My workplace, a library in a red state, might seriously be going on strike soon. The board has been invaded by rightoids and they’re floating the idea of introducing a content rating system for the books (its rightoids going after libraries like you’ve seen) that obviously is in bad faith and will be used to ban LGBT content, left wing theory, etc. We have multiple librarians threatening to quit, and at our morning meeting our director starting talking about a work stoppage. The (open to the public) board meeting is tomorrow night, and if things go bad, its probably strike time. The old lady librarians have actually had enough of right wing bullshit and are ready to risk their incomes, it’s actually happening folks.
I’m just looking for general advice on doing this stuff. Like what should I prepare, who if anybody should I contact (for support)? We are not union.
If you’re public sector the strike would almost certainly be “illegal”. That doesn’t mean they can force you back to work, but your labor law protections pretty much go out the window with an illegal strike.
Strike funds, have money saved up for the strike. Start fundraising yesterday. Reach out to other organizations that might have money to donate. Basic necessities like food and hygiene products might also be good. Get extra medication if you need it and get any doctor’s appointments out of the way before you go because you might not be able to access your health insurance.
Nobody goes straight into a strike without testing how serious the members are about it. Strike authorization votes, petitions, etc. should all be done to make sure the membership is serious about it. The Teamsters at UPS won their tentative agreement because they were running practice pickets and had a 98% strike authorization vote.