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Larry Cohen Replies to Veena Dubal

Larry Cohen Replies to Veena Dubal 1061716 NLFXXX10.1177/10957960211061716New Labor ForumCohen research-article2021 On the Contrary New Labor Forum 2022, Vol. 31(1) 15 Larry Cohen Replies Copyright © 2021, The Murphy Institute, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies Article reuse guidelines: to Veena Dubal sagepub.com/journals-permissions https://doi.org/10.1177/10957960211061716 DOI: 10.1177/10957960211061716 journals.sagepub.com/home/nlf Larry Cohen Keywords collective bargaining, labor, trade unions, unorganized workers, global unions I agree with Veena that the organizing surge in who organize are too often workplace martyrs. the United States has been an inspiration, Sectoral bargaining is much broader than a whether we are considering collective action or “European” model. When the African National new workplace organizing. But the fact remains Congress (ANC) triumphed over apartheid in that this organizing has not moved the needle on 1995, the new labor law passed in the first hun- collective bargaining coverage in our nation. dred days established sectoral bargaining. In The PRO Act faces bigger hurdles in the Senate Argentina, progressives would point to sectoral than the Employee Free Choice Act in 2009, and bargaining as the floor for workplace action that it does not directly provide for bargaining rights led to five general strikes against the right-wing based on majority sign-up. National Labor Macri government in 2018 and 2019. Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel We can imagine, organize, and fight for a Abruzzo’s August 12 memo to the five hundred version of sectoral bargaining where workers NLRB lawyers, and the public, provides much are on offense raising living standards. We hope, promising that the Board will pursue bar- absolutely will fight all forms of company gaining orders when employers violate the Act, unions as we do that and create new possibili- invoking Board precedent from 1949 to 1969. ties and encouragement for organizing at the But neither the organizing surge, the politi- workplace and beyond. cal possibilities, nor likely the best NLRB General Counsel ever can fix the framework for Declaration of Conflicting Interests U.S. workers and their rights to bargain. In fact, The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of inter- the United States does not have enterprise bar- est with respect to the research, authorship, and/or gaining, but with few exceptions bargaining is publication of this article. splintered with multiple contracts at the same employer, usually with a minority of the work- Funding ers at that employer and often with a significant The author(s) received no financial support for the part of the work performed by contractors research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. through another employer or on their own. ORCID iD . . . [N]either the organizing surge, Larry Cohen https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0721-8980 the political possibilities, nor likely the best NLRB General Counsel Author Biography ever can fix the framework for U.S. Larry Cohen is the board chair of Our Revolution, the successor to Bernie 2016. From 2005 to 2015, he workers and their rights to bargain. was the president of the Communications Workers of America and chair of the AFL-CIO organizing While for now, we should all focus legisla- committee. tively on the PRO Act, we must aim higher. We must recognize that in most of the private sector, with shrinking percentages of the workforce Corresponding Author: Larry Cohen, larrycwa@gmail.com covered, bargaining is defensive and workers http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png New Labor Forum SAGE

Larry Cohen Replies to Veena Dubal

Cohen, Larry
New Labor Forum , Volume 31 (1): 1 – Jan 1, 2022
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SAGE
Copyright
© 2021, The Murphy Institute, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies
ISSN
1095-7960
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1557-2978
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10.1177/10957960211061716
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Abstract

1061716 NLFXXX10.1177/10957960211061716New Labor ForumCohen research-article2021 On the Contrary New Labor Forum 2022, Vol. 31(1) 15 Larry Cohen Replies Copyright © 2021, The Murphy Institute, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies Article reuse guidelines: to Veena Dubal sagepub.com/journals-permissions https://doi.org/10.1177/10957960211061716 DOI: 10.1177/10957960211061716 journals.sagepub.com/home/nlf Larry Cohen Keywords collective bargaining, labor, trade unions, unorganized workers, global unions I agree with Veena that the organizing surge in who organize are too often workplace martyrs. the United States has been an inspiration, Sectoral bargaining is much broader than a whether we are considering collective action or “European” model. When the African National new workplace organizing. But the fact remains Congress (ANC) triumphed over apartheid in that this organizing has not moved the needle on 1995, the new labor law passed in the first hun- collective bargaining coverage in our nation. dred days established sectoral bargaining. In The PRO Act faces bigger hurdles in the Senate Argentina, progressives would point to sectoral than the Employee Free Choice Act in 2009, and bargaining as the floor for workplace action that it does not directly provide for bargaining rights led to five general strikes against the right-wing based on majority sign-up. National Labor Macri government in 2018 and 2019. Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel We can imagine, organize, and fight for a Abruzzo’s August 12 memo to the five hundred version of sectoral bargaining where workers NLRB lawyers, and the public, provides much are on offense raising living standards. We hope, promising that the Board will pursue bar- absolutely will fight all forms of company gaining orders when employers violate the Act, unions as we do that and create new possibili- invoking Board precedent from 1949 to 1969. ties and encouragement for organizing at the But neither the organizing surge, the politi- workplace and beyond. cal possibilities, nor likely the best NLRB General Counsel ever can fix the framework for Declaration of Conflicting Interests U.S. workers and their rights to bargain. In fact, The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of inter- the United States does not have enterprise bar- est with respect to the research, authorship, and/or gaining, but with few exceptions bargaining is publication of this article. splintered with multiple contracts at the same employer, usually with a minority of the work- Funding ers at that employer and often with a significant The author(s) received no financial support for the part of the work performed by contractors research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. through another employer or on their own. ORCID iD . . . [N]either the organizing surge, Larry Cohen https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0721-8980 the political possibilities, nor likely the best NLRB General Counsel Author Biography ever can fix the framework for U.S. Larry Cohen is the board chair of Our Revolution, the successor to Bernie 2016. From 2005 to 2015, he workers and their rights to bargain. was the president of the Communications Workers of America and chair of the AFL-CIO organizing While for now, we should all focus legisla- committee. tively on the PRO Act, we must aim higher. We must recognize that in most of the private sector, with shrinking percentages of the workforce Corresponding Author: Larry Cohen, larrycwa@gmail.com covered, bargaining is defensive and workers

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New Labor Forum – SAGE

Published: Jan 1, 2022

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