It’s easy to become disillusioned with the state of the labour movement. With unions immersed in rearguard actions and membership often seen as little more than an insurance policy, it’s fair to say that they are not the fighting organisations called for by the circumstances. It’s instructive, then, to look at what unions can be and can do in the present day. Read More
Sam Gindin: “In this context, McAlevey’s book is timely and desperately needed because it convincingly demonstrates that the problem is not in the stars, but in ourselves. If we as the Left can get our shit together, it is possible to build groups of workers into a social force in spite of the times. Read More
Jane McAlevey’s Raising Expectations, an account of the problems and possibilities of trade union activism in the US, is full of wit and wisdom, finds Season Butler Read the full review here » Read More
While much of the labor movement has battened down the hatches and lowered its sights regarding what is possible, as the book’s title indicates, McAlevey calls for raising expectations of what’s possible and what working people are capable of. From the moment McAlevey steps foot in Vegas, she describes a virtual whirlwind of intensely focused and successful organizing and contract campaigns in a series of workplaces. Read More
This rousing memoir of McAlevey’s decade-long experience as a union organizer spares neither the companies nor the union bosses. After success as a union organizer of home health care workers in Stamford, Connecticut, McAlevey was sent to do the same in Pittsburgh. There she ran up against a union executive vice-president who effectively sabotaged her work. Read More