Take a seat in the Break Room, our weekly round-up of labor news from Minnesota and beyond. This week: Trader Joe’s launches raid on New Deal; Minnesota lawmakers receive public option estimates; Minneapolis and Rochester teachers protest on ‘Walkout Wednesdays’; Twin Cities janitors to take strike ...
"In defending itself against union busting allegations, Trader Joe’s fired a cannon ball that could sink the ship of modern American labor law.
The grocery store chain is arguing that the federal agency prosecuting it for unfair labor practices — including giving union workers worse retirement benefits and barring workers from wearing union pins at work — is unconstitutional."
Maybe this is an ignorant question, but is there a list of companies that are pro-union? I know there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, but God damn at least I want to buy my shit from companies run by actual humans instead of this vermin
The union's website lists the companies they operate in and most union stores have a sticker on the front doors, near the front doors, or by customer service that says the local.
You can of course ask an employee, and if they say no you can tell them that it is disappointing for them and go elsewhere.
Nestlé has several B Corp certified entities. While some of the B Corp certified may be well intentioned, many just use it for marketing and greenwashing.
While it may not guarantee how ethical a company is, getting B Corporation status seems as good of an indicator as anything I’ve come across. I figure if Patagonia is willing to certify with them, maybe its legit? Here’s a link to their search page.
Oh, nice! I see Ben & Jerry's on there, I guess that's no surprise. And we do use Seventh Generation products, so that makes me feel good.
Unfortunately, I'm guessing there are no major retailers like Walmart or Target, so we're still kind of trapped into supporting union-busting retail behemoths in some way, unless you're fortunate enough to live somewhere with more options.
That's not being pro-union. That's just being unionized.
There is no such as a pro-union corporation, even from a purely capitalist perspective, the desire to maximize profit will always be at odds with the worker's desire to maximize compensation.
The issue companies have with unions isn’t necessarily that it gives workers more benefits it’s that the union comes between management and getting anything changed. It’s simply about the loss of control of their workers. You won’t find many that are pro-union due to that. And frankly, I don’t blame them. The current union setup in the US sucks for both businesses and workers.
I'm sorry, but I do blame the companies, fully and completely. If they are so self-absorbed and greed-addled that they see giving workers some level of control over their labor, then fuck them. Barring violent revolution, unions are our only hope to seize any manner of control over the corporate theft of our labor and exploitation of our working class.
It’s time to get honest with ourselves about our motivations and lack thereof and get on with doing the dirty work of manifesting a happier timeline for all of us.
I wonder if this will backfire with a massive general strike and a resurgence of unions? I heard there was a general strike planned in a few years. But probably nothing is going to happen the right-wing propaganda is very strong and ingrained now in the US.