"What Can I Do to Help the Labor Movement?"

You can do these things.

This could be you. (Photo: Getty)

For many years, in countless repetitive screeds, I have been telling people to support the labor movement. One thing that has been driven home to me as I have gone on book tour and fielded a lot of questions from readers is that there are many people who would like to support the labor movement, but don’t have a firm idea of how to support the labor movement. It’s such a vague damn concept! “What exactly am I supposed to do?” is, perhaps, a point that I have glossed over in my many diatribes.

So let’s try to correct that. Here is a list of concrete actions that you, the theoretically pro-labor person, can take to help support and strengthen this movement—the movement that is, I have argued at tedious length, the key to rolling back the plague of inequality that is undermining the very existence of the American dream. The suggestions on this list are divided into three categories: for people who can’t be in a union (because you are retired, or you are unemployed, or you an “independent contractor” legally barred from unionizing, or you are a manager or business owner, or other non-pathetic-excuse reason that makes it impossible for you to join a union); for people who could be in a union but aren’t; and for union members. This is not meant to be an exhaustive laundry list of every last damn thing. This is a list of things that you can do, that are not bullshit.

Here we go then.

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For Those Who Can’t Be In a Union

Join DSA: Setting aside your opinions of every issue that DSA is engaged with (which I don’t want to know! Save it for the damn DSA meeting!), they are the political group with the strongest and most meaningful attachment to the labor movement today. You can join DSA and get involved in DSA Labor and they will plug you into tangible efforts to support strikes and contract fights and local and national unions and labor issues of all types. They are a direct connection to the labor movement for those who lack another connection to it. If there is not an active DSA chapter in your area, get involved in your local Democratic Party and lobby them to more aggressively support labor issues in your area. Sometimes people think that if they are from a small town, they can’t make a difference. But the smaller the place, the more impact a single person or small group of people can have in political work. Be loud.

Give Money: “To what?” Fair question. The lack of a strong pipeline of charity money that will directly fund union organizing is a drawback that organized labor needs to work on correcting. For now, I suggest 1) The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC), a coalition or organizers that does in fact directly help workers unionize, 2) An independent union like Trader Joe’s United or the Amazon Labor Union or New Seasons Labor Union or similar, 3) a worker center such as the ones on this list, 4) a strike fund, which you can look up when there is a strike, or 5) you can fund a range of worker organizing efforts through the Coworker Solidarity Fund. I hope that one day soon there will be an overarching, credible, effective national nonprofit organization that will directly turn donations into union organizers. But for now, these places will all put your money to good use.

Good citizen-style support: When there is a strike in your area, go walk the picket line for a day. When your local or state government is considering pro or anti-labor laws, write letters and call the politicians and go raise hell at the public comment times. If somewhere in your area is unionizing, go in and tell the workers you support them. Send angry emails to businesses that are union busting. Support union businesses over non-union businesses. Basic stuff like this matters. Workers and unions and union-busters alike all need to see that the general public is paying attention. It is easy to make these things a habit. Do them all.

For Those Who Are Not Yet in a Union

You can do all of the stuff discussed above. Plus,

Unionize your workplace: I’m fucking serious. “But my boss is really vindictive. But I haven’t worked here long. But I don’t know that many coworkers. But I’m not sure if people would be into it. But I don’t want to get fired. But I really need my health insurance. But but but but but.” Fuck that. Do you work for The Union Easter Bunny? Because then you can leave it to The Union Easter Bunny, who goes around magically starting union drives under cover of darkness. But if you don’t work for The Union Easter Bunny, then unionizing your workplace is on you. Look: Unionizing your workplace can be a lot of work and an uncertain prospect and sometimes you can try to do it and it fails. That is okay. What is not okay is not trying to do it. This act, this one right here, is the single most important thing that anyone can do to make the American labor movement stronger. It is also—lucky for you!—an act that can be undertaken by anyone who is a full time employee. Sure, there are some places that it might not make sense to try to unionize—extremely small workplaces, co-ops, startups that may well be gone six months from now. But for most people in most jobs, a union would a benefit, and a union drive is possible, and if you are reading this there is a very high chance that no one else at your job is more likely to undertake this task than you, so you may as well consider it to be your personal moral responsibility. Just try.

Reach out to a local union, if you know one. If you don’t, contact the AFL-CIO to get in touch with a union, or contact the aforementioned EWOC, which can connect you with an organizer, or if all else fails, email me. The most important thing that the labor movement needs is more union members. The statistical reality is that a union organizer is unlikely to come knocking at your door. Therefore you must make the first move. The future is yours!

You could be having this much fun.

For Those Who Are In a Union

Get involved: I know this sounds basic. But I (and you) also know that most union members are not involved in their unions very much at all. Are you on a committee? Are you helping to welcome new members? Are you designing the buttons and organizing the union softball team? Strong unions don’t just pull people together when it’s time to negotiate a contract or strike—they are always engaging members, keeping everyone mobilized and ready to fight. And, you know, to have some fun out there. Sign up and do some stuff. More specifically,

Run for an elected position: Depending on where your union falls on the healthy-lazy-insular-corrupt spectrum, it is probably easier than you think to get an elected position. Run for the board or council or officer corps of your union or local. Better yet, put together a slate of people who, like you, aspire to make your union great, and run together, and take that motherfucker over. The organizations that will do the reviving of organized labor are unions, and if the unions are not doing what they need to do, they need to be commandeered. To what end? I’m glad you asked.

Raise your union’s organizing budget: Does your union spend 30% of its total budget on organizing, with an emphasis on new organizing? Without even knowing what union you’re in I will bet you that the answer is “no.” Even though 30% has been the budget target for organizing for labor movement reformers for decades, very few unions actually hit that number today. We must grow the labor movement and to do so we must organize many new workers and to do so we must hire many new organizers and give them the resources they need. Having 30% of the budget dedicated to organizing is a handy, tangible goal. When you are told that the union can’t afford that, look at the budget and see how much money is spent on everything else that is, by definition, less important than organizing. Move some of that money into organizing. Problem solved. One good way to keep this process rolling is,

Set a growth target: “Our union membership should grow by (5-10-15%) per year.” There you go. You have a target. You have a goal. Why do most unions simply stagger around like drunks, collecting members sometimes, in some places, celebrating their wins and ignoring the times when there are no wins? In this sense most labor unions are managed less professionally than the average regional snack goods company. Set a standard. Allocate the resources to reach the standard. If you fall short of the standard, determine why, and, if necessary, dedicate more resources. Repeat each year. This is the path. And if you’re told that there just aren’t that many workers to organize, here’s an idea…

Expand the pool of workers in your union: Tens of thousands of grad student workers are in the United Auto Workers and the United Electrical Workers. Is it because those grad students are majoring in auto electric repair? No. It is because those unions just decided to organize those types of workers. Which they can. Unions can admit whoever the fuck they want! Start by organizing workers who are adjacent to your core industry, and then expand as necessary. The overriding mandate for unions in America today must be “grow or die,” so being extremely picky about who is in your membership is foolish, selfish, and short-sighted. I should also say that any union that says that they have already done all the organizing that they can do in their own core industry is lying. Have a look at this report on union density by industry. In the private sector, just about every industry is well under 20% union, and many are under 10%. The vast majority of workers in your core industry are not in your union. Unionize them! There is no excuse not to be throwing everything we have into new organizing. The working world is, in essence, a huge pool of people who need the help of unions and are just waiting for a union to give it to them.

Start or join a reform caucus: I admit that I may have made it sound a little simpler to revolutionize the operations of your union than it will actually be. If you are in a union with entrenched leadership that is not doing what it needs to do, but also is determined to cling to power, getting them out of their may be a long, involved process. That’s why internal reform groups like Teamsters for a Democratic Union and UAWD and the reformers at UFCW exist. Changing big unions can be akin to a long-running political campaign. Get involved in these groups to make it happen. If you don’t have a group like this at your union, start one. Reach out to the groups above for advice and they will help you. It works!

Spread the good word: Your friends complain about their jobs. Your family members complain about their jobs. The people at the grocery store and the bowling league and the nursing home and the gas station complain about their jobs. If only these people had the good fortune to come across a friendly, bordering on overbearing (but not too overbearing) acquaintance who could tell them about all of the ways that having a union could improve their lives in the workplace and beyond. Such an acquaintance might take the initiative to share their own experience of being a union, and how it has helped them, and they might then sketch out the basic steps to start organizing, and they might share some online resources about organizing, and how to contact an organizer, and they might part ways with a little pep talk about how this could be the first step to a better life. Yes. Hmm. Yes. Imagine if this were a regular occurrence for everyone everywhere. That would be quite good. But where will we find these friendly union evangelicals? Hmm. Perhaps you know someone.

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One little piece of wisdom you often hear in unions is that you are the union. The union is not an office you call to do things for you. The union is you, and your coworkers, and its power comes from you, and you are the ones who ultimately decide what the union does. This is so annoying! It puts such a burden on us! So much nicer to sit back and have workplace power delivered to us by underpaid Door Dash drivers! Nevertheless it is a fact. If you accept the premise that strengthening the labor movement is vital to the well-being of this country, then you have to actually do stuff. If you want a union, you have to help start it. If you want your union to be better, you have to do the work to make it so. If you want get us all to the promised land, you have to start moving. If you don’t know when to start, start now.

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More

—I spoke to The New Republic about my new book, and why I think that unions can be the key to improving American politics. I also spoke to Workday Magazine about my new book and the imperative for organized labor to expand or perish. I plan to continue hollering until you are battered into submission and finally read my new book about the labor movement, “The Hammer,” which is available for purchase wherever books are sold.

—Even better, you can come join me in person on my book tour, where I will sign your book and write whatever the hell you want in there. I will be speaking in BOSTON—TOMORROW! Here are my upcoming book events:

• Wednesday, March 27: Boston, MA— At the Northeastern College of Professional Studies at 101 Belvidere Street. 6:30 pm. Free tickets are here.

• Tuesday, April 9: Sacramento, CA—At Capital Books. 6 pm. Event details here.

• Monday, April 15: Los Angeles, CA—At Stories LA, 7 pm. In conversation with Adam Conover.

• Sunday, April 21: Chicago, IL— “The Hammer” book event and Labor Notes Conference after party at In These Times HQ, 2040 N. Milwaukee Ave. 5 pm.

San Francisco and Minneapolis events are coming soon as well. If you’d like to bring me to your city to speak, email me.

—You are reading How Things Work, an independent publication that I started because the regular journalism industry is a smoldering ruin. This publication is an experiment in socialist funding: I keep it free for everyone to read, and I trust that those can afford to become paid members will do so. If you want to help enable this place to exist, consider becoming a paid subscriber today. Thank you my friends.