Congress Hotel on Strike for Equality

Nearly five years ago, members of UNITE HERE Local 1 working at the Congress Hotel went out on strike after the hotel decided to freeze wages and slash benefits. Workers there have braved five cold Chicago winters on the picket line to ensure that hotel jobs in this city are strong, family-sustaining [...]

Labor renewal requires a new theory of unionism

We contend that labor renewal in the United States depends on the adoption of a different theory and practice of trade unionism than has prevailed until now. Such an approach must understand the neoliberal global environment, reexamine who should be in the labor movement (and who is currently excluded), and redefine the role of the union movement in a process of social transformation. We are not interested in perpetuating illusions: the reality is that, absent an alternative, transformative trade unionism, the United States will see no labor renewal. Rebuilding the AFL-CIO, or even creating a new federation, will have been an exercise in futility unless we get to the roots of the problems facing organized labor.