this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2024
340 points (100.0% liked)

IWW and syndicalism

9 readers
1 users here now

Community for union related stuff, with focus on the IWW.

Chat room (not mine, belong to a fellow syndicalist):

https://matrix.to/#/%23anarchycommunism:matrix.org

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 10 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 81 points 4 weeks ago

Why is everyone surprised .... this what the police have always done against striking workers.

By design they are meant to maintain law and order ... not to serve and protect people ... the whole 'serve and protect' phrase was marketing campaign by the LAPD created by police propaganda in the 1960s and it didn't have any actual obligation for the police to serve or to protect people ... it was just a catchy phrase that made the police sound good when they in fact could do the opposite or nothing at all. But no matter how they treated people, they always throughout history have always consistently protected wealth, property and those with power.

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 56 points 1 month ago

Solidarity for Bezos and his yachts, can't have him suffer from these rabblerousers living paycheque to paycheque taking a stand - NYPD.

[–] Juice@midwest.social 32 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

That's how solidarity works (Cops and private property)

Now its your turn

[–] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] Juice@midwest.social 3 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

My favorite passages about how to win against the cops in a worker movement come from Farrell Dobbs Teamster Rebellion:

Under capitalism the main police function is to break strikes and to repress other forms of protest against the policies of the ruling class. Any civic usefulness other forms of police activity may have, like controlling traffic and summoning ambulances, is strictly incidental to the primary repressive function. Personal inclinations of individual cops do not alter this basic role of the police. All must comply with ruling-class dictates. As a result, police repression becomes one of the most naked forms through which capitalism subordinates human rights to the demands of private property. If the cops sometimes falter in their antisocial tasks, it is simply because they – like the guns they use – are subject to rust when not engaged in the deadly function for which they are primarily trained.

No police organization is exactly the same day in and day out. Two essential factors determine its character at a given moment: the social climate in which the cops have been operating and the turnover of personnel within the force. An unseasoned cop may tend to be somewhat considerate of others in the performance of duty, especially while class relations are relatively peaceful. Even in such calm times, however, the necessary accommodation must be made to capitalist demands, including readiness to shoot anyone who tampers with private property. Otherwise the aspiring cop, if he is not kicked out of the force, will have little chance of rising beyond a beat in the sticks. By gradually weeding out misfits along these general lines, a police department can keep itself abreast of requirements during a more or less stable period in class relations.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 27 points 4 weeks ago

This is why All Cops Are Bastards: their primary purpose is to protect private property, AKA the means of production.

[–] toxicbubble420 9 points 4 weeks ago

will anyone think of the starving billionaires??

[–] imPastaSyndrome@lemm.ee 6 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Okay, what are they actually specifically doing though? Making a wall so that...?

[–] DemBoSain@midwest.social 6 points 4 weeks ago

It "looks" like the police are protecting delivery trucks, and blocking strikers from the drive. They're preventing the strikers from walking across the drive and hindering deliveries.

[–] rothaine@lemm.ee 1 points 4 weeks ago

Where's that campus cop with the pepper spray when you need him