Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy
- The Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Labor and Democracy: Theory and Practice
- Part II History, Politics, and Law
- 5 Sectoral Bargaining in the United States
- 6 The Lever and the Fulcrum
- 7 “Industrial Democracy” in the United States, Past and Present
- 8 Holding On
- 9 Unions and the Democratic First Amendment
- Part III Labor, Diversity, and Democracy
- Part IV Country and Regional Perspectives
- Part V Labor and Democracy Sectoral Case Studies: Platform Workers, Higher Education, and the Care Industry
- Index
- References
6 - The Lever and the Fulcrum
Organizing and Bargaining for Democracy and the Common Good
from Part II - History, Politics, and Law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2022
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy
- The Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Labor and Democracy: Theory and Practice
- Part II History, Politics, and Law
- 5 Sectoral Bargaining in the United States
- 6 The Lever and the Fulcrum
- 7 “Industrial Democracy” in the United States, Past and Present
- 8 Holding On
- 9 Unions and the Democratic First Amendment
- Part III Labor, Diversity, and Democracy
- Part IV Country and Regional Perspectives
- Part V Labor and Democracy Sectoral Case Studies: Platform Workers, Higher Education, and the Care Industry
- Index
- References
Summary
Both worker bargaining power and political democracy have been gripped by a mutually reinforcing crisis that has worsened for decades, harming working people (especially communities of color) and undermining our social fabric. This chapter argues that this crisis had become existential by 2020 as the pandemic, policing, privatization, financialization, growing monopoly, and rising unemployment exacerbated inequality, sparked social unrest, and threatened democracy. It contends that our response must link the defense of political democracy to the fight for bargaining power for workers in the twenty-first century economy through innovative movement campaigns and new alliances that tie together the degradation of the environment, the upending of democratic oversight, and the more general degradation of the political economy to the exploitation of the workforce by rent-seeking corporate power.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy , pp. 102 - 116Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
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