The Anti-Union Training Video I’ll Never Forget
I’m not sure if I can or should legally say the name of the employer that made this short film required viewing, but it rhymes with “all fart.” And if I did say it, no one would be shocked in the slightest.
Once upon a time, I needed a gig, so I applied anywhere that was hiring. The local big-box retailer called and summoned me for an interview, initially for their grocery section, but then for their back-to-school crew. That department also came with responsibilities in fabrics and crafts, as well as what was called “celebrations,” where they kept the party stuff.
It was me and another new hire, in the training and interview area, in the back of the store. Most of the stuff we’d seen up to that point had been your run-of-the-mill, new hire spiel. Then they popped in a video that, as I recall, couldn’t have been more than a few minutes long.
This was back in 2013, so I don’t have a great memory of the details. But the creepy vibe of the thing will haunt me until I meander off this mortal coil.
We were discouraged explicitly from unionizing, on the grounds that unions would get in between the individual worker and the employer. I remember thinking, “Yeah, that’s what they’re supposed to do. That’s how collective bargaining works and how it prevents the employer from intimidating individual workers.”
As if that weren’t enough, the video went on to say that we should report anybody who approaches us about organizing, at any time or place on the property. I would later learn that security cams in the parking lot were less about preventing theft by customers and more about spying on any workers who may be getting a little too uppity about their rights.
Now, in the first place, there’s the old adage: snitches get stitches. I’m not saying everything that rhymes is true, but this one does and is.
I’m strongly in favor of unions, because while over-regulation and bureaucratic red tape can get in the way sometimes, strength in numbers is a principle that just plain works. (And just plain scares otherwise unscrupulous business owners into double checking that they’ve dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s. That’s why they’re so against it, after all.) But even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t stand in the way of people trying their best to make their voices heard if I didn’t have a damn good reason.
The bottom line: we can disagree about the utility and positive or negative impact of unions as a concept. But don’t show me a creepy video asking me to snitch on people you’re spying on. If you can’t talk to me like a rational adult, then I can only conclude that you lack respect for me, my intelligence, and my time.
And if that’s how you’re treating me, it’s probably also reflective of how you view my coworkers… which makes me think that a union and the power of collective bargaining is exactly what is needed.
Respect existence or expect resistance.
