In Solidarity

Book excerpt: “One of the leading intellectuals of the labor movement” explores the state of unions in the United States, as well as evaluating the forces working against them (Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Hammer and Hoe). In this thorough collection of inspiring and informed essays, Kim Moody, one of the world’s most authoritative and recognized labor writers, asks key questions: What has happened to union organizing in the United States? Is there an alternative to the strike? How does the increased presence of immigrant and women workers change the balance of forces? What strategies can workers use to counteract company “union avoidance” campaigns and bureaucratic “business unionism”? What is the role of socialists in the labor movement? Drawing on his own background as a working-class radical, the works of Karl Marx, and the everyday experiences of nurses, miners, autoworkers, and more, Moody sketches a comprehensive picture of the state of US labor—and points the way forward for a rank-and-file union movement that can win real change. Praise for Kim Moody “One most of the most experienced working-class organizers in the US over the past few decades.” —Monthly Review “[His] books and articles have for more than forty years provided essential analysis and strategy for the labor left.” —New Politics