The Teamsters’ Proposed Agreement With UPS Is a Great Victory by and for the Workers: How can we move from clawing back losses into actually changing the terms of the game in workers’ favor?

• July 29, 2023
• Posted in Labor Movement, Mobilizing, Organizing, Strikes, The Nation, Unions

In an era of growing acceptance of racist demagogues—if not outright creeping fascism—strategy for working-class institutions has to give equal weight to strategic political education as it does to winning material gains. The two go together. The material wins in this UPS contract will be life-changing for many workers—a tremendous achievement, and nothing to diminish. Read More

What Will Happen if UPS Workers Strike?: Jane McAlevey discusses what the union is looking for.

• July 19, 2023
• Posted in Class Struggle, Interviews, Labor Movement, Strikes, Unions

  The Teamsters union, which represents UPS workers, may go on strike if a deal is not reached by the end of this month. Jane McAlevey, organizer, senior policy fellow at the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, strikes correspondent at The Nation and co-author of Rules to Win By: Power and Participation in Union Negotiations (Oxford University Press, 2023), talks about what the union is looking for, and Jason Miller, associate professor of supply chain management and interim chair of the supply chain management department at Michigan State, explains what would happen to the package delivery business and the broader economy if the more than 300,000 workers go on strike. Read More

Summer of Strikes—Plus, After Affirmative Action: On this episode of “Start Making Sense,” Jane McAlevey talks about unions, and John Nichols comments on the politics of education.

• July 7, 2023
• Posted in Class Struggle, Climate Change, Interviews, Labor Movement, Mobilizing, Organizing, Podcast, Strikes, Unions

Two nationwide strikes may be in the works right now. The Teamsters have been negotiating with UPS for a new contract, and the United Auto Workers have been preparing to strike at least one of the Detroit auto makers. These have the potential to provide swing-state voters with a political education in the lead-up to the 2024 election. Read More

Contract Talks by Teamsters and the UAW Have the Potential to Change Our Politics: Upcoming union negotiations can swing the 2024 election—and help rebuild democracy.

• June 25, 2023
• Posted in Labor Movement, Mobilizing, Organizing, Strikes, The Nation, Unions

Unions once played a central role in the political education of the working class. The Teamsters, who announced a 97 percent yes-to-strike vote by members on June 16, and the UAW have a chance to build on the brilliance of the teachers’ unions in Chicago and Los Angeles and educate everyday Americans on how to fight back and win what we need at work—and in our democracy. Read More

Winning Is Only the Start: Jane McAlevey on Building Worker Power: Jane McAlevey on the long-game of building union power through contract negotiations.

• June 9, 2023
• Posted in Class Struggle, Climate Change, Interviews, Labor Movement, Mobilizing, Organizing, Podcast, Strikes, Unions

In April 2022, Amazon workers in Staten Island voted to form a union. But a year after that historic victory, union members at the JFK8 warehouse still don’t have a contract, thanks largely to Amazon spending $14 million on union avoidance consultants. That may be shocking but it’s not unusual. When workers vote to form a union, it takes an average of 465 additional days to sign a contract with their employer. Read More