Angry University of Alaska workers

“There are no supreme saviors / Neither God, nor Caesar, nor tribune / Producers, let us save ourselves!”
The Internationale

Graduate student workers stymied by state and legal unionism )

Graduate student workers protested after a judge prevented them from striking. This results were a mixed bag.

Bad: the state crippled the union’s planned strike using the legal framework the unions are embedded in. The full-time faculty union (UNAC 4996) was quick to remind its members to obey the straitjackets imposed by the state and the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The allegiance to the union form is always a weakness and a sign of the still limited consciousness of even the most “militant” workers. In contrast, workers who want to win say “fuck the state, fuck the law, fuck the contract, fuck the unions! Up with the class struggle!”

Good: these workers still found a way to take action and they presented a strong, united front. The overwhelming cohesion on their side was really something!