Labor Unions of the World, Unite
Labor is struggling with how to build international working-class power. The United Electrical Workers offer a model of just that.
Search Result(s) for: “working class”
Movable Empire
The story of how America’s imperial quest for labor shaped the hemisphere’s working class.
The World Within a World
As the UK Labour Party aims to organize its forgotten heartlands, it can learn from a rich history of socialist culture in working-class communities.
Meet the Socialist Former Uber Driver Running for New York State Senate
The working-class son of Haitian immigrants, David Alexis cut his teeth organizing fellow Uber drivers. Now he’s running to unseat the “Joe Manchin of New York” and fight for immigrants’ rights, workers’ rights, and a Green New Deal from Albany.
From the Union Hall to the Church
Jair Bolsonaro's election in Brazil marked the decline of trade unions as the primary site of working-class organization; and the rise of Evangelical churches in their place.
Teachers’ Unions Are Demanding Police-Free Schools
A major lesson from the recent teachers’ strike wave was the necessity for unions to bargain for the common good of the entire working class. By joining the nationwide protests against police brutality and demanding police-free schools, teachers’ unions have taken that lesson to heart.
Democrats’ Midterm Prospects Are Looking Up. They Still Don’t Have a Long Game.
Democrats are hoping to win the midterms by touting the pared-down Inflation Reduction Act and their (modest) commitment to abortion rights. That might work in November — but it’s a poor strategy for reversing hemorrhaging support among working-class voters.
Why the Deck Is Stacked Against Workers Under Capitalism
Workers must organize for power, while capitalists wield it individually through property rights. This fundamental asymmetry, as German sociologist Claus Offe explained, creates a chain of obstacles that make working-class collective action uniquely difficult.
No, Left-Wing Activists Aren’t the Same As Fascist Thugs
Spain’s far-right Vox party began its Madrid election campaign with a rally in the multiracial working-class suburb of Vallecas, prompting clashes with locals. Media responded with a condemnation of the “twin extremisms” — showing how those who defend the poor and marginalized are falsely equated with those who abuse them.
Australia Needs a Working-Class Environmental Movement
Led by Australian unions, the Hunter Jobs Alliance is organizing workers, environmentalists, and Hunter Valley communities to oppose the right-wing narrative on climate change. We don’t have to choose between protecting jobs and saving the planet: a plan based on public investment can do both.
The Paris Commune Is Still a Beacon for Radical Change
On this day in 1871, the working class of Paris seized control of the capital and established the Commune. Though it ruled for just two months, the world’s first workers’ government still stands as a vivid example of the kind of society workers themselves can create, according to their own vision of freedom and equality.
Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. Captured Two Sides of Reagan’s America
Two years after his 1982 album Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen released Born in the U.S.A. Together, they provided a tragic-romantic view of the working class in Reagan-era America.
Veterans Can Help Reinvigorate the Labor Movement
Military veterans like the great labor leader Tony Mazzocchi have played a central role in US labor battles in the past. And if the union movement is to rebuild itself, working-class veterans will have to play an important role today too.
Raising Our Expectations
Jane McAlevey challenges the Left to stop lamenting its disappointments in the working class and address our own failures.
Brandon Johnson Should Establish a Public Bank in Chicago
Chicago’s working-class neighborhoods have been exploited by predatory financial institutions and starved of desperately needed investment. Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson could change that by creating a public bank.
Are Hispanic Voters Really Switching to the GOP?
Democrats aren’t losing Hispanic voters — they’re losing the entire working class.
Zohran Mamdani Can Reduce New York’s Dependence on the Rich
Time and again, New York City’s dependence on the rich and private corporations has led it into fiscal crisis. As mayor, Zohran Mamdani has the opportunity to start building an economic base that better serves the needs of the city’s working class.
Labor Wins When They Run Union Members for Office
A new report from the Center for Working-Class Politics, Arizona State University’s Center for Work and Democracy, and Jacobin shows how labor can play to its strengths — and win. The secret? Run more union members for office.
Proportional Representation Would Be a Boon for Labor
The US electoral system distorts the translation of political preferences into votes, diminishing the influence of working-class voters and labor unions. To build their political power, unions should support proportional representation.
The European Elections Should Be a Wake-Up Call for the Left
Left-wing parties like Die Linke and Podemos look set to perform poorly in this weekend’s EU elections. Working-class voters are far from happy with the current EU leadership, but the Left is failing to convince them that it can change things.