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
Last year Sarah Jaffe wrote a piece on 6 Ways to Juice Up the Labor Movement. The following is my answer to her question. McAlevey points out that the entire structure of work has changed over recent years. That means that there are many workers who don’t see how unions could work for them, and who have to be reintroduced to the entire concept of unions. Read More
A veteran labor organizer whose tactics have earned her admiration—and condemnation—McAlevey pulls no punches. That’s the spirit that infuses this memoir/manifesto, which calls for putting the “movement” back into the labor movement. McAlevey argues that unions must make connections to communities and social justice campaigns if they’re going to renew themselves and transform the economy. Read More
I sat down with AlterNet’s Sarah Jaffe to talk about organizing and my book Raising Expectations. Read it on AlterNet. Sarah Jaffe: You start the book out with the aftermath of the 2000 election in Florida, and of course we just finished a presidential election where organized labor went all-out to elect President Obama. Read More
Host Cecil Prescod interviews labor activist Jane McAlevey about the state of the labor movement and how to make unions matter again. McAlevey has been an organizer in the labor and environmental justice movements for the last twenty years. She is a PhD candidate at CUNY Graduate Center and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read More