Post #678595

2024-05-09 13:58 UTC

There is an assumption that the point of a protest is to &quot;raise awareness&quot; and &quot;bring people over to your side&quot;. Some protests are like that, but certainly not all and maybe not even most. Sometimes you do a march or a walkout to raise awareness for an issue or just to let people know that your movement exists. But a labor strike is not there to &quot;raise awareness&quot;. The primary purpose of a strike is to harm the company so that they give into a list of demands

Replies (5)

@MoBlack@mastodon.online 2024-05-09 14:00

A lot of times people will be inconvenienced by a strike and they'll go "well they'll never get people on their side by acting like THIS!" but that's literally not the point of the strike. They're trying to make their bosses lose money. Or the student encampments for Palestine. The point is that the university stops working normally until they divest and become more transparent. It's not about "raising awareness" or "bringing people over to the Palestinian side"

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@thecommunistpig@toots.matapacos.dog 2024-05-09 18:06

@MoBlack@mastodon.online that assumption is very liberal in origin too, assuming that protests are simply educational tools and fun demonstrations and not means of resistance/struggle

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@MoBlack@mastodon.online 2024-05-09 18:27

@Hunterrules0_o@techhub.social take the subway :)

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@Tgiray@ecoevo.social 2024-05-09 18:58

@MoBlack@mastodon.online I think the protest or strike has side effects, but in the long run, it helps the business or the entity. If the wrong is righted, everyone wins.

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@MarleyandMe@mastodon.social 2024-05-09 21:36

@MoBlack@mastodon.online You forget - a walkout's usually the end result of MULTIPLE attempts by frustrated workers 2 negotiate an acceptable settlement. You may not see it as the best solution. Often, though, it's the only solution for workers at the end of their tether. So, employers really should negotiate in good faith before it gets to that point.

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