Cultural Critique

The article provided for this assignment is written by Kim Kelly, titled “The Longest Strike in the US Just Ended: This is the Workers’ Story,” which paints a detailed picture of the struggles that union workers face in their fight for fair wages and better working conditions. The article starts off by stating that the longest strike in the history of America, which had lasted two years, had ended and that the workers would be going back to work, despite the strike not bearing any fruits (Kim). The strike had been a result of the mining company, Warrior Met Coal, cutting the wages of the employees and had them working in harsher conditions, with the promise that when the company started doing better, these conditions would be rectified, but it never happened, which triggered a strike (Kim). Notably, the article points out that the company was making over half a billion dollars in profit, but the workers were still being paid peanuts and working long hours (Kim). The company deployed tactics to try and intimidate the striking workers, such as hiring other nonunion workers and violence and leveraging legal measures to weaken the picket line.

Additionally, favorable market conditions and a stockpile of 2.8 million tons enabled the company to continue functioning despite the lack of mining. Notably, the strike received support from key public figures and other union leaders, but this was not enough as there was no political attention from political figures or any media attention. In addition, the author points out that the main supporters of this strike were the women of the UMWA Auxiliary, who ensured that the strikers would be taken care of during the strike. “The most credit, however, should go directly to the women of the UMWA Auxiliary, who spent countless hours organizing events, cooking at rallies, collecting donations, speaking to the media, and running a strike pantry that fed more than 200 families each week, on top of working their own jobs and caring for their own families. They were the glue that held the strike together, building on a long coal-country tradition and inspired by labor organizer Mary “Mother Jones” Harris. For them, it was personal” (Kim). Eventually, the striking workers conceded defeat as the strike went on too long, and seeing as some depended on the job to care for their families, they decided that little was better than nothing.

This article gives a comprehensive account of the Warrior Meta Coal strike and how despite it being the longest strike in America’s history, it did not bear any fruits. The article showcases how no laws prevent companies from taking illegal measures against striking workers, especially when they have good grounds for striking. In addition, the lack of support for workers from politicians, law enforcement agencies, the judicial system, labor laws, and the media has also been brought to light. After reading the article, I believe that the author does a good job of supporting her ideas using data or evidence from reliable sources. Lastly, one observation I made from the article is that one significant challenge union workers face is that there will always be people who are not union workers, and in the face of economic desperation and corporate tactics, union cohesion and achieving their goals will always be challenging.

Works Cited

Kim, Kelly. “The Longest Strike in the US just Ended: This is the Workers’ Story”. Fast Company, Fast Company, 26 Feb. 2023. https://www.fastcompany.com/90856238/warrior-met-strike-alabama-mine-workers-ends

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Description

To prepare you for Essay #3:you the following article to read this week:

“The longest strike in the U.S. just ended: This is the workers* story“.(Kelly).

If the above link doesn’t work, click here for a PDF version of the article.

After reading this short story and taking notes on it, your task is to do the following:

• Write a paragraph in which you summarize Kelly‘s article. In the topic sentence, identify Kelly and the title of her article, as well as what the main idea(s).In the body of the paragraph, explain how Kelly supports her main idea(s) ;be sure to include relevant, cited quotes and examples from the article.
• Write a paragraph in which you analyze Kelly‘s article. In your topic sentence, briefly summarize your analysis, and then in the body of the paragraph, support and develop your analysis. Some questions to consider: What is your analysis of the main idea(s)?
  How well does Kelly support the main idea(s)? Do you have observations and examples of your own that develop or(perhaps) contradict ideas expressed in the article?
  

  Cultural Critique

There is no length requirement, but you must fully support and develop each paragraph for full credit, and you must closely edit to remove all errors.

Finally, be sure to cite using in–text MLA citations. Include a Works Cited page. Below is the Works Cited entry as it should appear (be sure to add the
hanging indent):

Kelly, Kim. “The Warrior Met Strike by Alabama United Mine Workers Miners Ends.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 2 Feb.2023,
238/warrior–met–strike–alabama-mine-workers-ends