by By Claire Schachtely
A Red Hot Labor Tactic to Revitalize the Labor Movement by Exploring New Strategies in Order to Increase Union Density and Participation
Unions are a critical force to fight for the rights and liberation of the multiracial working class. They empower workers to negotiate for higher wages, secure better working conditions, and improve their benefits. Polls show that a large majority of Americans support unions; however, union membership remains at less than ten percent. There is a clear disconnect here where socialists and labor activists have a unique opportunity to close the gap between support for and membership in unions. Many activists are tackling the problem head on by taking jobs to directly facilitate union support among the rank and file workers and improve conditions for themselves, their coworkers, and workers across the world. There are two strategies for engaging in this: one is acquiring a job without a union with the goal of organizing a union, and the other is taking a job with an existing union with the goal of developing that union’s fighting capacity to meet the needs of the working class.
This article was first published in our Reform & Revolution magazine #10. Get a subscription and support Reform & Revolution – a Marxist Caucus in DSA!
Salting and Peppering: Labor’s Favorite Spices
Salts are workers who take a job in a non-unionized workplace with the objective of creating a union with their co-workers. Salts train in organizing programs, and they work covertly to build solidarity in the workplace while pushing for worker unification against the common profit-driven boss or corporation.
An offshoot of salting is peppering, where workers choose a job in an already unionized workplace, for the purpose of strengthening and progressing that union. Peppers do this by organizing co-workers to build more democratic and militant unions that fight to improve their workplace. Peppers participate in concerted activities to get union members excited and engaged with the union. These include informational pickets to share relevant worker protections in the union contract, handbilling to invite workers to upcoming union meetings, and enforcing the union contract on the shop floor by engaging in the grievance process. Unions may have a strong contract, but companies will constantly work around and outright ignore that contract, so it is the duty of all workers to enforce it. When the time comes for a new contract, peppers organize their co-workers to fight for a great contract and prepare for a possible strike.
Although there are differences between salting and peppering, many aspects of the project are similar, such as building trust and respect in the eyes of fellow workers, developing individual organizing skills, and working to build solidarity among the workers. Salting and peppering are inextricably linked. When a salt is successful, meaning they help to form a union and win a strong contract, then they become a pepper who continues to strengthen and enforce the union contract and keep rank and file participation high. The labor movement needs both new activists to take on non-unionized corporate giants but also fresh organizers to revitalize existing establishments.
Both salting and peppering are done out of an ideological commitment to improving the material, economic and working conditions of the working class. This commitment comes from a place of genuine love for working people as a whole, and a desire to improve conditions in order for us to have a meaningful life. It entails a direct collaboration that eliminates preaching from above or outside; it is not manipulating workers into some far-fetched plan. Instead, it is immediate involvement in shared struggle, with the ultimate goal of creating a better and more meaningful life free from the toils and tribulations that constitutes work under the modern capitalist system.
Peppers Turn Up the Heat on Union Bureaucracy
One of the main differences between salting and peppering is the work peppers do within an already established union. Large unions have shifted from away from the days of rank and file-led unions to bureaucratic, top-down organizations, lacking any semblance of meaningful worker input. This is reflective of business unionism, which is the dominant approach in most labor unions in the US. It’s based on the belief that workers, managers and bosses should collaborate in “their” corporation for the benefit of business. This creates unions that try to limit the aspirations of workers and tamp down any revolutionary potential of the working class. Since union leadership does not work in complete solidarity with workers, they end up in arguments that are entrenched in capitalist competition, nationalism, and a race to the bottom.
This approach has helped facilitate the decline of the labor movement for decades. As a result, workers may be partially or entirely disengaged from their union. Peppers try to reverse this trend by engaging in workplace struggles in a way that promotes worker democracy and militancy in their union. Unions are only as strong as the solidarity of the membership. Growing worker engagement can mean the difference between a toothless business union run by bureaucrats and a tough, growing union, led by the rank and file.
An activated and engaged membership bargains strong contracts, which strengthens the workers’ collective power. This will hopefully be the case for the 350,000 Teamsters at UPS. The union contract expires July 31, 2023, and the UPS workers are ready to fight for better conditions, better pay, and an all-around stronger contract. If successful, this could set an industry standard across the nation, because UPS is the largest private union contract in North America and a major player in the logistics industry. Since the flow of goods through deliveries is so crucial to the US economy, a strike could have a major impact across several different industries, getting the attention of the ruling class. This is where peppers need to be organizing around central, large and achievable demands in order to win substantial gains for the multiracial working class.
Fully embedding oneself into the belly of the beast to combat corporate giants and take on sleepy bureaucratic unions in order to advance the quality of jobs and meaningfully impact working people’s lives is proving to be an effective technique for creating the kind of change necessary to fight the corrupt capitalist system.
Claire Schachtely
Claire Schachtely lives in Portland. Claire is a rank and file Teamster and a member of DSA.
