Introduction to «From Farm-Work to Care-Work. Towards a Feminist and Anti-racist Syndicalism»
Summary :
The old unionist machinery is worn out. The realities that gave rise to it have faded: there is no such thing now as a job for life, a factory in which to gather, a single boss to confront together. For many, the boss is now a digital platform or an application. Work is organized by campaign or by season, and next year you don’t work in the same place or with the same people. Many can’t distinguish where work ends and life begins, because the time dedicated to work is perpetual and we must be available around the clock to respond to an email, a call, or a sick person requesting a glass of water in the middle of the night.
Finding sufficient solidarity among working people who suffer the same abuses becomes very difficult when there is no one working right next to you. When all of life is channeled into production, it becomes impossible to make demands limited to ‘labor conditions’.
The increasing deregulation of labor happens at a time when union machinery is worn out, with rusty gears and a bad name. And yet solidarity between people suffering the same abuses is more vital than ever to shape a counter-deregulation: not just an opposition to deregulation but a counter-power that might situate labor relations on a different plane.