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 coworkers 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 two hundred fast food and retail workers across the city and thousands across the country.