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Management keeping tabs on workers& #39; propensity to organize is nothing new. Starbucks would not only track who was wearing union pins but changes in how many pins they would wear. However, crunching this much data, I& #39;m not aware of that being public before. Really significant. https://twitter.com/businessinsider/status/1252248763235696641">https://twitter.com/businessi...
Unions also want to know where propensity to organize is high. However, the only thing I& #39;ve seen in labor that approximates the automation and sophistication of the model here is in voter targeting, rather than choosing an organizing focus.
Seems to me that it& #39;s important for labor to be able to match or get as close as possible to matching a system like this. We believe in campaign choice selection frameworks, we believe in workplace charts. As currently constructed, they don& #39;t size up well to the system here.
A word on the reported finding that the less diverse the store, the more likely it is to move to organize.
Yes, pitting workers against each other based on race is a central tool of union-busting. That& #39;s the bosses move, what& #39;s the actionable part for us? The strategic and moral imperative of anti-racism in organizing.
Racism courses through everything. That& #39;s why it is plausible to me that the more diverse stores would be less likely to organize. There& #39;s tons of segregation in social life from day you& #39;re born and then workers find themselves together on the Whole Foods or whichever shop floor.
For example, we know from the communicated experiences of Black workers and from the social science why Black folks are sitting together in the cafeteria (to paraphrase the book title.) TL;DR to create safety from racism.
To conclude, nothing is more important than workplace organizing that prioritizes the leadership, demands, and safety of marginalized people. Morally it& #39;s right, because of the hugely disproportionate harm those folks face.
Strategically it& #39;s right, because otherwise organizing across difference will not happen. Whole Foods will remain correct that the more diverse stores are less likely to come together. Organizing with a vision and a day-to-day practice of anti-racism is how we flip the script.
