A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy

From longtime labor organizer Jane McAlevey, a vital
call-to-arms in favor of unions, a key force capable of defending our
democracy

For decades, racism, corporate greed, and a skewed political
system have been eating away at the social and political fabric of the United
States. Yet as McAlevey reminds us, there is one weapon whose effectiveness has
been proven repeatedly throughout U.S. history: unions.

In A Collective Bargain, longtime labor organizer,
environmental activist, and political campaigner Jane McAlevey makes the case
that unions are a key institution capable of taking effective action against
today’s super-rich corporate class. Since the 1930s, when unions flourished
under New Deal protections, corporations have waged a stealthy and ruthless war
against the labor movement. And they’ve been winning.

Until today. Because, as McAlevey shows, unions are making a
comeback. Want to reverse the nation’s mounting wealth gap? Put an end to
sexual harassment in the workplace? End racial disparities on the job?
Negotiate climate justice? Bring back unions.

As McAlevey travels from Pennsylvania hospitals, where
nurses are building a new kind of patient-centered unionism, to Silicon Valley,
where tech workers have turned to old-fashioned collective action, to the
battle being waged by America’s teachers, readers have a ringside seat at the
struggles that will shape our country—and our future.

“An introduction to the world of unions and their enemies. . . . McAlevey’s writing is an attempt to circulate organizers’ skills, breathing life into the long-quiescent labor movement. . . . A Collective Bargain, like the rest of McAlevey’s work, is indispensable.” —Alex Press, Bookforum - Alex Press, Bookforum

“Democracy is when the many can rule over the powerful few. Americans haven’t been able to vote for this kind of power for decades. But what Jane McAlevey shows, with gripping reportage and deep analysis from the frontline of national union struggles, is that Americans have increasingly forged democracy in their workplaces. At the very same moment that the Trump administration seeks to snuff unions out of existence, hundreds of thousands of workers are discovering what democracy feels like, by winning labor fights across the country. For anyone wanting a surge of hope in the fight for democracy, McAlevey shows us that the best place to find an America of hope, equality, justice and good plans isn’t the ballot box, but a union hall.” - Raj Patel, author of Stuffed & Starved and Research Professor, University of Texas at Austin

“Jane McAlevey has devoted her life to reigning the destructive power of concentrated wealth and she is consumed with one over-arching question: How do we win? In this essential book, she draws on decades of organizing experience to make an overwhelming case that the new face of working-class power is female and fiercely feminist. It’s past time to listen up.”  - Naomi Klein author of This Changes Everything

“Incisive, brilliant, combined with trenchant strategic analysis. If we had more organizers like Jane McAlevey, we’d be winning.” - Van Jones CNN host and author of Beyond the Messy Truth

“A half century ago, the Koch family targeted workers’ collective power with so-called right-to-work laws. Now they and their allies have expanded their agenda to shackling democracy writ large... McAlevey shows us how workplaces provided a laboratory for this audacious project of domination—and better still, she explains how following the strategies and tactics of savvy union organizers could help save America from an ever more ruthless right...This empowering book could not be more timely.” - Nancy MacLean author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America

“Read this book! It’s full of effective strategies for overcoming voter suppression against even the stiffest odds. Jane McAlevey is the type of experienced organizer the current White House fears.”  - Benjamin Todd Jealous Former National President and CEO of the NAACP

“A battle cry for union rights in a time hostile to labor organizations.” —Kirkus - Kirkus Reviews

“Jane McAlevey is a brilliant strategist, rousing organizer, and razor-sharp critic inside the labor movement. In this critical moment when labor is resurgent, McAlevey’s small “d” democratic spirit, and her humane, and deeply informed reporting and analysis is needed more than ever.”  - Katrina vanden Heuval Editorial Director amp Publisher The Nation

“Labor activist McAlevey delivers a persuasive argument that the power of ‘strong, democratic’ trade unions can fix many of America’s social problems in this timely cri de coeur. . . . She offers a useful primer on how labor organizing works, and effectively refutes common assumptions about unions. . . . McAlevey’s . . . humor and contagious confidence in the efficacy of organized labor give this succinct volume an outsize impact.” - Publishers Weekly starred review