A New American Labor Movement

The Decline of Collective Bargaining and the Rise of Direct Action

William E. Scheuerman

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781438485485, 9781438485492
• eBook ISBN: 9781438485508
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Labour Economics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Describes how new kinds of direct-action labor movements are emerging to reshape American labor activism in the twenty-first century.

The American labor movement isn't dead. It's just moving from the bargaining table to the streets. In A New American Labor Movement, William Scheuerman analyzes how the decline of unions and the emergence of these new direct-action movements are reshaping the American labor movement. Tens of thousands of exploited workers-from farm laborers and gig drivers to freelance artists and restaurant workers-have taken to the streets in a collective attempt to attain a living wage and decent working conditions, with or without the help of unions. This new worker militancy, expressed through mass demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins, political action, and similar activities, has already achieved much success and offers models for workers to exercise their power in the twenty-first century. Finally, Scheuerman notes, many of the strategies of the new direct-action groups share features with the sectoral bargaining model that dominates the European labor movement, suggesting that sectoral bargaining may become the foundation of a new American labor movement.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Why Unions Matter
• Chapter 2 The Long Slide
• Chapter 3 Farmworkers Fight Back
• Chapter 4 Worker Centers in Focus
• Chapter 5 Freelancers Union: Backward to the Future?
• Chapter 6 Taking to the Streets
• Chapter 7 All Roads Lead to … Sectoral Bargaining?
• Notes
• Index
• Back Cover