by Charles Brown
Retail is a notoriously difficult industry to unionize; chaotic schedules, high turnover, and a workforce that often sees the job as a temporary stop create clear challenges for organizing. The industry relies on exactly these problems to sow apathy, especially among young workers. Since many are just working here temporarily, it’s easy for them not to care. But with nearly one in five retail workers being under 24, they represent a large demographic that must be won. While conducting unionization campaigns, a main objective needs to make young workers care about the organizing drive.
These young workers often get erratic schedules, poor training, and dismissive feedback. Their youth is taken advantage of by older bosses with false promises of promotions, pressure to accept exploitation, underpaying them for doing higher paid work, and isolating verbal abuse. Unlike older coworkers, who are dependent on the company’s paycheck to pay their mortgages, insurance, and other bills, younger workers lack these economic ties. This creates a policy that seems to emphasize deliberately burning through young comrades, replacing them as they inevitably quit, which conveniently reset their replacements at the lowest pay scale. Highlighting this particular disrespect and countering it proved to be our most useful organizing tool.
Young workers are told that they don’t deserve higher pay because they are new and have less responsibility, even though they actually have one of the largest ranges of tasks to complete. Young workers need to be reminded that their shared class position is with everyone on the floor. With just a little encouragement, young workers formed their own internal group of friends who helped keep each other informed and motivated. Together, they dispelled the company’s anti-union propaganda for both themselves and helped the other workers they were in contact with see the truth.
Younger workers voted for the union not primarily because of economic pressures, as this job was a short stop on their way to adulthood, but because the company’s systematic disrespect and manipulation made them desperate for collective power. Fortunately, the organization was able to fill the desire for camaraderie with a group that recognized their contributions as meaningful. Increasing pay was an influential part of it but showing youth they deserved respect and that their labor earned them the right to demand more was the biggest factor for getting them to care about working conditions at a job they will soon leave.
Young workers are not planning to stay here long term. Many will move on to college, trades, or other cities within a year or two. Yet once shown respect, the youth were willing to fight to improve the lives of the workers who will follow behind them. They put their jobs on the line not because they needed the raise forever, but because they understood that no one should be treated the way the company treated them. That is the lesson for unions going forward. Improving conditions will always be the main driving factor, but for some workers, especially the youngest, must show them they deserve respect before they can imagine a better future. Youth will fight for others even when they won’t be there to collect the benefits. With any luck, these skills in understanding class consciousness, and the power of solidarity will follow them as they venture out into the world.
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