“going to the biggest-worst”

October 12, 2018 9:58 AM

“Futility is a strategy. An indispensable aspect of this is to make people associate the unionization election itself with the pain and discomfort of the polarized, harsh language coming at them from all sides: The sooner the election goes away, the better they will feel. Things will return to “normal,” since they will stop fighting with friends and family, and the once-bad normal — the reason for the struggle in the first place — suddenly feels better, until their employer cuts benefits weeks after the election. Futility makes the act of voting, discussing and even thinking about the election feel bad.” Three Lessons for Winning in November and Beyond : What union organizers can teach Democrats (NYT Op-Ed) by Jane McAlevy, author of No Shortcuts (Labor Notes.) Jane McAlvey Structural Power Requires Structure-based Organizing (Vimeo 01:28)
posted by The Whelk (2 comments total)

This was totally interesting. Thanks for posting. There's also a video of a Harvard Law Forum talk that she did on youtube that is totally fascinating, especially after 22:00 (I guess the vimeo clips might be from this talk?). The information about the teacher's strikes in West Virginia and Chicago and all the details about Wall Charts as part of an effective fight are so interesting.
posted by gt2 at 6:28 AM on October 13, 2018

Meanwhile Jane MacAlvey talks to the Sacramento DSA about organizing agter the elections
posted by The Whelk at 6:16 PM on November 9, 2018