Media Coverage
Changing the narrative is never enough. But positive coverage helps.

UC strikers in the street

The Union Membership Rate Has Dropped to a Historic Low. It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way.: A new report offers a grim look at that the state of labor nationally, but that’s not the whole picture.

Jane McAlevey’s quote in the article states the case clearly: Some advocates believe that focusing on building union power through worker organizing, rather than first seeking policy changes, holds the key to reversing the decline of union density.  Jane McAlevey, a senior policy fellow of with the Labor Center at the University of California, Berkeley, puts the problem with union strategy bluntly: ​“It’s a lack of ambition and it’s risk aversion, but fundamentally, it’s a lack of faith in workers.” Read More

UC strike discusssion

A Conversation about the Current UC strike and more: Union organizer and on-strike UC Academic Researcher Jane McAlevey and UC Labor Historian Nelson Lichtenstein

[NOTE that the actual conversation begins at minute 14:50] Nelson Lichtenstein and I had a conversation online the evening of November 29th. We discussed the history of the UAW first, as he is a top expert on the union and Walter Reuther, and then brought that history forward to inform the current strike by UAW – UC workers (I am one of the 48,000 on strike!). Read More

brian lehrer show logo

The People’s Guide To Power: The Power Of Labor: How Labor Movements Are Involved In Our Political System

WNYC/Gothamist senior political reporter Brigid Bergin hosts a conversation about how organized labor fits into our political landscape. Organized Labor And The Working Families Party Labor unions represent workers in conversations with their employers. Can a political party represent workers in our government? Sochie Nnaemeka, director of the New York Working Families Party, talks about some of the policies and politics behind the party’s agenda. Read More

majority report with sam seder logo

The Next Steps For Union Organizing; How Lansing Chipotle Got A Union: The mass growth in organized labor action in the wake of the heightened tensions of 2020 is discussed.

Sam and Emma host Jane McAlevey, Senior Policy Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley’s Labor Center, to discuss her recent video for The Nation “You Voted To Form A Union. Now What?” Then they are joined by T.J. Kitchen, Organizing Director for the Teamsters Joint Council #43, to discuss the recent organizing efforts at a Chipotle franchise in Lansing, Michigan. Read More