Greetings from Substack hell!
It’s just the three of us this week, talking about the union defeat in Bessemer, Alabama, labor history, and the future of organizing in an Amazon economy.
We discuss labor expert Jane McAlevey’s tactical post-mortem on the RWDSU campaign (rebuttals here and here), Tammy’s critique of McAlevey from last year, and Andy and Jay’s critiques of Tammy!
Plus, the divergent strategies of Amazonians United and Athena; media influence (or interference?); and how the PRO Act, some decent regulation, and a huge investment in organizing could transform the labor movement.
And finally, the economics of unionization in US history, the racial and geographic specificity of Bessemer, and the paradox of our current moment: a broad sympathy for labor paired with an almost unprecedented concentration of power by tech monopolies like Amazon.
Recommended: Lauren Kaori Gurley on Vice News Reports podcast, with an in-depth look at the union drive and the history of Bessemer.
Comments and questions!
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Unionizing in an Amazon age