this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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"Organize your workplace and get collectively laid off"
Don't wanna be pessimistic but it never would've gotten this far is this was as easy as you said.
So, that's not a foregone conclusion, and even if it was, that's not an excuse to not try.
People used to get killed in the United States (and still do in the global south) for trying to unionize. I think you can take on some lighter risks than that
I know this is not exactly the same because I'm talking about a different country, but its still a Warren Buffet business: Honduran textile factories, "maquilas" as we call them, very generally close down entirely and move elsewhere if a union even starts bubbling up. They'll fire entire floors or departments if they suspect someone is trying to start a union, and they specifically keep profiles on people who have been known to get involved in unions and either don't give them jobs or fire then as soon as they realize the history that person has.
I understand it was worse before (well, I don't follow local news that much but I'm pretty sure there was a textile unionists massacre a few years ago, unknown causes, so maybe it's still that bad), but that's enough currently to have absolutely everyone hating unionists in these environments. Pro-union stances can get you in real trouble because of how much that endangers everyone around you and their livelihoods. I.... Don't know how you deal with that, I don't think anyone around here knows either or something would've been done about it by now.
Thank you for your perspective!
I think countries with strong labor movements overcame that in a few different ways:
in The United States the labor movement was so violent (e.g. The Coal Wars) that the capitalist class found it beneficial to allow limited unionization to prevent further violence and thus harm to their profits.
In Cuba, China, etc. They had a Socialist Revolution and either liquidated or subordinated their capitalist class to the rule of the workers
European countries developed strong domestic labor movements and welfare states so neighboring Socialist Countries didn't look like an appealing alternative.
The global south struggles to overcome what you're describing because They're developed enough to have a class consciousness proletariat, so you can't as easily stoke a precarious peasantry to Revolution. And they're under the thumb, but only of domestic capital, but also international capital, so resistingbecomes much more difficult. Surveillance tech and weapons used on people in the imperial core are essentially tested on hyper exploited workers in the global south