Abstract
This book consists of a series of well-written case studies of workers in New York City organizing to improve their lives, both within the conventional labor movement (unions) and through ‘new labor’ organizations such as worker centers and similar community-based organizations. For the most part, the focus is on innovations happening outside of conventional labor unions, although frequently unions are the impetus or part of the impetus for the new organizations and initiatives.
Knowledgeable observers are accustomed to thinking of Los Angeles as the center of innovative worker organizing strategies in the United States, but this volume shows that New York also has a vibrant activist scene concerned with worker rights. This should not be too surprising; as a ‘world city’ containing massive concentrated wealth and an extremely diverse workforce of precarious and often low-paid service workers from all over the world, New York is an obvious candidate for worker and immigrant activism. A close look at a number of major US cities would very likely reveal similar organizations and activities. It is a time of ferment as US unions continue their slow descent in numbers and power while the labor market bifurcates into well-paid and impoverished segments.
The variety of initiatives covered in the book reveals how variegated the modern urban US workforce is. A total of 13 chapters focus on a conventional union organizing drive based in an immigrant population at the ‘big box’ store Target; a heavily community-based union organizing drive among supermarket workers; a ‘living wage’ public policy campaign based in an alliance of religious faith-based organizations and organized labor; a strictly community organization stimulated by and largely composed of members from one labor union; a hybrid organization that simultaneously seeks to organize, advocate for, and develop the professional skills of retail workers; an organization of street vendors; a ‘freelancers’ union that provides insurance and advocacy and professional development for so-called ‘independent contractors’ working on short-term ‘gigs’ rather than steady waged employment; several immigrant rights organizations with varying degrees of connection to labor unions; an ethnic Korean organization that is mostly composed of workers but which also contains Korean smaller sized employers; a restaurant workers organization that engages in multiple approaches to raising working standards that has spawned a national network of clones elsewhere; a taxi worker alliance legally prohibited from forming a union that nevertheless behaves like a militant union through mass mobilizations and strikes; and an organization of domestic workers winning public policy changes but facing organizational challenges in transitioning to enforcement of newly won rights.
By merely listing the wide variety of organizations and noticing their multiple methods and modes of operation, one can see that the modern configuration of working and living patterns divides workers in multiple ways across multiple dimensions, making any unitary or standardized response to exploitation and oppression next to impossible. Working class unity becomes exceedingly difficult and even the traditional bonds of unity forged around a common employer are frequently absent. Groups unite around a common public policy objective (living wage campaign, wage theft campaign, etc.) or common ethnic or national origin (Korean center, immigrant rights groups, etc.) or a particular sector of the local economy (street vendors, restaurant workers, domestic workers, freelancers, retail workers, etc.)
Despite the obstacles, some impressive organizations, campaigns, and victories are described in this book. There are too many to examine in a short book review, but a few issues and themes that stood out across the cases can be briefly examined. First, some of the organizations and struggles do not even concern what are commonly considered ‘worker’ constituencies. The street vendor organization (VAMOS Unidos) is mostly composed of people who have no employer other than themselves. Their organization engages in public policy struggles to secure rights for street vendors and provides legal assistance when vendors are hassled or arrested by the police. The Freelancers Union is mostly composed of individuals who temporarily contract to undertake specific projects; they have no regular ‘employer’, and in fact no employer at all in the conventional sense of the word. In no way is this organization engaged in anything remotely connected to ‘class struggle’; it acts primarily as an association fighting for rights and protections within the market for freelance services, as well as an organization developing the skills of its members. While these organizations are engaged in important work, the connection to traditional workers organizations is tenuous.
Most of the chapters in the book concern organizations more firmly rooted in traditional working class occupations and communities, however. These organizations must tailor their strategies and tactics to the institutional arrangements they face and the position of their members within the local labor and housing markets, as well as the political opportunities available in New York City. One thing is immediately obvious: the political scene in New York City is more responsive to mobilization and political pressure than is the case in some other large cities. Hence, many organizations operate as labor-community coalitions (unions and immigrant organizations, unions and faith-based organizations, etc.) pursuing public policies beneficial to low wage workers (living wage ordinance, wage theft ordinance, etc.).
Others attempt to gain market leverage through worker organization at the place of work, either through traditional union organizing campaigns or through disruptions of business as usual in the industry. These campaigns tend to be only partially successful in most cases. One especially effective organization along these lines is the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which has combined a proven ability to strike and mobilize large numbers of cab drivers with strategic intervention at the city’s regulatory agency, the Taxi Limousine Commission. The union organizing drives usually failed or succeeded only modestly with relatively small employers.
One particularly interesting theme is the different types of power and the differing results attainable through different forms of organizing and action. Unions able to organize successfully can usually raise labor standards above legal minimums if a strategic or substantial portion of the relevant workforce can be unionized. But unions usually do not succeed in organizing union locals among low wage (often service sector) workers. On the other hand, political advocacy groups and worker centers ‘succeed’ more frequently through political pressure and policy changes, but they fail to raise standards above legal minimums. It is claimed that they do a far superior job of developing leadership and political consciousness also. They are more dependent on outside funding from foundations and the like, while unions are self-funding through membership dues. These differences have been a source of recurring debate over which type of organization is superior to the other. The authors address this issue clearly and intelligently, showing the drawbacks and advantages of each type of organization. The issue is hardly resolved, but it is placed against empirical evidence in a very intelligent way.
A few chapters are particularly illuminating. The study of the Restaurant Opportunities Center–New York (ROC-NY) shows a highly sophisticated multi-pronged approach to raising standards among restaurants. Mobilizations and ‘shaming’ particular restaurants publicly can result in legal agreements to correct abuses. This is supplemented by the creation of a worker cooperative restaurant (COLORS) and alliances with ‘high road’ restaurants that practice more pro-worker policies, a dining guide that points customers toward the best restaurants and warns them away from the ‘bad actors’. ROC-NY also engages in extensive leadership development of those it draws into its ranks.
Another particularly illuminating chapter is the study of the NY Domestic Workers United organization. This organization won a path-breaking New York state law providing labor rights and protections for domestic workers. Following that, it found it necessary to transition to a new type of organization capable of ensuring that the law was enforced. The difficult effort to transition to a higher form of organization is well told.
I have singled out these chapters, but almost all of the chapters are well done. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the fate of labor rights and labor organization in the age of neoliberalism. Co-editor Ruth Milkman provides a clear and insightful introduction to the various case studies, and her co-editor Ed Ott provides a brief afterword reflecting on the cases from his background as a New York City labor leader. This book is well worth the read.