Mott's Strike

UPDATE: STRIKE IS OVER http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/business/14mott.html?src=busln

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: A MUCH BETTER ARTICLE ON THE CONCLUSION OF THE STRIKE http://www.waynepost.com/latestnews/x907388753/Mott-s-strike-ends (hat-tip @banditelli)

Original post written in response to: http://www.workers.org/2010/us/mott_0909/

To the editor:

I am very glad to see you highlighting the strike at Mott's in Williamson on the front page of your newspaper! I wanted to add a couple of points, however.

First, while I agree completely that the Mott's workers are "defending the rights of all working people," I think it is justified to go one step further in this characterization: the Mott's struggle is one of the key struggles being waged over the future of the U.S. working class. The strike is being used as a test case by corporations, who want to see whether worker solidarity will hold firm. If support for the striking workers crumbles, it will be a clear signal to other employers that they can proceed apace with direct attacks on wages.

Second, a broad-scale movement towards wage-cutting is virtually assured by the latest economic data. Second quarter productivity figures from the BLS released in August showed a sharp decline of 1.8%. This is widely taken by the business class to mean that we have reached the limits of profit growth attainable by speedups. A second avenue of profit growth- capital investment in technology- is also ruled out by the current "slackness of demand," that is, we are already producing more than people can afford to buy. This leaves only one clear avenue for growing profits- a direct attack on wages, bolstered by maintaining high unemployment.

What does this mean for workers? We must aggressively assert class-wide solidarity with the Mott's workers. The three most important ways we can do this are: organize support for the Mott's picket line, contribute to the Mott's hardship fund, and build the boycott of Mott's products. Even small contributions make a great difference in this key struggle!

You can learn more about these actions at www.mottsworkers.com .

If we can defend the wholesale savaging of wages, we force the crisis back out into the open- in the form of a "double-dip" recession which must be acknowledged by the business class. If we cannot, it will only be a crisis for workers, borne in the silence and shame of personalized hardship, belt-tightening, and the desperate "race to the bottom."

Thank you again for bringing needed attention to this important struggle.

In solidarity,
Sam, NYC