Struggling through a frigid March rain earlier this year, rounding up carts in the parking lot of the Chicago Whole Foods where I work, one of my bosses stood at the door.
“That weather really sucks,” he said offhandedly. I nodded tersely. “But, hey,” he continued, chuckling. “What are you going to do? Go on strike?”
It made sense that he found the idea of us striking absurd – strikes are at an all-time low, nearly nonexistent in shops like mine, and almost none of my co-workers have ever been in a union. But a month later, we did. Ten Whole Foods workers walked off the job to protest a draconian attendance policy and poverty wages, along with 200 fast food and retail workers across the city and thousands across the country.
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