Costco workers in Norfolk have unionised and Costco are seething.
this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
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Sure, and that's great. I'm in favor of that. But how does viewing cooperation as collaboration in a class war further those objectives?
"Fuck you for trying to be better" isn't a viable strategy for the midterm goal of "more fairness".
If you’re in favor with what I’ve said, then we’re probably not in much disagreement. We’re probably misunderstanding each other on a point not worth quibbling over.
It's the viewing it as intrinsically hostile, and the (seeming) delight at the perception of "hurt" to the business almost over the benefits it brings to labor.
I don't view organization as an intrinsically hostile act. It can be defensive or hostile depending on the business, and often is, but it needn't be if the business doesn't make it so.
Even in a situation with collective ownership, you still have a voluntary organization of that collective.
That organization isn't hostile.
This is a corporation we are talking about, and that sort of organization is intrinsically hostile to labor.
The capitalist-wage slave relationship structurally is an antagonistic one. A worker cooperative isn’t structurally antagonistic, nor is a democratic socialist state. Whether a form of organizing is hostile depends on the structure/power dynamics of its relationships.
Costco has always been one of the better employers. They should get some credit for that.
shrug I don't think people are saying otherwise, but what they are saying is unions will make them an even better employer.
For tactical reasons, we don’t always act belligerently toward our employers, but the relationship is still always a belligerent one, structurally.