locations]: Usually by offshoring production, but manufacturing animosity towards immigrants or between ethnicities also works.
+[^rla]: See: [the Biden administration's blockade of a railroad workers' strike in 2022](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_railroad_labor_dispute)
+[^atc]: See: [the Reagan administration's strike-breaking action against air traffic controllers in 1981](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_strike)