In a recent conversation, a Fellow Worker relayed a line of questioning posed to her by other Wobblies: How small a group is too small for direct action? When is it too soon to begin pushing back against the boss? At what point does one reach a “critical mass” big and strong enough to start getting gains on the job? These are important questions for workers organizing their shop because answering them incorrectly can lead to real trouble down the line.
But this way of thinking is general and almost philosophical. Like all philosophical questions, there is a present danger of merely analyzing the abstract workplace rather than trying to change the real one in front of us.
The first answer to the question, “When is it too soon to begin pushing back on the boss?” is never. This is because there is always some degree of pressure, however small, that we can bring to bear on our employer. Individual workers do this all the time, independent and uncoordinated, and often just for our own catharsis.
How many of us say, “Yes, sir!” and do the opposite once our manager stops looking, because we know our way is better or takes less needless effort? So often workers say one thing and do another because management has lost touch with how the workplace actually functions.
At my job, there is one janitorial worker acting under the supervision of a janitorial manager. (Why a manager exists for the sake of one worker is another philosophical question I won’t get into here.) A while ago, this (still probationary) worker approached me with a problem: Until that day, they had been entrusted by their manager with a master key. This enabled them to access the entire building to clean, stock supplies, and do tasks like change light bulbs.
When another manager discovered the worker had this key, they made a mountain out of a molehill. Rather than seeing that this worker was just doing their daily work, managers made an issue of them having such wide access to the building. Though they had never given any indication of dishonesty, they were painted as a risk to the building’s security. It didn’t matter that the worker’s direct manager had entrusted them with this responsibility or that they realistically needed access to various rooms to maintain the building. Management took the master key. The worker’s direct manager told them to quietly get a spare master key when needed and never mention it, but the worker feared they would eventually be caught and in even deeper trouble. What to do?
We had some options. We could go the business union route and try to file a grievance. Human Resources likes to say that our probationary employees cannot file grievances, but while this stipulation is in some contracts, it’s nowhere in ours. So, typically we file anyway. And, historically, HR hears the grievance. (“Labor peace” is a sword that cuts both ways.) But was the best option to file paperwork, spend weeks setting up a meeting time, and wait weeks more for an answer (which may not be the answer we want)?
I didn’t think so.
The worker was angry. They did their work well and had shown themself to be trustworthy. They felt insulted, even targeted, and they wanted to lash out. So first I told them to take a deep breath. And then I advised this worker, “Consider if every time you are asked to do something that requires that master key, you politely drag your manager into it. Every time you need to open a storage closet, access an office, stock a shelf, you have to ask your manager to come around with your master key. You smile kindly at the other managers and say, ‘I’ll have to call them for that.’ What do you think would happen?”
They liked the idea.
It took a few days for management to throw in the towel. After all, this was almost as bad as having no janitorial worker at all. Practically every time the worker needed to do the basic functions of their job, their manager would have to make the long trip up to the right floor or another building to turn a lock. Supervisors were forced to wait in the chaos of the workday for something as simple as toilet paper or a new light bulb.
There was no blow-up, no dramatic showdown with management, no discussion of the root issue at all. In less than a week, the master appeared back on the keyring. It wasn’t brought up again.
Now if just a single worker can find ways to push back, so can two or three. The key is to know the limits of the group one is working with and keep in mind the art of escalation. (In shorthand: don’t put a target on your back.) A handful of workers probably can’t get the whole workplace higher pay, better vacation, or an improved sick leave policy. This was revealed to me all too vividly during our contract negotiations, when the handful of us alone on the bargaining committee couldn’t get management to budge on most big issues.
But a few workers may be able to win many small gains that, when stacked, add up to major changes in the workplace. A couple of workers can often push back on a bully supervisor, or convince others to start changing workflows and methods, or create precedents that other workers can appeal to later. And it is really never too soon to begin mapping out these possibilities. I have acted with one or two other workers on these issues more times than I can count. Even more exciting, I’ve watched them start to do it on their own.
Each workplace is already made up of tiny little unions acting independently of each other. We call them social groups. As informal work groups, they can win some real gains for themselves. Even if not by design, these gains sometimes spill over to benefit others.
When we organize workplaces based on solidarity, rooted in shared concerns and demands, we bridge the small power of these groups to create a unified front. We coordinate but do not replace these little cells of worker self-defense. These small groups never stop existing and, if we’re smart, we’re always helping them find ways to act on their own initiative whenever it makes sense. There is a natural subsidiarity in the strongest solidarity.
Indeed, these small actions are usually the basis of bigger ones down the line. They can also be harder or seem less worthwhile for the boss to quash. Little wins instill people with confidence, build trust, and give us examples to show that a better workplace is possible. Once a culture like this is formed, it’s tough for management to undo.
Approaching organizing in this way likely means it will be a slow, deliberate, methodical process, not something that escalates and ends in a few weeks or months. But this approach is generally safer, more stable, and longer-lasting. These small wins begin to link up, forming a web of resistance that can expand over time to cover the whole job. If we press on in this way, the boss will eventually find himself all tied up.