Work-to-Rule is an old and effective tactic that highlights the importance of the individual doing the job in a way that suits them. Labor Notes brings us Work-to-Rule and Open Bargaining Back Down Kroger Warehouse Bosses to tell the story of this powerful tactic.
Teamsters in an Indiana grocery warehouse scored big this year with a contract campaign like never before.
They organized in five languages and sported a multilingual union button. They opened up bargaining sessions for any member to come observe—on the peak day, 150 showed up. They even pulled off a daring work-to-rule action the week before bargaining kicked off, to start from a position of strength.
The final night, June 30, negotiations came down to the wire, stretching past the midnight contract expiration deadline. Some members were itching to walk. The employer, grocery giant Kroger, had prepared for a strike too—it had 300 scabs waiting in a hotel.
So why did management yield on the union’s top issues, averting a strike?
“I honestly believe they knew it was a fight they were not going to win,”
(graphic by Geralt on Pixabay.com)
