Fighting for Democracy in the Workplace: The New Labor Movement

This event was recorded live on May 4, 2023.

A dramatic wave of union organizing has occurred since the pandemic, with Amazon and Starbucks as only the most high-profile examples. In a relatively pro-labor environment, workers are energized to fight for their rights — witness the recent threatened rail strike and the nurses strikes of 2022-2023 — but the nation’s unionization rate remains historically low and employers continue to resist. How long will the window for progress stay open? In this timely discussion, hear from a new generation of labor leaders working on the frontlines about the opportunities and obstacles facing workers at this crucial moment.

Featuring: Keith Bullard, organizer for the Union of Southern Service Workers; Mark Meinster, director of organization for the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE); Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants - CWA, AFL-CIO; and Anthony Rosario, organizer from Teamsters Local 804, who is working on the Amazon and UPS campaigns. Moderated by Sarah Hughes, organizer, trainer, and writer at Labor Notes, and former coordinator of the Union Semester program at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies.

Presented with the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, this is the inaugural event of the conference “How Workers Win: Rebuilding Labor’s Power.”

Part of the Promise and Perils of Democracy Project funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

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