What are the most exciting things happening in the labor movement today?

The search for alternative ways of organizing and representing workers. The traditional way we’ve done things has revolved around the notion that folks have one employer who they work for. The workers get organized, bargain a contract, and then they just have to re-bargain it once every three or four years. Easy! But the contemporary workforce is way different: People change jobs often, move around a lot, work out of their homes (or other people’s homes), and don’t have a connection to a single industry, much less a single employer. Folks are looking for different ways of doing things, and working with community organizations to figure it out. This has created a real change in how unions deal with racism, homophobia, sexism, and ageism. My organization has started doing racial-justice training. We’re hiring more young people of color to work for us. We’ve established caucuses for Latino, Asian, African-American, GLBT, and young workers. (One small but proud moment for me recently: We just established gender-neutral bathrooms in our office complex!) We’re working with immigrant groups on state-level policy reform, e.g., making sure that undocumented workers have access to driver’s licenses and helping to staff naturalization clinics.

One exciting initiative that I’ve been involved with over the past decade has been the effort to build a coalition of unions and environmental groups to fight climate change. On September 21 in New York City, the People’s Climate March will take place. It will be a huge gathering of environmentalists and social justice activists calling on the U.S. and the world to deal with the climate crisis (Portland is doing one that same day, too!). It’s so exciting to me to see unions getting involved in that effort.

None of this is easy. A lot of union leaders having been doing things the same way for many years. Yes, we’ve fought for the minimum wage and other worker protections and benefits. But it’s new for so many to be reaching out to the larger community in this systematic and creative way and putting the interests of community partners ahead of their individual ones, and dealing with social issues like racism and sexism and climate change. It’s risky; union leaders have been defeated for office when they’ve gotten too far afield from the immediate self-interest of their members. We’re having to challenge each other and ourselves to think about the world differently.

Say I just got a new job and now I’m in a union. What do I need to know about being a union member? Can young people be active in unions?

You need to gather as much information as you can first. Ask a lot of questions! Who’s your shop steward? This is the volunteer in your work area who’s designated by the union to handle day-to-day problems. When and where are the union meetings? They’re the best place to meet active members, find out what’s going on around the workplace, ask more questions, and get connected to the inner life of the union. Hopefully when you attend, someone will greet you as a new member—if not, introduce yourself!

Get a copy of the union’s constitution (ask your steward or call the union office), so you know how it operates at your workplace, and make sure to also get a copy of your contract, which spells out your wages, hours, working conditions, and other issues. Pay special attention to the grievance procedure: If your rights are violated—if you’re not paid enough, or you’re discriminated against by management, or if they don’t give you the hours you’re entitled to, for example—then the union can help you file a grievance against management to get the problem resolved.

Find the smart and open activists in the union that you can learn from. Take advantage of educational opportunities (most unions do training for their members on a regular basis). Most of all, talk to other young members about what you all care about, and bring those issues forward. Many unions are working actively to reach out to their young members. Many of them now have youth caucuses, and in major cities, there are often multi-union young worker organizations, like Portland’s Young Emerging Labor Leaders.

There’s no union at my job. Does the labor movement still affect me? How can I get involved in it even though I’m not a union member?

The labor movement certainly affects you when it works for broader rights and benefits for all working people! Some cities have labor-community coalitions—for example, Jobs With Justice—that you can join. They organize rallies and support unions and others in the community. College campuses often have groups that are involved with labor issues, like United Students Against Sweatshops and the Student Labor Action Project. Our young worker group at the Oregon AFL-CIO has done voter registration, walked picket lines with striking dock workers, hosted a comedy night, done leadership training, and in a lot of different ways built relationships, built their skills, and supported other unions.

What are your proudest achievements as a labor leader?

I’m proud of pushing people to come together. I emphasize that no individual ever got ahead on their own. Solidarity is essential to raising yourself and your family’s living standard. Everyone needs to work together to do that, and when we let racism, sexism, and other prejudices divide us, it weakens our ability to represent and help ourselves and one another. We need to learn how to respect and work with one another. So, when we examine something like white privilege, we start from a place that makes it easier to have the conversation. Many Americans don’t have face-to-face talks about these things! Providing an opportunity to discuss them is crucial.

Truthfully, the best part of my leadership position at the Oregon AFL-CIO is that we all—officers and staff—work as a team, and we win victories as a team. When the causes we champion are successful, candidates we support get elected, and our member unions organize a new workplace or win a good contract for their members, those are all team achievements, and I’m just as proud of those as anything I’ve ever done as an individual.

Where can I learn more about the labor movement?

Online, you can check out places like Labor Notes, which is a good introduction to unions. The AFL-CIO has a list of young worker organizations around the country, including contact info. There are college programs about labor movements, like the one I teach in at UO, all over the country. If you’re in school, ask your teachers—chances are some of them are active union members. Or, send me an email, tell me where you live, and I’ll see who I can connect you with! ♦