Hi everyone. Very recently there was a transit strike in my city and it has come to a temporary settlement but the municipal workers are still without a contract (and have been since the end of the fiscal year last summer) and some of them are apparently calling for a sick-in soon to put pressure on the mayor to meet with the union to get a contract. The newspaper says some of the municipal workers were handing out leaflets encouraging a sick in a few days ago. An article about this incident was sent over the union's message board and immediately followed by a warning from the union steward saying: "Dear Union Brothers & Sisters: We just posted an article from today's poaper that mentions that some members of our union are planning to call out sick on [date of the planned sick-in]. The current leadership of the union DOES NOT ENDORSE this job action. If you call out sick, you are doing so at your own risk. All members of the union should report to work on [that day] as scheduled. [Union Steward's Name & Title]" I've contacted Internationalism about this but wanted to know if any of the other comrades had experience with a sick-in, what the chances for victimization are, etc. I don't want to leave my other coworkers hanging but I wish there was a way to find out who these folks are--if they're a rank and file group or if they're some kind of "reform" current in the union, etc. (there are union elections going on right now). Thanks in advance for any advice. -soyons tout
Apart from potential victimization, a sick-in almost always isolates the people who are calling in sick from one another. Not only that, but precisely because one doesn't show up for work, there's little opportunity to talk about WHY you're sicking-in to your co-workers. IMHO, it's not a particularly efficacious way to struggle, if it can even be called that.
