Reviving the Strike is the only way to build a Vibrant Labor Movement
Posted on August 28th, 2011 | by A Worker |Here’s a Labor Notes review of a new book Reviving the Strike by Joe Burns. Also watch interview with Thom Hartman from YouTube. Burns argues that we must go back to the traditional strike where labor shut down production even if that requires mass civil disobedience against unjust labor laws.
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REVIEW: Reviving Labor’s Last, Best, and Final Weapon—The Strike
By Marty Harrison
Created Aug 12 2011 – 11:07am
Joe Burns argues that for unions to win again, they need to wage strikes that shut down production. A test case is underway: will the 45,000 CWA and IBEW members who have struck Verizon be able to stop enough work to cause the company pain?
In a refreshingly straightforward style, Joe Burns argues persuasively that the cause of union decline is our inability to wage a successful strike. That is, one which shuts down production and compels the employer to accede to union demands.
In a refreshingly straightforward style, Joe Burns argues persuasively that the cause of union decline is our inability to wage a successful strike. That is, one which shuts down production and compels the employer to accede to union demands.
His new book, Reviving the Strike [1], details the decades of anti-union legislation, National Labor Relations Board decisions, and Supreme Court rulings that have outlawed everything that works: sympathy strikes, bans on replacement workers, secondary boycotts, and other muscular tactics that gave unions a fighting chance. Read the rest
