A Collective Bargain

Workplace democracy is a training ground for true national democracy.

I’m at the LA Times Festival of Books this weekend! Today (Apr 24) at 11AM, I’m signing for California Book Club at booth 111. At 12:30, I’m doing a panel called “The Accidental Detective” with Alex Segura, Margot Douaihy and SJ Rozan.

Now, if you want higher wages let me tell you what to do
You got to talk to the workers in the shop with you
You got to build you a union, got to make it strong
But if you all stick together, boys, it won’t be long
You get shorter hours, better working conditions
Vacations with pay. Take your kids to the seashore-

-Pete Seeger, Talking Union Blues

For years — decades — unions seemed like a relic, an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. American union participation nosedived in the Reagan years and continued to decline, year after year, with no bottom in sight.

Until 2018.

Waves of strikes crisscrossed America: first teachers, then healthcare workers. Then unions began to pop up: Starbucks, online news sites, tech workplaces. Then, unions notorious for ossification and corruption underwent massive leadership shakeups: Teamsters, UAW.