Anti-Racism, Black Workers, and Southern Labor Organizing: Historical Notes on a Continuing Struggle

Honey, Michael K.

doi:10.1177/0160449x0002500103

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

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“…Workplace-embedded Communists and Socialists were also central to efforts to organize agricultural workers of all kinds, from the cannery workers of the West Coast to the sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and tobacco workers of the South (Grubbs 1971; Kelley 1990; Korstad 2003; Ruiz 1987). More broadly, Communists and other leftists were the ones with the drive and determination to try and organize the South (Goldfield 1993; Honey 1993, 2000). They attracted working-class militants like riverboat worker W. E. “Red” Davis, who recalled that,When I started organizing the CIO I was called a Communist anyhow, and one thing I noticed was that the Communists were the most dedicated union supporters.…”

Section: What Did the Militant Minority Do?mentioning

confidence: 99%

U.S. Union Revitalization and the Missing “Militant Minority”

Uetricht

Eidlin

2019

Labor Studies Journal

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Debates on U.S. union decline and revival usually focus on policy, technical, or political fixes. Missing are discussions of bringing workers together to act collectively at work. This has historically been the job of a "militant minority," workplace activists (often leftists) who brought militancy and dynamism to unions, dedication and personal sacrifice in organizing, who linked workplace and community struggles, who were involved in unions' day-today activities, and who connected rank and filers to leadership. This layer is largely missing today, making labor revitalization difficult. In explaining who the "militant minority" was, how it worked, and why it disappeared, we can find clues for rebuilding it.

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Section: What Did the Militant Minority Do?mentioning

confidence: 99%