organizing Archives - Jane McAlevey

UAW Mercedes Alabama employees at rally

Learning the Right Lessons From the UAW Loss in Alabama: So how can the union win next time?

  There likely won’t be any more VW-like neutrality agreements with other foreign-owned US-based automakers, but the UAW can still win big. As Shawn Fain himself said last Friday, “What matters is what you do with that experience.” Everyone will continue to cheer this new UAW leadership on, as we should. Read More

UAW strike picket line

Enjoy Labor’s Tailwinds—but Don’t Forget to Keep Rowing!: What lessons should workers draw from the recent rapid-fire union election victories? Winning an election, whether it’s for a union or a political candidate, is just the first step.

The tight labor market signaled by the Great Resignation—when so many workers took individual action, leaving jobs and employers they hated—has converged with other economic and cultural trends to create a unique set of conditions that support union organizing. From Trader Joe’s to Apple to smaller, regional chains and one-off kitchen shops, workers have been turning individual indignation into collective action to change the quality of their work lives by staying put and transforming their workplaces rather than hopping between shitty jobs. Read More

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How Jane McAlevey Transformed the Labor Movement: The renowned organizer and theorist has a terminal-cancer diagnosis. But she has long been fighting the clock.

(excerpts…) Organizing is not an art of telling people what to do, McAlevey explains, but of listening for what they cannot abide… McAlevey has become not just an expert organizer but a social scientist of organizing’s methodology. She has written four books that have become touchstones for a new generation of labor leaders. Read More

UAW strike picket line

The UAW Decided to Use a Novel Strike Strategy. It’s Working.: The UAW’s “stand-up” strike strategy, which targets portions of the Big Three simultaneously, was a gamble. But the approach has worked so far...

  (excerpt) First, bargaining is very public. Members know what’s happening at the table, which is novel enough. The tradition in North American labor relations has long been to bargain in private; members are brought in when an impasse or a tentative agreement is reached. Employers prefer it this way. GM CEO Mary Barra confirmed this on September 29 in her statement on negotiations, asserting that “serious bargaining happens at the table, not in public.” Read More

UAW strike picket line

What’s at Stake in the UAW Strike: With so much riding on the outcome, it’s time for labor and its supporters—from the White House to the grass roots—to play for keeps.

For the current strike to move us forward, workers need to lay the foundation for more power: more control over technology in the workplace, and better terms for building a broader base of power among newly organized workers. The billionaires and their Republicans will try their best to set the terms of this fight in their favor, as they have with their Supreme Court and their Electoral College. Read More