Can Labor Be Saved? #U1Nation Twitter Chat

In this month's The Nation labor advocates and scholars discuss varying ways in which labor and unions can be saved in the United States. We brought this forum to Twitter for a lively discussion with authors of the pieces.

  1. We are delighted to host a discussion asking How to Save Labor, based on a series from @TheNation. bit.ly/137hPjC #u1nation
  2. At 2PM EST, tune into twitter chat: Can Labor Be Saved with @CWAUnion @JoshEidelson @KBronfenbrenner @GregAnrig & others using #u1Nation #1u
  3. Transitioning from the Israeli-Palestine talk to a Twitter Chat on saving unions. Follow #u1nation to join in! bit.ly/15v1m8F #u1
  4. We're joined by series editor @josheidelson (@thenation) Larry Cohen, president of @CWAUnion, @KBronfenbrenner of Cornell (1/2) #u1nation
  5. .@josheidelson Our fastest growing industries are virtually union-free. Which industries are those, and how can unions help? #u1nation
  6. Take fast food. Rapidly growing, increasingly characteristic of US economy: low wages, poor benefits, unpredictable hrs. Non-union #u1nation
  7. Organizing there is rife w/ challenges, including small numbers on each shift, high turnover, and the “Who’s the Boss?” problem. #u1nation
  8. Big franchised chains don’t have legal accountability that goes w/ being employer, but can punish franchisees that accede 2workers #u1nation
  9. In Nov, we saw a historic challenge to fast food industry: For 1 day, 200 workers in NYC went on strike, demanding $15/ hr + union #u1nation
  10. Can they win anything? Many reasons for pessimism; depends in part on whether they can do the same repeatedly, + in several cities #u1nation
  11. But campaign illustrates several trends. 1st, while significantly funded by SEIU, organizing is spearheaded by an alt-labor group #u1nation
  12. 2nd, franchisee structure of industry means it’s impossible (rather than near-impossible), 2win through going 2 govt 4 an election #u1nation
  13. To win requires a comprehensive campaign – media, politics, consumers, and workers in action. #u1nation
  14. 3rd, strikes aren’t dead. Harder +riskier now, but done right, can squeeze companies+galvanize support in way other tactics don’t #u1nation
  15. As Kate's noted, strikes in fast food + Walmart are arguably a form of “minority unionism.” #u1nation
  16. ...Workers taking aggressive action as a step towards organizing a majority of their co-workers, rather than the other way around. #u1nation
  17. 2often we see comprehensive campaigns by unions that aren’t really comprehensive, b/c they don’t give the workers very much to do. #u1nation
  18. Smart comprehensive campaigns anchored by rigorous organizing + militant industrial activism like strikes can still sometimes win. #u1nation
  19. .@josheidelson Think it's significant that WMT workers globally are part of organizing now, too. #u1nation
  20. .@KBronfenbrenner Since 2008 unions have focused on politics & labor law reform & not organizing. Is that self-defeating? #u1nation
  21. Union political power intrinsically depends on union vitality in the workplace and community, a result of organizing power #u1nation

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The Century Foundation is a progressive nonprofit public policy research institution, with offices in New York and Washington, DC.

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