Inside the Real World of Union Organizing

Current Affairs

Daisy Pitkin has been in the labor movement for two decades and is the author of the new book On the Line A Story of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women's Epic Fight to Build a Union, which tells the story of an effort to unionize an industrial laundry in Arizona. It's a moving account of the difficult grinding work of putting together a labor union under the most hostile imaginable conditions.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The world of industrial laundries—hot, dangerous places hidden from public view, where workers toil in unhealthy conditions for unbelievably low pay
• The realities of union organizing: what it actually takes to make a campaign successful
• The difference between "top down" and "bottom up" organizing and why it matters
• How successful union fights change people's lives and give them a sense of their own power
• How the stories we tell about labor struggles often distort the truth and are too "individualistic" in their focus
• Finally, why moths feature heavily in Daisy's book

Kim Kelly's Fight Like Hell, mentioned in the episode, can be purchased here. The book The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks is an excellent introduction to the real story of Rosa Parks. The story of the Uprising of 20,000 can be found here.