Jane McAlevey is an organizer, author and scholar. Her first book, Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell) was named the "most valuable book of 2012" by The Nation Magazine. She is a regular commentator on NPR, Jacobin, and local media. She continues to work as an organizer on union campaigns, lead contract negotiations, and train and develop organizers.
“An introduction to the world of unions and their enemies. . . .
McAlevey’s writing is an attempt to circulate organizers’ skills,
breathing life into the long-quiescent labor movement. . . . A
Collective Bargain, like the rest of McAlevey’s work, is
indispensable.” —Alex Press, Bookforum — Alex Press, Bookforum
“Incisive, brilliant, combined with trenchant strategic
analysis. If we had more organizers like Jane McAlevey, we’d
be winning.” — Van Jones, CNN host and author of Beyond the
Messy Truth
“A half century ago, the Koch family targeted workers’ collective
power with so-called right-to-work laws. Now they and their allies
have expanded their agenda to shackling democracy writ large...
McAlevey shows us how workplaces provided a laboratory for this
audacious project of domination—and better still, she explains how
following the strategies and tactics of savvy union organizers
could help save America from an ever more ruthless right...This
empowering book could not be more timely.” — Nancy MacLean, author
of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical
Right’s Stealth Plan for America
“Jane McAlevey has devoted her life to reigning the
destructive power of concentrated wealth and she is consumed with
one over-arching question: How do we win? In this essential book,
she draws on decades of organizing experience to make an
overwhelming case that the new face of working-class power is
female and fiercely feminist. It’s past time to listen up.” —
Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything
“Jane McAlevey is a brilliant strategist, rousing
organizer, and razor-sharp critic inside the labor movement. In
this critical moment when labor is resurgent, McAlevey’s small
“d” democratic spirit, and her humane, and deeply informed
reporting and analysis is needed more than ever.” — Katrina
vanden Heuval, Editorial Director & Publisher, The Nation
“Read this book! It’s full of effective strategies for overcoming
voter suppression against even the stiffest odds. Jane McAlevey is
the type of experienced organizer the current White House
fears.” — Benjamin Todd Jealous, Former National President
and CEO of the NAACP
“A battle cry for union rights in a time hostile to labor
organizations.” —Kirkus — Kirkus Reviews
“Labor activist McAlevey delivers a persuasive argument that the
power of ‘strong, democratic’ trade unions can fix many of
America’s social problems in this timely cri de coeur. . . . She
offers a useful primer on how labor organizing works, and
effectively refutes common assumptions about unions. . . .
McAlevey’s . . . humor and contagious confidence in the
efficacy of organized labor give this succinct volume an outsize
impact.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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