The word respect means to see yourself in the other person. Workers are not treated with respect at their jobs. They are coerced in exchange for a piddling wage.
To reach workers, organizers must show people respect. This does not mean being friends or confiding to organizers about issues that divide us, but about what we have in common. That process of deepening density is what we call solidarity. This means showing you value the workers’ experiences, ideas, insights and know-how in one-to-one conversations. This involves questions like:
- What do you think about this place?
- What do you like about this job?
- Do you get to know the people you work most closely with?
- What do you think of the boss?
- What bothers you about working here?
- Are you thinking about leaving?
- Have you had better jobs or worse jobs in the past?
- Have you ever tried to do anything to improve things?
- What were the results of that?
- Who do you look up to in the workplace?
- Who do you trust?
- Who don’t you trust?
~ Drawing by Fernando Martí, from the new Labor Notes book Keep Going: A Guide to Organizing When It’s Hard.
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