New New Deal

B. Dean Amy, B. Reynolds David

Description

In A New New Deal, the labor movement leaders Amy B. Dean and David B. Reynolds offer a bold new plan to revitalize American labor activism and build a sense of common purpose between labor and community organizations. Dean and Reynolds demonstrate how alliances organized at the regional level are the most effective tool to build a voice for working people in the workplace, community, and halls of government.

The authors draw on their own successes to offer in-depth, contemporary case studies of effective labor-community coalitions. They also outline a concrete strategy for building power at the regional level. This pioneering model presents the regional building blocks for national change. A diverse audience—both within the labor movement and among its allies—will welcome this clear, detailed, and inspiring presentation of regional power-building tactics, which include deep coalition-building, leadership development, policy research, and aggressive political action.

A New New Deal explores successful coalitions forged in Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, San Jose, New Haven, and Atlanta toward goals such as universal health insurance for children and sensible redevelopment efforts that benefit workers as well as businesses. The authors view partnerships between labor and grassroots organizations as a mutually beneficial strategy based on shared goals, resulting in a broadened membership base and increased organizational capacity. They make the innovative argument that the labor movement can steward both industry and community and make manifest the ways in which workplace battles are not the parochial concerns of isolated workers, but a fundamental struggle for America''s future.

Drawing on historical parallels, the authors illustrate how long-term collaborations between labor and community organizations are sowing the seeds of a new New Deal.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• USA
• Movimiento sindical
• International studies
• Industrial relations
• Region
• Trade union
• Regional
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801458491
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

A New New Deal

About The Century Foundation

The Century Foundation sponsors and supervises timely analyses of economic policy, foreign affairs, and domestic political issues. Not-for-prot and non- partisan, it was founded in 1919 and endowed by Edward A. Filene.

Board of Trustees of The Century Foundation

H. Brandt Ayers Alan Brinkley,Chairman Joseph A. Califano Jr. Alexander Morgan Capron Hodding Carter III Edward E. David Jr. Brewster C. Denny Christopher Edley Jr. Charles V. Hamilton Matina S. Horner Lewis B. Kaden James A. Leach Richard C. Leone Jessica Tuchman Mathews Alicia H. Munnell P. Michael Piteld John Podesta Richard Ravitch Alan Sagner Harvey I. Sloane, M.D. Theodore C. Sorensen Kathleen M. Sullivan Shirley Williams William Julius Wilson

Richard C. Leone,President

A New New Deal

How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement

Amy B. Dean and David B. Reynolds Foreword by Harold Meyerson A Century Foundation Book

ILR Press an imprint of Cornell University Press Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2009 by The Century Foundation Foreword copyright © 2009 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2009 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2010 Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Dean, Amy B., 1962  A new new deal : how regional activism will reshape the American labor movement / Amy B. Dean and David B. Reynolds ; foreword by Harold Meyerson. cp.m.  A Century Foundation book.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 978-0-8014-4838-6 (cloth : alk. paper)  ISBN 978-0-8014-7665-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. LabormovementUnitedStates. 2. RegionalismUnitedStates. 3. Working classUnited States. 4. Community development United States. 5. CoalitionsUnited States. I. Reynolds, David B., 1963II.Title.

HD8066.D42 2009 331.880973dc22 2009016723

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood bers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Clotphrinting 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Paperbacpkrinting10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my mother, Theodora Teddie Radove Dean (19391997) and for Loyd Williams, Business Manager from 19932004, Plumbers, Steamtters and Refrigeration Workers Local 393

Teddie treated everyone with dignity and respect. In her worldwhich can one day be our worldpeople were valued for who they are and what they contribute. My lifes work in the American labor movement is a tribute to her enduring inuence. Loyd was a modern-day Walter Reuther, Sidney Hillman, and A. Phillip Randolph. His heart was big enough to support a whole community. We hear it beating still. Amy Dean

For my mother, Mary Reynolds (19232006), whose strong will, questioning mind, and passionate commitment to social justice continues to animate my life and work. David Reynolds

Contents

Foreword by Harold Meyerson

A Note from The Century Foundation by Richard C. Leone

Preface xvii

Acknowledgments xxiii

Introduction 1

The Birth of Regional Power Building

1. Thinking Regionally

2. The Regional Power-Building Model Emerges in California

The Three Legs of Regional Power Building

3. Developing a Regional Policy Agenda

4. Deep Coalitions

5. From Access to Governance: Building Aggressive Political Action

ix xiii

19 21 39

85 87 126

159

v i i i C o n t e n t s

The Spread of Regional Power Building

6. Understanding the Spread of Regional Power Building across the Country

7. Toward a National Strategy for Spreading Regional Power Building

Notes 247 Index 261

185

187

221

Foreword

One of the happiest accidents of my life was to be in the right place at the right time to see a labor movement turn a city around. The place was Los Angeleshistorically a bastion of antiunion sentiment. The time was the 1990s, when I was the political editor of theL.A. Weeklyand when a young labor leader, Miguel Contreras, aligned the citys reawakening union movement with the burgeoning Latino immigrant community to create a progressive force that transformed L.A. into a solidly liberal city, and one that implemented policies to lessen the yawning gap between rich and poor. Miguel was one of two California labor leaders who lit out during the 90s for this uncharted territorybuilding a dynamic local labor move- ment that tackled the growing inequality that increasingly dened Amer- icas cities. The other was Amy Dean, who headed the AFL-CIO in the community that came to symbolize American innovation and prosper- ity: Silicon Valley. Like their counterparts in Los Angeles, however, the workers for whom Amy spoke shared none of the storybook prosperity of