We must protect workers' right to walk out [telecom]

open original image

By Alex Gourevitch

The ability to stop production is the ultimate source of worker power. But the right to strike is far from guaranteed.

Given the new politics of inequality, there is every reason to think that strikes will become more common. So long as the economy is as radically unequal and oppressive as it is, workers have a right to go on strike. This is an uncomfortable thing to say because of what it means to defend that right.

The 40,000-person, Verizon strike on Wednesday and the Fight for $15 strikes on Thursday are just the latest examples of worker walkouts. The Verizon strikers are protesting about a host of issues, including the company's demand for reduced compensation, loss of job security, work relocations and schedules that would require workers to spend months at a time away from their families.