Why a D.C. bike shop is joining a radical socialist union (Wobblies-IWW)

[Omaha Steve]

X post in Labor & GD

The staff of Capitol Hill Bikes organized in solidarity with the hard-fought campaign at Capital Bikeshare.



It's now a union shop. (Lydia DePillis/The Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/05/why-a-d-c-bike-shop-is-joining-a-radical-socialist-union/

By Lydia DePillis March 5 at 11:04 AM

Call it copycat unionism: Sometimes one workplace’s organizing efforts spread to another.

That at least seems to be what's happening at Capitol Hill Bikes, whose nine-person staff voted in January to form the District Bicycle Workers' Union after watching the struggles of Capital Bikeshare workers to do the same.

“We saw what Capital Bikeshare was doing and wanted to show solidarity with them,” says Kevin Cashman, 27, a mechanic who has worked at the shop for two years. The ties are more than just symbolic: Fhar Miess, who was fired for organizing at the city’s bikesharing service, was hired at the 15-year-old bike shop last month.

The process was a lot easier at Capitol Hill Bikes, as employees have a good relationship with the shop’s owner, Denise D’Amour, who recognized the union voluntarily. “The bottom line is that I have a good staff, they’re smart, and they have the best interest of the store at heart, and I’m willing to do what they think is best,” she says.

FULL story at link.

[daleanime]

1. K&R....

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Damn right.

For some reason this post made me think of the old socialist mayors in Milwaukee--the "sewer socialists," so-called because they made the city's infrastructure work. The strongest supporters of those old socialist regimes were not just the laborers, but the small businesses, who were in it for the long haul & appreciated having a city that functioned well and was pleasant to live in with its wonderful park system, etc.