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Full-Text Articles in Labor History
The Epic Failure Of Labor Leadership In The United States, 1980-2017 And Continuing, Kim Scipes
The Epic Failure Of Labor Leadership In The United States, 1980-2017 And Continuing, Kim Scipes
Class, Race and Corporate Power
The organizational failure of labor leadership in the US is more than individual failures, which could perhaps be overcome by the election of new leaders. The author argues that the model of trade unionism that has dominated US unionism—business unionism—offers no viable way forward and must be replaced by another model— social justice unionism.
John L. Lewis And His Critics: Some Forgotten Labor History That Still Matters Today, Staughton Lynd
John L. Lewis And His Critics: Some Forgotten Labor History That Still Matters Today, Staughton Lynd
Class, Race and Corporate Power
The purpose of this essay is to propose a new answer to the question of "what happened to the Congress of Industrial Organizations?" Lynd argues the CIO became what its creator, United Mine Workers (UMW) president John L. Lewis, intended it to be. This approach is juxtaposed with the approach taken by A.J. Muste, who helped to lead the cotton textile strike of 1919 to victory, then founded the Brookwood Labor School—probably the most radical and effective school for workers in American history.
Time To Tackle The Whole Squid: Confronting White Supremacy To Build Shared Bargaining Power, Erica Smiley
Time To Tackle The Whole Squid: Confronting White Supremacy To Build Shared Bargaining Power, Erica Smiley
Class, Race and Corporate Power
The operators of global capital, who have representatives in both US political parties, use a system of white supremacy and structural racism to keep working people disorganized and isolated from each other so that they do not collectively (and successfully) disrupt their ability to continue to concentrate resources among a tiny, select few. And thus in order to truly confront global capitalism and reverse the dramatic trends of inequality in the US and elsewhere, the struggle against white supremacy must be a central element of any strategy to build working class power.