I worked at a Safeway part-time as a secondary job for about three months. When I applied online I got a phone call and they asked if I wanted an interview in person on that Thursday. I told them sure. When I got there (10 minutes before the interview), I was told by the lady at customer service that they weren’t doing interviews since the interviewer went home. I then asked her for a manager and she said that managers don’t work on Thursdays. I then decided to just go home.

The next morning I got a call from the interviewer and she offered me the job. I said yes, and I had orientation the following week, and I mentioned I had a vacation at the end of October I had already booked. She put the days I was available to work on file and the days I would be on vacation.

Work overall seemed okay for the first two weeks. Then the store director called me on a Saturday and asked me if I could come in on a Sunday. I told her no, that’s one of the days my main job has me scheduled. She then told me I needed my shift covered, and I told her that’s not my problem, it’s hers, and they need to work around my hours.

Then the week before the trip the store director called me into the office, telling me numerous customers have complained about me talking too much, and said from here onwards, I was not to talk to customers. I ignored her and proceeded to anyways, and she was mad. She also forgot about my vacation and called me during it. I told her I’m on vacation and hung up, and I had 3 missed calls from her.

When I got back from my trip she was furious and told me I had to answer work related phone calls. I asked her if I’d be paid for them and she said no. Then I told her when I’m off the clock my phone is off.

In November around Thanksgiving my hours got reduced from 20 to 5 or 10. I was fine with that. Then she kept scheduling me on Wednesdays which I couldn’t work. And told her so. She then said I needed to widen my availability, which I told her again I couldn’t.

Soon, I had to work mandatory overtime at my main job, and told her I would be unavailable for three Thursdays in a row. She said okay, and that was that.

The week after my last mandatory overtime week at my main job, I picked up my check, and checked the schedule. I found out I was taken off the schedule completely. When I asked the assistant store director (who is one of the main people in charge of the schedule), he claimed he had no idea, and he’d call me the next day with more information. He never did call, so I came in. He told me he’d call me the following week. Again no call.

Two weeks later, I wasn’t on the schedule still. Then I asked for the store director- who was sick. So I talked to the assistant store director, and he claimed he had no idea again, and he said he’d let me know for sure.

I eventually just stopped showing up and I haven’t gotten called at all.

I would argue they laid me off but I’m not sure. But watch out for a toxic manager. Don’t work at Safeway. Maybe your Safeway is good, but mine was poorly run.

Help me understand, I've been here for 2 years and yet I got 28 hours. Someone 3 months "younger" got 36, and our newest hire got 32.

It was my assumption that the more senior of employees in the same department got more hours.

Maybe I'm just dense, but what is the purpose of this coupon? I don't see anything that says what I'm getting in return for spending the $15.

https://preview.redd.it/l528m7i1roge1.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b61a0e7b1812994c9405f993efadb8fdb3cd17c

I had to quit safeway about two years ago due to a lot of personal things. I unfortunately had a specific person who had it out for me, never really successfully because i was a great employee. But on my last day of my two weeks management pulled me aside saying there were screenshots of me posting on facebook some crazy shit that I definitely didn't post, nor ever got to see. They said they didn't know if i was rehireable which absolutely broke my heart because i was ready and willing to give my life to the company, I was just supposed to be leaving to get my mental health and life together, so i broke down and was told i couldn't cry on company time, so I had to leave early on my last day of my two weeks. I had worked there for 4 years and had experience in every department and was the go to gal for any back up needed. My name tag literally had "the cat of all trades" on it. I filled in for countless other stores and was the "assistant manager" (unofficial title i know, but i was the backup and definitely filled the manager role a lot) for the starbucks kiosk almost my whole time there. The starbucks rep has asked for me back every time she has seen me, and I've told her I'm not sure if i can go back. That's the context, so I'm wanting to know if i move out of state to the store I first started working at (they absolutely loved me and i truly miss them) would they be able to rehire me? I don't know if the different regions communicate like that, or am I just screwed?

I was wondering if I transfer my job to a different store would I still be able to have my vacation time for the days that I got approved for or would it be different days?

Hey everyone, I’ve been working at Safeway as a courtesy clerk for 6 months. Today the produce manager came up to me and said he’s been watching me for a bit and appreciates my work ethic. He then offered me to come work in the produce department. Just wanted to know from others should I take this opportunity. What am I getting myself into, if I were to take this opportunity what tasks will I be doing, how do the shifts look like, should I stay as a Cclerk, etc… I’m a student and I’ve told the produce manager about my limited availability and he didn’t mind at all.

I’m currently a grocery manager and every time I learn a little about the financial side like forecasting.I still don’t understand as much will going through asdtl teach me those aspects better?

I just need to vent a bit.

I have two coworkers, both individually are great employees, super helpful, do their shit and work. For whatever reason, these two don't get along and it's only one party who makes it unmanageable.

Only one continues to call out every time they're scheduled together when both of them have such limited schedules that they ALWAYS end up working together at least twice a week. On the weekends. Our busiest fucking days.

Get your shit together. You don't have to like each other. You don't have to really even talk to each other considering they both have override cards and one is primarily SCO the other on register those days. You should be able to be cordial and do your work without needing to go this fucking far. You're screwing the entire front end by not showing up to work.

I'm sick of it.

I came in this morning after closing the bakery last night and I noticed that our iPad wasn't in the place I usually leave it. When I asked my manager, she said she had to borrow one from deli. We still can't find it this afternoon so I'm wondering maybe a customer stole it or something. Does anyone know if there's a way we can track the store iPads the way we can personal ones?

I’ve seen many posts on here of people who’ve quit or hate this job or this company etc. so my question is for those who’ve left, those who’ve moved on to “better pastures”.. what do you do now and are you happier? I’ve had conversations with other coworkers, some who actually used to complain a lot for this reason or the other and they finally did it, they finally quit. One was always about anywhere else is better than here.. I’m just.. it can’t be. Anywhere else is still a job, you still have to obey the rules, you still have to face write ups if needed, deal with other people, get along with other people, one guy kept telling me.. Target is better, Walmart, Costco, Sam’s club, I’m just.. regardless it’s still retail.. you still have to deal with a lot of the same.. they still have to meet quotas, they still have corporate walks, they will still expect high standards. I have a sibling who worked target a few years and didn’t like it very much.. a hard worker and constantly being buried by other coworkers and terrible useless management.. they didn’t have as much as Safeway has in terms of conveniences for employees like Union, healthcare, paid vacations, pto, at least to my knowledge.. so now that you’ve left, what do you do now and is it better?

I got hired in July for a pharmacy tech position with a provisional. I’m working towards to getting certified, and getting certified for immunization. But recently my hours has been cut since I was last in seniority list. I’m only working 20 hours this week and next, and for the rest of the month I am off the schedule completely. So I only have 40 hours with this month. I cant afford to pay rent let alone groceries now. I really don’t want to leave because I do like it a lot here, I love the people I work with as well. Any advice or anything I can do? I work in Colorado and I’m part of union as well. Anything helps thank you!

they keep scheduling me as sco but then stick me on the register for my entire shift? make the fucking schedules right. i dont like being told one thing and having a different thing happen. it ruins my mood and i feel unprepared and just frazzled the entire rest of the day. well actually. i just hate being a checker i guess. fuck this stupid job. they’re always telling me to do my job when i do it perfectly fine. i take everyones shifts when they call and ask me to cover. i do the sweeps. i clean the fucking spills when the courtesy clerks are too lazy to get a fucking mop out and actually do their job for 2 minutes instead of sitting in the break room jacking off. i dont yell at the stupid mother fuckers who catch an attitude with me because they cant clip a fucking coupon after me explaining it to them for the 20th time in a row. i never call out and some people call out at least once every fucking week. i do everything thats required and they still find something to nitpick. stupid ass store. i would leave but theyre very flexible with my scheduling which i do appreciate. but even then, they seem to not be able to make it properly anyway 😊😊😊😊😊💯💯💯💯

Hi, I have 39 hrs of sick leave. How do I use it and how many days is 39hrs?. I haven't called out in 9 months.

Hi everyone, I was shopping at Safeway last night and a song came on that I've been trying to identify for YEARS. I pulled up Shazam, but the song started fading out and Shazam caught the next song instead. I didn't catch any lyrics--it sounded like a female singer just singing a melody as "ooohs" so that's not helpful when googling around.

Anyway, can anyone who works at Safeway tell me where the store playlist is sourced from? That might help me figure out what songs are on the playlist.

Thank you!

I randomly ended up with like 1600 points and noticed that 400 points = $7 off meat.

Can I do four of these at the same time and get $28 off? Or will it only count one per transaction?

I'm pretty sure I could do two different ones, but I've never tried to do the same....

Portland division truck routing is down for delivery orders. Causing delay in orders getting out of the stores.

can anyone tell me if there's an easy way to do this? I work on DUG and even my managers have never seen an order with a prescription. we get calls asking how to do it and just don't know. any advice or help would be appreciated.

When is the first raise and how much? 24hrs a week, when should i ask for cross training for more hours?

How loooooong is it really! Like LMAO sexual harrassments!

Hello! So my store (norcal area) has recently put out a new policy, or so I've heard, that if someone calls out for their shift (say you work at 8am and call out at 10pm) have to call again in the morning. Is this a real policy? Or is this something my manager came up with? Thanks, X

2am start shift? Or na? Still in computer training... any knowledge if thats possible shift for produce as the newest worker? It could suck for 24hrs/week...

So i was taking pictures of every slide on my computer training for some of them has quizes... what yall think? And its stressful when the topic is so long that you forgot everything else but the last slide... only the "active shooter" training is the entertaining one... "immigrant brains are built different--filipino"

I just learned that the bakery changed their carrot cake recipe and I'm absolutely distraught. I've had that cake since I was a child for my birthday every year. I have raved to everyone I know that it's the best cake out there. So much so that friends and family will being me a piece during holidays or major occasions as a gift since I love it so much but I refuse to buy it myself except for my birthday. I would eat it constantly if I did. I don't know if there is some bakery worker that would be willing to bless me with the old recipe in DMs (I know this is a complete long shot) but if you did I would be forever greatful. I seriously don't know how to describe how devastated I am by this. Life has been so hard lately and now I can't even have my favorite cake on my birthday. The new recipe has such an overwhelming Cinnamon taste and it's just not the same :(

hi, i’ve been working at safeway for 10 months, and i’ve fallen on a bunch of health issues. i missed a week with a doctors note due to a really bad infection where i couldn’t even walk. they wrote me up for missing too many days, and said i could’ve taken medical leave if i was employed 12 months. after the week was up, i ended up with a corneal abrasion and still kept working. i couldn’t even open my eye. now flash forward another week and ive been diagnosed with the flu, but im not able to call out because they’ll suspend me. i’m just wondering if there’s a way around this? or does anyone have any advice on what to do? i’ve put in a lot of hours, and always showed up prior to these health conditions.

edited to add- i also was approved CA sick leave, and received pay for the days i missed.

My DUG team was asked to complete TAPs training. I already did the first two sections when I got hired. This third section is so tedious. Is this part necessary?

So now they have a new "wonderful" idea for dug. Gifting orders. Supposedly customers can gift orders to other people 🤨. I think this will slow us down because we have to wait for the "gift note" to print out of the zebra printer, confirm that it is on thr order, AND put on a special tag BEFORE handing off. Idk, I'll look into it more

I live in Winnipeg and it seems like every time I go to a Safeway deli and ask if they can make me a wrap, the workers either say they don't make wraps or they nervously accept the request. Sandwiches seem to be no problem but it's a 50/50 shot if I can get a wrap. Anyone else experience this? Any employees on here who could explain why this might be?

CSAN Principles

The Class Struggle Action Network is founded upon the following principles that guide our interpretation of what class unionism means in the context of today's union movement. You can also find a copy of our complete constitution and by-laws HERE.

Us Vs Them: Class and the Class Struggle

Under capitalism, society is fundamentally divided between two antagonistic groups, the ruling class of the bosses (the bourgeois) and the masses of the workers, the class of the proletariat. Workers are dependent upon the sale of their labor in exchange for wages in order to acquire the material necessities of life. The bosses are dependent upon exploiting surplus value from purchased wage labor, to generate profits. No matter the industry we work in, the wages we receive are always lower than the true total social value of our labor, and this gap forms the basis of all “surplus value” or real profit for the ruling class.

As workers struggle to obtain wages that keep up with constantly increasing prices of goods, the bosses work to ever increase the gap and advance their own profits by beating down wages. The exploitation of wage labor is the bedrock of the prevailing economic system, which must obtain an ever increasing rate of profit or fall into crisis. Thus the defensive battle workers must fight to defend their standard of living is an unending struggle so long as this economic system prevails. The true emancipation of labor can only come as a result of the abolition of the wage system and capitalism itself.

In this economy, we sell our labor power to the bosses on the “labor market”. Here we exist in competition with our fellow workers as we seek to obtain the highest wages. Thus, when working as unorganized individuals we are easily turned against each other and manipulated by the ruling class. The bosses constantly work to manipulate this market to push down wages through a myriad of methods, including driving up unemployment by increasing interest rates, relocating industries abroad to countries with cheaper labor markets, encouraging immigration amid imperialist intrigues while simultaneously subjecting immigrant workers to ruthless exploitation by the state, and most importantly smashing and taming unions.

When we are unorganized, we hold no leverage over the bosses and are completely subject to their total domination. Between labor and capital there is no common interest, it is a fundamentally antagonistic relationship. Ultimately it is a contest of forces which decides the quality of life of the proletariat. Only through collectively organizing into unions, coalescing our labor power and withholding it through strike action on an ever increasing scale, can we defend the value of our labor and our standard of living from the most ruthless and absolute exploitation.

Despite these elementary economic realities, the union movement across the world remains under the spell of class collaborationist & boss-linked leadership who has kept the established unions under the tame control of the capitalist state, keeping the pitiful number of organized workers divided between trades and unable to coalesce their collective strength to oppose the ongoing onslaught against the working class. Thus it is necessary for working class militants to begin to coalesce their forces to work towards the re-establishment of class struggle methods within the workers movement.

Against the Regime Unions, Boss Linked Leadership and the All Prevailing Business Unionism

The Misleaders of Labor

The existing labor unions in North America are dominated by class collaborationist leadership who work to ensure their subordination to the bourgeois state. Class collaborationist leadership tie themselves to the interest of the bosses by promoting the illusion of common interests of the workers and employer in coming to mutually “beneficial” understandings and agreements. In essence these leaders work not as the defenders of the true interests of labor but as the brokers of “labor peace” to secure and guarantee the uninterrupted sale of labor to capital.

Historically this type of “business” or “regime” unionism began to emerge with the rise of the American Federation of Labor under Samuel Gopers in the late 1800’s, and escalated with it’s increasingly close ties to the Democratic Party ahead of World War 1, as union leadership guaranteed production of military armaments and fresh supply of proletarian cannon fodder in exchange for legal recognition by the bourgeois state. The AFL from it’s onset fought a long battle against the class unionist wing of the labor movement typified first by its struggle against the IWW, followed by it’s fight against the anti-war wing of the labor movement and then it’s recurring purging of class militants within it’s own ranks during the two Red Scares; however, this style of unionism now predominates across all of the established unions.

As the loyal labor lieutenants of the bosses, boss-linked leadership play a special role in dampening worker militancy, organizing weak and ineffective strike action, and keeping workers divided into archaic craft & trade union organizational forms. They defend the narrow interests, only of workers within their isolated sections, seeing themselves in competition with other elements of labor. In hard economic times they tend towards nationalist and xenophobic policies to ensure a monopolistic control of the labor market within their industry to hedge against job loss and to preserve their aristocratic economic status above the rest of the working class. This collaborationist leadership has over the years increasingly managed unions as if they are capitalist enterprises or the human relations branch of the companies that they work under. This type of unionism must be opposed at all junctures with the program of combative class unionism.

The Union Regulatory Regime

Behind these ranks of misleaders, is the capitalist states union regulatory apparatus established through the legislation such as the Railway Labor Act, The National Labor Relations Act and the Taft-Hartley Act, once dubbed the “slave-labor act” by the labor movement. These acts created to stifle historical waves of working class militancy in the US, work to criminalize solidarity, sympathy and political strikes, establishing strict rules in the bosses favor for how strike actions can occur and at one time outlawed “marxists” and “communists” from having leadership in unions. These laws work to coerce the workers movement into surrendering their biggest weapon, unified strike action and promote a timid legalistic and bureaucratic relation within the unions internal life. Today the workers movement has uncritically and often voluntarily subordinated itself to this repressive regime. This must be opposed.

The Regime Unions & Our Opposition

Class militants must struggle to break workers from the policies and program of class collaborationism. We do this by raising workers' awareness of the economic realities of the class society and putting forward practical initiatives in line with our principles that can win material gains for workers. Meanwhile, we criticize those initiatives based on the programs of class collaborationism and point out how they are contrary to our fellow workers true interests.

At times and where possible, we may run for positions within workers' defensive bodies on class unionist platforms in order to put our program to the masses of workers within the unions and if victorious advance class unionist initiatives within the union as far as possible; however, permanent retention of leadership position in the main unions in national or regional leadership levels by class unionists, is bound to be short lived absent a wide scale mass increase in the level of worker militancy, thus we do not see the capture of leadership in the existing unions, constrained by the straight-jacket of the National Labor Relations Board, as an expedient to artificially, resuscitating the class union, which can only develop as a result of economic contradictions and social relations and the collective capacity of workers to engage in a real struggle of forces with the bosses; instead we aim to use these positions with an eye towards the propelling the creation of a class unionist mass movement which must emerge in part through a long term struggle for class unionist principles.

In some cases, where capture of leadership is not possible but openly struggling along class unionist lines still is, we may establish caucuses or committees within established unions organized around a class unionist program for how the union should begin to organize itself that addresses the particular conditions within that union. These may be general programs or initiatives organized around particular campaigns within the workers organization.

In some unions the domination of boss-linked leadership combined with the leverage of the NLRB apparatus, leaves little to no room for class militants to maneuver or capture leadership. We call these unconquerable “regime unions”. In such unions, working within them to change their character becomes impossible and it is necessary to organize workers outside these unions' control; while never sabotaging any active strike action, it becomes necessary to organize workers into defensive bodies outside and often against these unions' apparatus.

Ultimately it is our aim to fight for the establishment of a centralized class union that either operates as a wholly new organization outside the established unions or as united front initiative which brings together some elements of the established unions where class militants have been able to take power alongside other emerging workers defensive bodies that have organized themselves outside of the established unions.

Build The United Class Union Front! Advance Unity of Action and Solidarity Between the Combative & Class Unionist Forces!

From our various positions within our unions we work to move them into common and convergent action. We build towards this goal in a number of ways. By establishing solidarity committees within our unions, we bring our fellow workers out to each other's picket lines and struggle together to defend our strikes. In organizing joint public events and demonstrations we can bring larger groups of workers to fraternize with each other which can assist in strengthening workers instincts towards solidarity. Likewise, we work towards aligning contracts expirations (our temporary truces with the bosses), and coalitional negotiations with employers across multiple unions which allows us to combine our leverage against the bosses and potentially works to leverage workers collective strike power.

Beyond these general aims, CSAN aims to unite the militant minority of class unionists within the existing unions so as to coordinate and amplify our efforts in organizing cross union initiatives. In struggling to advance the aforementioned actions, we begin to take practical steps in the direction of the unified class union front which is necessary to both put the workers’ movement back on its feet, as well as to defeat the regime unionism of the AFL-CIO federation and it’s kin within the workers movement. The most militant of workers must continue to expand the struggle for unity of action, in order to achieve as soon as possible a united general strike of all the fighting unions. This movement must work to oppose the imperialist war and its effects on the working class, fight for a general increase in wages, unemployment benefits, redundancy pay and pensions. We need to have the ability to promote an international general strike against the war and capitalist class economic offensive.

Fight for Class Struggle Demands!

The unions exist, first and foremost as organs to defend the economic interests of workers. Thus, our work within the unions heavily prioritizes the need to center economic demands, particularly wage demands within workers struggle as it is our common wage labor that forms the basis of our mutual interest. While advancing political demands within the unions may have it’s time and place under certain conditions, our focus must heavily concentrate on hard hitting economic demands that do not only maintain workers wages and standard of living but increase it. It is this economic interest which ultimately unites all workers within the unions. In the United States only 10% of workers are currently organized, as such we recognize the pressing need to expand and grow the ranks of organized labor by demonstrating that unions can execute on their basic elementary function of winning material gains.

In our demands we work to bring all workers to a common standard to the maximum extent possible. Thus, we oppose the creation of tiers of workers within contracts and support the destruction of wage differentials. We seek to work towards the elimination of all differentials between “skilled” and “unskilled” labor within contracts. We do this by putting a premium on increased wages for the lowest paid workers. In our workplace struggles we oppose efforts to advance co-management and profit sharing schemes with the boss. We oppose all “no strike” clauses, and other confines within the existing trade union legal framework which attempt to limit workers’ ability to strike. Through putting our emphasis on economic demands we put ourselves at the head of the real interests of the vast majority of the workers.

Strengthen Strike Power!

The organized and collective refusal to work — the strike — remains the most powerful weapon the working class has in our shared defense. As the capitalist class is totally dependent upon wage labor for the extraction of all surplus values, strikes remain an indispensable tactic in the economic struggle. Strikes expose to the workers the true nature of the conflict of forces between the workers and the bosses and like no other experience elevate the class instincts of the workers. The experience of striking inevitably strengthens the workers collective fighting capacity and steals their resolve against the bosses. Thus expansion of strike experience is needed in unions across the working class to elevate the workers movement onto a higher plane of struggle.

Beyond any other tactic, our unions must hold as a prime objective the constant strengthening of our capacity for collective strike action. We must work tirelessly to push back against anti-strike sentiment spread by the boss or our fellow workers. We must work to explain why developing our capacity, and leveraging our strike power is the sine qua non of the union itself and the point at which all of our leverage over the boss is developed. As a strike is a struggle between the union and the bosses where the victor is typical they who can endure the most hardship, we must push back against strike strategies that over rely on strike pay from union coffers, and work to prepare and educate workers on the need to survive without pay from the union during a strike for effective and long term action. In many unions, strike pay is an issue which is also used as an excuse to keep locals bargaining at different times so as to prevent more generalized strike action from depleting national strike pay coffers. Many large national unions have no long term strike strategies, we must push to develop long term strike strategies and to align union contracts across the working class together to the maximum extent possible.

Strikes mean little if scabs can easily cross picket lines and resume work. Towards such ends effective picket line defenses committees must be organized to frustrate scab labor and keep workers safe from reactionary violence. Our fellow workers must be retaught the principles of never crossing other workers picket lines. We must organize solidarity committees within our unions to mobilize our fellow workers to join other striking unions on picket lines and support their fights, this will bring more workers in contact with others on strike, exposing them to these realities and learning from each other experiences we collective strengthen the classist feelings amongst the workers and diminish any fears from ignorance about what a strike is and how to successfully prepare for one.

Organize the Unorganized! & the Question of Independent Union Federations or Centralized Industrial Unions?

Organizing the Unorganized

In the United States and in North America unionization rates have always been lower compared to the rest of the industrialized world. Even at the height of the labor movement immediately following World War 2 only approximately 30% of workers were organized. Today a dismal 10% of workers in the United States are organized into unions. Historically, the existing unions have neglected organizing unskilled laborers, prioritizing the more highly paid trades. Today while new campaigns to organize what are traditionally considered “unskilled” labor in companies such as Amazon and Starbucks are beginning to emerge, the vast majority of workers in these sectors remain unorganized. With the expansion of part-time and “gig-economy” jobs, alongside new technologies used by the employer to make organizing more difficult and a general lack of investment into new unionization efforts by most unions, the most highly exploited laborers in North America remain unorganized.

With the masses of workers being unorganized, they are left defenseless against employer offenses. The existence of lower paid workers inevitably plays a role in driving down the wages of all workers. Low unionization rates also contribute to the weakness of the existing unions as it allows employers in industries hit with a strike to easily move its productive activities to unorganized sectors and continue to turn a profit, thus undermining the organized labor's strike power. Without the vast majority of workers being organized into unions the power of the working class can never leverage it’s full potential within it’s defensive struggle against the employer. As such, it is in the highest interest of all workers to make a top priority the dedication of organizational resources of the existing unions to initiatives that advance the organization of unorganized sectors of workers.

Independent Labor Unions?

Over the last few years a new wave of independent labor unions have emerged in the United States which have successfully organized workers in traditionally hard to organize service and retail industries. Instead of joining with the established large business and regime unions in these sectors workers have taken up campaigns to self-organize outside of these unions. These unions typically build around small shop campaigns to win individual contracts on a store by store basis with each union being highly decentralized and organized around a single employer. While it is a positive development that workers are self-organizing in these unorganized sectors, outside the control of the established regime unions, due to their decentralized localist orientations they often struggle to build the necessary strike leverage to force the employer to the bargaining table to concede to their demands. In some cities unions have combined into small decentralized federations of independent unions which organize themselves separately from the established unions; however, they represent a small fraction of the work forces and their decentralized model, with many individual small unions organized in individual stores divided by unions organized against individual employers prevents them from more fully organizing the workers into unions outside the primary business and regime unions. Like any other union, class unionist militants must struggle within these unions for our working class union program against collaborationist and opportunist tendencies in leadership.

We must call for the existing independent unions and those that follow, to amalgamate themselves into centralized unions organized on industrial lines that fight to organize all workers within that industry regardless of their individual employer. Additionally, as opposed to combining around narrow federations exclusive to independent unions, these unions should be encouraged to take practical steps towards forming the united class union front by entering into common action with all combative forces within the labor movement.

For Internationalism! Against Social Chauvinism and All Divisions Within the Working Class.

We oppose all forms of social chavism within the working class, our unions, and capitalist society including racism, sexism, homophobia and nationalism. We recognize the historic use of these divisions to weaken the struggle of the working class and divide it. We recognize the historic super exploitation of black, brown, and women workers in North America and beyond. And seek to struggle against this exploitation through class unity and class unionism.

The Guilds, Early Unions and Race

The first unions in the United States evolved out of the old feudal guild systems which included proprietary masters and apprentice journeymen. In this system the journeymen would accumulate enough capital to start their own independent enterprise; however, as time went on the proprietary masters began accumulating more wealth, purchasing more machinery and taking on more and more journeymen, conditions became worse for the journeymen in their workplaces and economic conditions became such that it became more difficult to start their own enterprises, and eventually they began breaking out of the old guild structure to establish their own independent craft unions; however, these early unions did not necessarily see themselves as part of a great working class, it was more common to think of workers and capital as having a common interest. They often organized these early unions as small business start ups, to accumulate collective monies to start cooperative enterprises. Like the class collaborationists of today, they typically wished to put labor on an “equal” footing to capital and the bosses. Evolving as they did within a capitalist economy built on Black slavery in the South and the genocide of the Indigenous peoples in the West, the early unions naturally defaulted to taking up the banners of racist exclusion in hard economic times. These early unions existed in a time of great economic instability, as such they tended to take on a monopolistic character to defend their jobs against others on the labor market in times of economic crisis.

As industry began developing in the North, an early tactic of the bosses was to recruit immigrants from Europe to undercut the workers wages. Anti-immigrant attitudes naturally developed and were then encouraged by sections of the bourgeois, in order to keep workers divided. Likewise fears of losing jobs were exploited by the old Democratic Party to promote anti-Black racism and opposition to abolition on grounds that free Black slaves would be used to undercut white labor. In the United States white supremacy was a favored tool of opportunist leadership within the unions to advance their program of class collaboration, and promote the development of a white labor aristocracy.

Post Civil War Labor Struggles & The Rise of Jim Crow Unionism

Despite this tendency, from the birth of the first national union federation in the United States in 1866, the National Labor Union under president Sylvis, organized labor would begin to take a stand against racism, supported abolition of the slaves and under its president Sylvis took many classist positions. This was in no small part due to its connection to the International Workingmen’s Association (The First International), where class conscious militant leaders within the unions fought to keep them open and inclusive of workers skilled and unskilled, regardless of race and immigration status cooperating with other unions on an international level.

The massive Black labor movement which exploded in the South after the emancipation of the slaves eventually organized itself around the Colored National Labor Union under Isaac Meyers who also advocated for territorially organized unions on a state level that united workers of all races, both Sylvis and Meyers advocated for the unity of white and Black workers; however, the economic crisis of 1873 would come alongside a national capitalist offensive and a wave of terroristic violence directed at Black workers in the South in the form of the fascist KKK, the Red Shirts and the “Redeemers” movement.

With the capitalist offensive and the death of Sylvis and the collapse of the IWA after the economic crisis, the established craft unions predominated by white workers would resume retrenching themselves against immigrant and Black labor, instead of working to unite together. In the 1880’s the Knights of Labor and the AFL would rise which at first were open to workers of all races but by the economic crisis of 1893 both unions had began to adopt racist and exclusionary policies with the AFL opening the door to Jim Crow unionism by accepting white-only unions in the South to it’s federation.

The Regime Union’s Racism

As the first world war approached the AFL leadership soon became the loyal supporters of the nationalist campaign for the collective slaughter of workers across the world, alongside a renewed national KKK and American Legion movement which collaborated together in the Red Scare to attack class militants purge them from the unions and attempt to crush major strikes such as the Great 1919 Steel Strike. Meanwhile the racially exclusive policies of opportunist unions kept most Black workers unorganized, which the capitalist class exploited by importing Black workers from the South and using them as strikebreakers in the North in many of the major strike actions of the early part of the twentieth century. The economic tension was often exploited by opportunists to advance a program of violence against Black workers as erupted in the Red Summer of 1919.

As the established unions began to consolidate themselves and become regulated by the state union legal apparatus in the second part of the twentieth century the unions would remain mostly unchanged. As the historical progress of the Great Migration came to completion and the events of the Black rebellions of the 1960’s led to an end of Jim Crow in the South and segregation in the North, alongside a rise in the Prison Industrial complex which worked to contain the most revolutionary elements of Black labor, putting many into this new form of slavery.

Race and Labor Today

Black workers and immigrants today continue to be disproportionately represented in the “unskilled” occupations, a vast wage differential also exists which continues between men and women and gender-non conforming peoples. The existing union's leadership also is overwhelmingly white and disproportionately male. Most unions today continue to tie themselves to the defense of the “nation” and employ patriotic appeals. As such the unions continue to struggle with the same old social-chauvinism they always have, a social phenomena that has been used to keep workers divided, undercutting labor and liquidating the most militant elements within the labor movement, in both the first and the second Red Scares.

Given all of this and the long history of exclusionary policies and social chauvinism in the unions it is essential that workers oppose this mentality within the unions at every corner and work to promote inclusive policies that bring together and unite workers across all divisions of race, sex, gender and immigration status.

Unions as Fighting Organs, Not Electoralist Machines!

Too often our unions have been organized as electoral advocacy and lobbying groups. In the early stages of the union movement in the United States the political turn of the unions such as the National Labor Union led to their rapid decline as they no longer functioned as unions focused on defending workers economic conditions through organizing collective action against the employer, but became political organizations advocating for political and electoral legislative reforms while binding themselves to the increasingly unpopular political party’s of that era. Political organizations and unions have distinct and unique functions which should not be confused. While the workers movement from time to time might put forward demands against the state that come in the form of legislative reforms, ultimately it is the coercive contest of forces between the organized elements of the workers and the bosses which force the government of the ruling class to implement them not the sly political pandering of lobbying.

Relations to Political Organizations & Inter-Class Coalitions

Political Organizations

The class struggle action network recognizes the need for a class political party which must lead the working class offensive to eliminate capitalism; however, The unions perform a uniquely defensive function rooted in the wage labor dynamics and as such the unions and Party must remain distinct organizations with the unions being open to all workers regardless of political orientation and wherein a plurality of political views is inevitable. As such the unions should not be absolved into a direct organ of a party. The Class Struggle Action Network as a politically plural body, will not not endorse any candidate for any elected office nor legislative initiative of any political organization. Nor shall it ever require participants to be members of any one political organization or adhere to the discipline of any one political organization.

Coalitional Work

CSAN shall not enter into any direct inter-organizational coalition work or action with any political organizations or inter-class bodies such as community organizations or non-profits. Additionally, it will not endorse joint actions, initiatives or co-sponsorships solicited by such organizations. It will remain exclusively committed to developing and promoting coalitional and united front action between official union bodies, organs of workers militating within the unions, or grassroots workers defense organizations.

Our Position On Union Reform Movement & Union Democracy

The Union Reform Movement

As we oppose the class collaborationism of the conservative business unionist current within the labor movement we also oppose the class collaborationist elements within the existing union reform movement. The leading organ of the existing union reform movement is the Labor Notes network, for which most of its leadership and financial backing is closely tied to the AFL-CIO and the Democratic Party. While many combative currents exist within the Labor Notes network and attend its regular gatherings, it’s leadership is known to repress and silence class expressions within its press and within its conferences, using its spaces and influence to promote a reformist class-collaborationist unionism that sections of the capitalist class find tolerable.

This current often ties itself to inter-class political parties or non-profit organizations for support. Typically it’s strategies revolve around looking to the bourgeois state in hopes of legislative reforms and justice department legal injunctions brought on by the federal government against the major conservative regime unions to open them up and “democratize” them. Thus we distinguish ourselves from the existing “union reform” movement in that we do not promote such methods as conducive to developing a truly strong and powerful workers movement, instead such methods only work to squander militants' workers' time and energy on pie in the sky promises of bourgeois state guarantees.

The workers movement can only gain it’s strength by the working class’s collective capacity to struggle independent of the capitalist state. While we do not reject working in united front efforts with some of the combative elements within the Labor Notes orbit, we must clarify where we diverge on matters of principle.

Union Democracy

It is important that the internal life of unions be restored. We must work to wrestle power away from the collaborationist cliques that dominate the unions. We must promote workers' assemblies to openly debate on their situation, on the demands to be made, on the actions to be taken and on the commissions and working groups to be formed. Promote local assemblies that integrate workers from different unions, companies and trades, as well as retirees, pensioners and the unemployed; However, we do not agree with the slogans which present union democracy as a fundamental principle and sole solution to restore the unions. Instead, democracy is merely one method of organization of decision making within the union. We can point to the un-democratic ways of the existing leadership to demonstrate their hypocrisy, initiatives such as “open bargaining” can be useful in removing collaborationist leaderships stranglehold of power; however, democracy in of itself is not an inherent solution to the domination of the unions by class collaborationists, as it alone cannot guarantee the unions would not again be overwhelmed by them through manipulation of democratic processes. The key is the class character of the leadership and the strength of the union as a fighting formation.