Tag Archives: unions

Basic Training For Organizers

As a labor organizer, I had thousands of conversations with the “unorganized.” But, much of my work was “organizing the organizer” — preparing members and activists to talk to their co-workers. I use the method in the video as a … Continue reading

Posted in Labor Movement, organizing, Organizing Method, Organizing Strategy, union organzing, unions, Working Class | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Stand With The Peace Movement

These are challenging times for the US peace movement. We are struggling to find our bearings. The people of the US have been subject to a level of propaganda and censorship unprecedented in recent history. How can we respond? There are … Continue reading

Posted in American Culture, American Exceptionalism, Capitalism, Climate Change, Corporate Power, Empire, Green Party, History, Labor Movement, Military, Movement Culture, organizing, Organizing Strategy, police state, Red Scare, Strategy, unions, War, War creates Climate Change, Working Class | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Workers Are Walking Out

Workers Are Walking Out After decades of retreat, it might just be that workers are coming into their own as a force for social change. Forty years of punishing austerity and a two-tiered labor system pitting new, temporary, or part-time workers against … Continue reading

Posted in austerity, Capitalism, Corporate Power, Labor Movement, organizing, Organizing Strategy, revolutionary strategy, Socialism, union organzing, unions, White Privilege, Working Class | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

How They Stole $50 Trillion. How We Take It Back.

Between the mid-1930s and mid-1970s worker organizing and unrest created a degree of economic democracy not achieved since. It was quite an accomplishment. After several decades of increased standards of living for most US workers, corporate actors organized a counter-attack … Continue reading

Posted in American Culture, austerity, Capitalism, Corporate Power, Empire, History, Labor Movement, Military, organizing, Organizing Method, Organizing Strategy, Racism, Red Scare, revolutionary strategy, Socialism, Strategy, union organzing, unions, War, Working Class | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cold War Liberalism and The Labor Movement: The Epic Fail

Cold War Liberalism During the Cold War, Labor unions violated the basic principle of solidarity by joining forces with Imperial elites to weaken militant trade unionism abroad — usually under the mantle of anti-communism. By undermining unions, AFL-CIO foreign policy helped corporations … Continue reading

Posted in Capitalism, Corporate Power, Empire, History, Labor Movement, Military, Movement Culture, organizing, Organizing Strategy, Red Scare, Socialism, Strategy, unions, War, Working Class | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Organizing White Workers When The Klan Is In The Shop

With the rise of the extreme right, the Klan and its modern descendants are definitely “in the shop.” Here’s a story from a long time ago but it could have happened only yesterday. This is not a heroic tale just … Continue reading

Posted in Capitalism, History, Labor Movement, Martin Luther King, Movement Culture, organizing, Organizing Method, Organizing Strategy, Racism, Red Scare, union organzing, unions, White Privilege, White Supremacy, White workers, Working Class | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

What We Have Here is a Failure to Negotiate

No relief worth a damn? No healthcare? What we have here is a failure to negotiate. And that is a direct outcome of the failure to challenge power. I was only chief negotiator once but I sat at enough bargaining … Continue reading

Posted in Capitalism, Cooperation, Corporate Power, electoral strategy, Labor Movement, Movement Culture, organizing, Organizing Strategy, Socialism, Strategy, union organzing, unions, War, Working Class | Tagged , | 2 Comments

What is the General Strike?

Also at CounterPunch. The General Strike in the US is a multi-faceted, poly-centered resistance movement responding to the general crisis of capitalism and corporate power triggered by the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic is revealing to millions what was always well … Continue reading

Posted in American Culture, Capitalism, Climate Change, Cooperation, Corporate Power, electoral strategy, Empire, Green Party, History, Labor Movement, Military, Movement Culture, organizing, Organizing Strategy, Red Scare, revolutionary strategy, Socialism, union organzing, unions, White Supremacy, Working Class | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Strike, Sick Out, Slow Down: The General Strike and You.

Also at Counterpunch. The strike, sick out, and slowdown are among the most effective weapons in the arsenal of class struggle. They disrupt production and interrupt the flow of profits. But the most effective weapons are also the most demanding. … Continue reading

Posted in Capitalism, Corporate Power, History, Labor Movement, Movement Culture, organizing, Organizing Method, Organizing Strategy, revolutionary strategy, Strategy, unions, Working Class | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

From Strike Wave to General Strike

Above photo: Yasmine James (center with microphone), the McDonald’s worker attacked while working at a St. Petersburg restaurant, spoke to a crowd at a worker rally Tuesday. Spectrum News image. Thanks to Popular Resistance. Also in Counterpunch and Popular Resistance. The … Continue reading

Posted in Capitalism, Cooperation, Corporate Power, electoral strategy, Empire, Labor Movement, Movement Culture, organizing, Organizing Method, Organizing Strategy, Prefigurative politics, revolutionary strategy, Socialism, Strategy, unions, Working Class | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment