Vying for title of labor's cool uncle. Uxorious husband, cat dad. He/his. Works at @EconomicPolicy, member @NonprofitUnion but tweets here entirely personal.
Sep 14, 2023 • 22 tweets • 4 min read
Interesting and promising strategy here from @UAW. A few thoughts on what #StandUpUAW might be and why they're doing it.
The sit-down strike tactics that worked in Flint in 1936-37 are now illegal (when workers come up with good ways to fight, they get made illegal). 1/
Also illegal are intermittent strikes, where workers strike for a day or two, go back to work for a few days, then strike again. Making the boss play whack-a-mole like that is very disruptive, so of course they got banned, too.
2/
Aug 16, 2023 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Super smart decision to file for doctors, PAs, and NPs all in one bargaining unit. Health systems have been pitting those groups against each other, similar to how adjunct faculty and tenured professors have been put at odds by universities.
As a united unit, they can bargain to raise standards for all their jobs, and when there are disagreements between the different employment categories, they can resolve them within the union rather than airing their differences in front of management.
Jun 1, 2023 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
One of the biggest misperceptions in unions is that contract negotiations are a brilliant battle of wits, and since the little people couldn't begin to comprehend what's going on so it's best to leave them out.
Understand: I would bet all the money in my pockets that a lawyer at Concentra told their bosses, "this is blatantly illegal and will never stand up in court," and the company's response was, "yeah, but it'll scare our workers so they won't quit. Who care about the courts."
Jan 24, 2023 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
This historical angle here, I think, should be better understood, because one of the lines you see trotted out is that poor people were even worse off in the past so really things aren't so bad.
Any comparison of now to the past needs to reckon with how debt has changed.
In the 19th century, by and large, a "cash" sale meant "cash in six months or so." The newspaper vendors I profiled in my dissertation, for example, would sometimes only collect from their customers once a year. For something as cheap as newspapers.
2/
Sep 21, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Not going to comment on any specific Labor Twitter things here, but some people seem to believe that the mere act of striking will give them victory, and that's just not a useful way to operate.
It's one thing to be pro-strike as a matter of labor principle, a la Joe Burns, who wants labor to put the strike at the center of its strategic thinking. I'm good with that.
It's another to just shout "STRIKE" when things tough and to act as though that means anything.
May 11, 2022 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
So, here's my question. Why wasn't there a plan in a drawer? You've known an anti-Roe decision was coming at least since Coney Barrett was seated. Why wasn't there a whole plan in place to roll out the moment it happened?
Quick story from my own experience:
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The moment Trump won in 2016, the union I was working for, @MAPEmn, knew SCOTUS was going to make all public employee unions right-to-work. We didn't yet know which case (Janus) or when (summer 2018), but we *knew* it was going to happen. So we began to plan.
2/
Oct 14, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Tip: when visiting a picket line to support, pretty good chance they have all the donuts and water they need. Think proteins, or fruit/veg. Also: little warmie things for gloves or shoes.
And EVERY picket line will have a use for duct tape.
And your verbal and physical support really matters! Even if all you have time for is a drive-by-and-honk, I assure you that counts!
Jan 25, 2021 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
So much this by @marybeth_sb. Decades ago, @MarkDilley and I were kinda organizing consultants for AFT grad unions. We asked 1 question that always predicted where a local was: "How many of your major decisions are made after extensive conversations between you and your members?"
Sometimes, of course, we had to push them to be truthful, but whenever we got through to the truth, that one question told us all we needed to know.
Understand that this wasn't about corrupt leaders or autocratic leaders. It was just that they only talked to each other.
Jan 4, 2021 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
The @AlphabetWorkers have formed what is called a "minority union." Quick thread on what that means:
A cornerstone of US labor law is the principle of "exclusive representation" - if you collect authorization cards from the employees and win an election, you...
...get to represent all the employees you sought to represent. As the exclusive rep, the employer has to work with that union and that union only on any issue of wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment. In turn, the union has a legal Duty of Fair Representation (DFR)
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Mar 1, 2020 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
I want to add some things tonight based on thoughtful pushback from people like @chactivist.
There are very real ways in which technical adherence to the rules could be used for deeply immoral, unethical, and dangerous ends.
The first is someone effectively bribing delegates. It could happen, and the courts have weakened bribery laws so much that it could happen.
2/
Feb 28, 2020 • 54 tweets • 9 min read
All right, I've noticed a non-zero correlation between: a) people's level of knowledge of DNC delegate allocation rules and convention procedures, and; b) their accusations of "stealing" the nomination from Bernie, so let me offer this refresher thread for any who need it.
1/
Under Democratic Party rules in place (in largely the same form) since 1972, delegates to the Democratic convention must be allocated proportionately in each state. Delegates are allocated both at the congressional district level AND statewide.
The threshold is 15%
2/
Apr 30, 2019 • 37 tweets • 9 min read
Hi! I've been an organizer for twenty years. I've worked more than a dozen political campaigns and scores of union campaigns in that time. This app is NOT ORGANIZING. Let me explain. 1/
To be fair, there is a key part of this app that _is_ like organizing, and can make people uncomfortable: assessment. Organizing requires assessing where people stand and recording that data. Many people don't love that. 2/
