During the 20th century’s two red scares in US and Canada, Wobblies and Communist-aligned unions faced fierce repression from employers and government. They were targeted because they were seen as posing a real threat to the capitalist social order.
Unionists at the AFL-CIO’s annual Martin Luther King conference, held January 12-14 in Montgomery, Ala., tackled what one panelist called a decades-long problem for the labor movement: Organizing the South.
Strikes by autoworkers, actors and writers brought wins in 2023, but analysts worry labor laws could undo progress. Worker advocates say what is badly needed is for other unions, helped by the AFL-CIO, also to launch big, ambitious organizing drives.
Modest goals won’t get us where we need to go. We need to think big. The labor movement needs, before anything, genuine ambition for a new America...We need labor leaders who see their jobs as climbing mountains no matter how high they are.
The bill would have prohibited both public and private sector employees from being required to either join a union or pay union dues as a condition of their employment.
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