Book Discussion: Labor Power and Strategy
April 27, 2023, at 8:00 PM EDT, join EWOC for a discussion of the timely new book Labor Power and Strategy, a rich reflection on how the working class can exercise its mighty power in various industries and sectors. Author John Womack, a renowned labor historian, proposes that unions focus on organizing workers in the strategic “choke points” within the economy that create maximum potential leverage and power. The book also features responses from 10 of the most thoughtful organizers and scholars in the labor movement, who offer a diverse range of ideas on ways forward for labor. Read a review of the book (by an EWOC volunteer!) here.
This discussion will feature Professor Womack, book editor Peter Olney, and respondents Melissa Shetler and Gene Bruskin. The event will be 90 minutes to allow for plenty of time. Register now!Â
Building a Fighting Labor Movement
Join us on May 3, 2023, 8-9pm EDTÂ for a panel discussion on how to win contract battles and build a fighting labor movement, followed by an audience Q&A period, 9:00-9:30 PM.
The Teamsters’ UPS contract, expiring July 31, is the largest private sector union contract in the US, covering 340,000 Teamsters. The union aims to eliminate their two-tier wage structure. The United Auto Workers (UAW) Big Three contracts, expiring September 14, cover 150,000 UAW members at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. Workers hope to eliminate the tiered wage structure and extended temporary status of new members. Both the Teamsters and UAW presidents are members of grassroots caucuses working to rebuild rank-and-file union power: Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is a 47-year-old organization, and Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) formed in 2019.
Our four panelists are: Scott Houldieson, UAWD chair; Shunte Sanders-Beasley, UAWD member and VP of UAW Local 869 at Stellantis’ Warren Stamping Plant; Antonio Rosario, a long-time TDU activist and Lead Organizer with IBT; and Carey Dall, Organizing Director for the Teamsters’ BMWED for seven years, now back at ILWU.
Register now for this lively and important discussion!
May Foundational Training Series
May is a big month in the history of the labor movement, and a great time to join it! EWOC’s Foundational Training Series is a perfect place to start. Sessions run weekly on Thursdays from May 4th until May 25!
If you want to organize your workplace but don’t know where to start, or if you would like to support others organizing their workplaces, this training is for you. In four 90 minute sessions, we will discuss how workers can unite to address issues at their workplaces, and how to begin the process of unionization. You will learn how to approach coworkers, build a team of organizers among them, and develop a campaign.
You will meet other workers who are organizing. You will learn helpful tools, practices, and principles for winning workplace improvements and a voice in your workplace. You will learn how to prepare yourself and your coworkers to take collective action. The course covers how you can build, from scratch, a democratic organization of coworkers that can negotiate with the boss over working conditions.
Space is limited to 200 participants–so sign up now! Register here.