Verizon Workers’ Victory Shows the Power of the Strike- the Working Class’s Strongest Economic Weapon
On Friday, the Department of Labor announced that a tentative agreement had been reached between Verizon Communications Inc. and the two unions (the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) representing Verizon’s workers. The agreement ends a 45 day strike involving 40,000 Verizon workers, the largest labor action America has seen in recent memory.
The Verizon workers can be proud of what they accomplished through the strike- though the exact details of the agreement are not yet known, the CWA reported the unions had won “big gains” thanks to the strike, and had achieved their goals of improving the workers’ standard of living and creating more good union jobs. The unions also won the first contract for wireless retail store workers.
Once the details of the agreement are put in writing and released to the public, the agreement can be analyzed more thoroughly. For now, I want to call attention to the success achieved by the Verizon workers through using the strongest weapon of workers when fighting for their rights- the strike.
Verizon made its “last, best, and final offer” to the unions a month ago, on April 28. For the unions, this “best” offer was “the same old bullshit”- a tiny wage increase accompanied by no guarantee of job security. As the CWA wrote to its members, “what good is a wage increase if we cannot ensure that our jobs will be around a year or two from now?”
The Verizon workers showed by striking that Verizon’s “last, best, and final” offer was actually no such thing. The strike inflicted significant economic damage on Verizon: as of last Wednesday, shares of the company were down nearly 5%. This kind of impact on a company’s bottom line is (unfortunately) what ultimately gets the attention of upper-management. As a result of this economic damage, the unions were able to force Verizon back to the bargaining table and, with the Department of Labor mediating, ultimately reach a deal.
The success of the Verizon workers’ strike shows what a powerful weapon the strike is for organized labor and the working class. Strikes have power even outside of collective bargaining; as recent strike actions have shown, they are used for the benefits of the entire community. In Seattle, striking teachers won not just rights for themselves, but won guaranteed 30 minutes of recess for elementary school children, something parents (and, I would think, the kids) had sought. In Oakland, striking union workers closed the Port of Oakland to protest police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. These actions show how the use of the strike as a weapon can help not just the striking workers themselves, but all working class people.
Unfortunately, the use of this weapon has also been on the decline for decades; as Professor Jake Rosenfeld of the University of Wisconsin notes, “the number of strikes involving 1,000 or more workers peaked at over 400 in 1974. In 2009, there were five.”
There is no denying that strikes are exceptionally difficult and trying for workers: not only are workers out of work and therefore unpaid, but companies threaten the ability of workers to return to work after the strike is over. In the Verizon strike, for example, Verizon openly advertised for replacement workers (referred to as “scabs” in the labor movement) to replace the striking employees:
At the same time, a strike offers workers results that no other weapon can. Even aside from the direct bargaining benefits a strike brings, there are few things as effective at building working class solidarity as a strike action. The struggle of going through a successful strike together strengthens bonds between union members and makes real what can be accomplished through collective action. As Cesar Chavez said, “when a man or woman, young, or old, takes a place on the picket line for even a day or two, he will never be the same again.”
There is a growing and strong desire within the labor movement to bring back the strike action as a widespread tactic again; the difficulty has been in implementing the resurgence. Writing for In These Times last year, David Goodner pointed out that much of the money that unions could be spending organizing strikes has instead gone into funding electoral politics. He argued that “labor would be better off scaling back its electoral work and instead double down on new and internal organizing, with a special emphasis on bringing back the widespread and prolific use of the strike — a weapon that, unlike the campaign contribution, actually has the power to change the political calculus on the job and in Washington.”
Ideally, the success of the Verizon strike can be used as a spark to inspire other large-scale strikes, and help bring about a resurgence in strike actions across the country. The details of the Verizon agreement will be important; the bigger the win for the unions, the more confidence other workers will have in engaging in strikes.
Again, for now Verizon workers can be proud of what they accomplished. Holding out for 45 days in the face of being replaced is an extraordinary accomplishment. With luck, this accomplishment can inspire further actions, and workers will once again make widespread use of the strike, their strongest economic weapon.
