Portside

Rather than using traditional organizing committee structures, the UAW relied heavily on digital meetings, a light staff approach from the international union, and getting workers to sign union cards via QR codes. It was a gamble but worth it.

Are today’s Southern workers about to change all that?

The key to this grassroots unionism lies in the connection between organizing and collective bargaining aimed at improvements in wages, working and living conditions. What was striking, from an Italian viewpoint, was the lack of political discussion.

Unionized employees, pro-Palestine activists demanding a cease-fire call, writers long-listed for a prestigious literary prize: no one seems particularly happy with PEN America right now.

Companies like Target are following Amazon’s lead, seeking to control inventory levels and outpace their rivals by creating dense networks of facilities and adding vehicles.

The United Auto Workers union announced it reached a last-minute tentative agreement with truck and bus manufacturer Daimler Truck, averting a potential strike of more than 7,000 workers.

Taylor voiced both a cautious optimism about his union’s trajectory, and some frustration at the labor movement’s hesitation to exploit the unusually pro-union climate now abroad in the land.

The uptick in high-profile strikes in recent years has been heartening. But sustaining and expanding the gains won by that militancy will require careful strategizing and deep political engagement that starts with but goes beyond the shop floor.