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

Jane McAlevey, a longtime labor organizer, environmental activist, and political campaigner, argues that unions are a key institution capable of addressing major challenges facing the United States. She contends that racism, corporate greed, and a skewed political system have weakened the nation's social and political fabric, but unions have proven effective throughout U.S. history as a counterforce. McAlevey traces how unions flourished under New Deal protections in the 1930s before corporations launched a sustained campaign against the labor movement. She documents a resurgence of union activity and argues that strengthening unions can help reverse wealth inequality, eliminate workplace sexual harassment, address racial job disparities, advance climate justice, and other goals. The book follows organizing efforts across multiple sectors: nurses in Pennsylvania hospitals developing patient-centered unionism, tech workers in Silicon Valley using collective action, and America's teachers engaged in labor struggles. McAlevey presents these cases as examples of movements that will shape the country's future.