Eric Dirnbach is a union researcher and socialist. He lives in New York City.
In 2022, Amazon workers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island became the first in the US to win a union election. The new documentary Union gives a compelling glimpse behind the scenes of the victory — and the challenges that have come since.
Two key questions confront labor: should unions focus on organizing workers with major strategic leverage in the economy? Or should they welcome any workers willing to fight, since that organizing can constitute a major catalyst for other workers?
Millions of workers want a union. The Emergency Worker Organizing Committee, a project launched by socialists and the United Electrical Workers at the beginning of the pandemic, offers insights into how to organize them.
Four decades later, the 1979 pro-labor movie Norma Rae still holds up.
Halfway through the year, the number of large strikes in the United States is at the highest level in decades.