Well we went and did it. As always the nerves left me when I woke up in the morning, and I simply set to preparing our table, signs, and other assorted supplies with the same cadence as I would just getting together my apron and making lunch for a shift. Dos and I decided to take our unmade signs up to the store yesterday in an attempt to try and make it feel like more of a group project, and a friend who did a print shop run for our fliers stopped by to drop them off and revealed his hidden talent for sharp-looking lettering. Another friend provided snacks & water by way of a costco run, and also came down to support us the day of. This is not the first time that I have felt as though the only special quality I possess is that I am in the company of more talented and generous people than I could possibly deserve to be, and I'm grateful for every one of them in my life. Past the cut I've recounted the picket action itself in broad strokes.
It was cold. The handwarmers were a great idea. Only wearing one shirt (my union t-shirt) was not. I constantly waffled about whether to keep my jacket zipped to preserve body heat or to unzip it and let the union logo rock. When we arrived I immediately noted that the umbrellas and patio furniture weren't deployed, and quickly confirmed that our store had indeed not opened for a minute today - I had the boys leave a note on the way out last night so that anyone showing up at 5AM would not be confused as to why we weren't present, and it's still up there even now in case anyone going for their evening fix is similarly confused.
This was a huge relief, because we've had a vocal anti-union minority in our store, namely the one worker who voted no in our original election and has continued to vocally oppose any talk of unions since then. Their conduct leading up to this action could be summarized as acting as a mouthpiece for management, suggesting that the store would be opened without us working it, that the presence of a picket would only increase business on Red Cup Day, and even asking other partners what their intent for the day was. That last one is actually toeing the line of legality enough that I've had to get in touch with our lawyer about it, although I have yet to hear back if it will result in an Unfair Labor Practice being filed.
Either way, it was all talk. Without anyone to operate the store at open, the store simply didn't open, and management was unable or unwilling to assemble a staff of scab workers from within the district to force the issue. This was honestly a huge relief for me - not only because of the inherently demoralizing impact of having one's workplace scabbed during a strike, but also because it would change the entire tone of the day, and I am not yet confident in my ability to lead an effective hard picket line. Standing outside a shutdown store and effectively doing community outreach and informative picketing is one thing, actually trying to hold the line and discourage customers from getting the thing they want is quite another, and I would rather like to have some experience taking part in that before trying to lead it myself.
It also let me set up our table basically directly in front of the main entrance, which absolutely wouldn't have been the case if the store were open. This gave us plenty of visibility and approachability to customers, able to take fliers and sign our #nocontractnocoffee pledge sheet at their leisure, while chatting with myself and others. Others included Dos and my friend Hazel, a handful of DSA lads who came out to support, and every worker who told me they'd be at the picket line. Nobody flaked, and the folks who said they'd support just by staying home kept their word as well. I can't ask for much more than that, really.
Since we didn't need to actively picket anything, the vibes were casual and friendly. People passing by in their cars were happy to honk and wave, other folks would come up and either notice us then immediately figure out that we're on strike, or bounce off the front door and read the strike notice before asking me why we were closed. I feel like I talked more in that four hour span than I do in an eight hour shift, even though I know that's not actually true - It's just I'm usually not talking outside in the low 40s. And everyone liked our signs! We might not have had the same sort of kinetic energy as the downtown stores put on display, but we didn't get scabbed and we had a solid turnout for the duration of the picket, so I'm calling it a successful strike.
I'm not really sure where we go from here - At the national level, this was our biggest strike action ever, both in raw numbers and in terms of proportion of union stores that went on strike. I know we've got plenty of favorable coverage in the media, and at least in our neck of the woods it seems like everyone understands we're getting a raw deal and the company could be doing much better by us than they currently are. I suspect the appetite for direct action will once again quiet down in my store, and I'm quite okay with that because it gives me more time to continue my work organizing more non-union shops to mobilize. Being part of this specific one felt important, and I hope we can look back on it later and say with pride that we were part of that great big strike that finally knocked some sense into the company. But I can't say for sure, so all I'm going to do is keep my head down and keep working. We've got our store holiday meeting next week, that should be fun.
