For those unaware, Medieval Times is a dinner-theater that specializes in a medieval ambient experience. Beginning in 2022, two of its locations unionized under the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA); and since then, Medieval Times has been waging one of the most vicious anti-union campaigns in recent memory. I am saddened to report that this campaign successfully concluded this week, preventing the union from ever negotiating a contract.
The full details can be found in this Huffington Post article on the scale of the effort. But to summarize how devastating this campaign has been from Medieval Times: last February, 27 workers went on strike against the company. Today, only 7 of those 27 strikers have jobs with it. So many members have been purged or replaced that a looming effort by the the anti-union National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to decertify the union has finally gotten it to stand down at both locations. This is ultimately an important and cautionary tale in how winning a union is only the first, not last, stage of the fight:
In fact, it's not even a very important stage, in my opinion. Certainly not one to rush for as a goal.
The NLRB has almost 0 power. All the power comes from the workers. The workers are the union. The core of that power is in the ability to withhold labor; but it must also be backed up by deeper solidarity. The solidarity to say, no, we refuse to recognize your having fired our fellow worker for engaging in a union action. To donate to keep them supported via mutual aid until the employer can be forced to disgorge a wage again. The broader networks of solidarity to support those who can't get back in at a particular workplace, to give them somewhere to move on to, etc.
The only important thing in a union is the union. The workers themselves. The workers in and out of the particular workplace together in solidarity. If there's strong solidarity to rely on, the union is strong. If people can be fragmented off and dealt with one by one, or in handfuls of 5 or 10 or 20, then the owners will outlast us because they have the treasure to bribe others to look the other way, to make propaganda to lie about the ones they're ruining, etc.
