Why You Need To Beat Your Bosses
A workplace dispute gave me and my colleagues something we never expected… solidarity.
Memories are curious things. In 2011 I was enduring a difficult personal life while working an exhausting job with little prospect of promotion. Yet when I think of that time, while the mental images are occasionally bleak, my feelings about it are not. Indeed today, while far more comfortable for me despite present pandemic concerns, seems monotone and flat in comparison.
That period of my life was defined by a word seldom heard in mainstream circles nowadays, a word the world is often crying out for: solidarity. It is amazing what solidarity can do. Working in a caring profession should be a great way to build it with others, but sometimes we are fragmented or disengaged from what is happening around us.
Workplace struggles
Maybe we ignore that minor alteration to our contract that says we need to arrive earlier without remuneration. Or we don’t notice that we’re losing our privacy and peace when our staff room is made into a stock room. Perhaps we shun the salary we once had and instead become a contractor that can be fired on a whim. Often we toil from dawn to beyond dusk without complaint.
And this doesn’t just apply to those in clinical jobs, but those in a variety of professions and roles. It is important, when this happens, to beat your bosses.
For us, solidarity is the united feeling that emerges against injustice — and the feeling that remains after justice is served.
The singular human is vulnerable, and their life is short. In 2011, I was constantly tired with an aching back and wearied legs. But I was buoyed along by the struggles against a work regime, one trying to squeeze as much energy as it could from minimum-wage employees.
My boss was just a functionary trying to impose the instructions of those higher up. They felt flattered to be considered some kind of supervisor. They did not act in the interests of staff or even the people we were supposed to care for, beyond on a very superficial level. Our boss needed to be opposed. And oppose them we did.
Solidarity in action
But when people often think about solidarity, they mystify it. They turn it into something from a kitchen-sink drama about life in poverty. Or something seen in films but not in the everyday. Those in power, when making their moves on the chessboard, often show solidarity. They cover each others’ backs and protect each others’ interests. This is how you win at games, but also at work.
I’m not calling for anything terribly new. Only that we put our personal issues aside and act in our group interest as the working class. I would also like to note that when I say this is about beating bosses, that boss you need to beat may well be yourself. Humans are complex entities with split interests. But at times, a side must be chosen. Management roles are often bestowed on people to sow division. It can be used as a tool to break down or divide classes. And not every manager is loyal to unfair and unfit workplaces.
Here are a few tips to foster solidarity where you work:
- While it is important to talk shop and details, engaging people requires understanding what they want and accessing their feelings. Why is this unfair? Can you imagine something better than this? Doesn’t this make you angry?
- Humans are sociable. Do sociable things with your colleagues and establish situations where you rely on and trust each other.
- People may stand in your way. It’s not necessary to trust everyone. Don’t take people’s silence for tacit agreement, and if you need to ask directly for others’ support, don’t be afraid to do it. It’s better to have a frank answer than assume others don’t support you. That said, to build any kind of campaign requires thinking of who to speak to first, as well as a decision about whose voices will have the greatest influence.
- The mere suggestion of resistance can sometimes be enough to turn the tables or force change. While I can’t advise you to spread false information, there is nothing wrong with allowing your boss to draw their own conclusions from hearsay and vague communication. Fear of the unknown is a great motivator. There’s no reason not to use this to your advantage as workers, if you can.
To conclude with some details — the dispute that my workplace experienced in 2011 brought a lot of people together and forged friendships. Swift and decisive action led to an admission that several management ideas were unworkable. There was a wholescale retreat. Moreover, I remember it fondly because it gave me a sense of something beyond myself. There is something profound in solidarity struggles. Even when — especially when — the times are hard and the money isn’t enough, we need to remember this.
Sometimes we need to beat our bosses to reveal where the power lies: in ourselves.
