Building Power in the New Economy: The South Bay Labor Council

Abstract

Confronted with the technological changes and corporate restructuring that is eroding job security for all workers, the once booming economy of Silicon Valley is now undergoing severe growing pains. Moreover, the much vaunted information technology industry is producing a dual economy of high‐wage and low‐wage jobs. Now, with the bursting of the dot.com industry, workers in all sectors are confronting layoffs and lower expectations. In both boom and bust periods, the South Bay American Federation of Labor‐Congress of Industrial Organizations Labor Council has made a tremendous turnaround, made has innovative responses to the “new economy,” and has expanded its capacity to take on issues important to workers and unions. The article offers a detailed account of the labor council's program and explores the environmental and historical context surrounding the revitalization of organized labor in the region. Our findings in San Jose suggest that central labor councils are successful in advancing the needs of workers and labor movement. Today, this experience offers a model for the three‐pronged approach to grassroots movement building: (1) policy research and advocacy, (2) community coalition building, (3) and an aggressive political program that keeps politicians responsive to the needs of workers.

Peak Union Campaigning: Fighting for Rights at Work in Australia

“…Once regarded as weak bodies (Eimer 2001 and Kriesky 2001: 132–3), central labour councils (CLCs) in the United States have been vital in attempts to build ‘grassroots power’ (Hurd et al . 2003: 102–3) — albeit with AFL‐CIO sponsorship — through specific campaigns, coalition building (Reynolds and Ness 2004) and ‘union city’ campaigns (Byrd and Rhee 2004; Kriesky 2001; Luce and Nelson 2004; Rhee and Sadler 2007). In some accounts, CLC renewal and the coalition‐building appear to be synonymous because, when CLCs reinvent themselves, they do so precisely by building linkages with ‘nonlabor community organizations’ (Gapasin and Wial 1998: 60).…”

A Little Help from Our Friends

“…Second, union relationships with peak councils or other unions may support collaboration by creating a culture of alliances that supports individual union engagement (Ellem and Shields 2004;. Central labor councils in the United States can be agents for change; for example, the AFL-CIO's Union Cities program supported coalition practice (Ness and Eimer 2001;Byrd and Rhee 2004;Luce and Nelson 2004;Reynolds 2004b). Similarly, community collaboration requires available community allies (Tarrow 1994).…”

Building Power Together: Union Support for Central Labour Bodies

“…In the United States, research on the AFL–CIO has presented case studies of high‐performing CLCs and state federations that highlight their strategic value for the revitalization of the labour movement (Bielski Boris ; Bielski Boris and Wright ; Byrd and Rhee ; Dean and Reynolds ; Frank and Wong ; Grabelsky ; Karson , ; Luce and Nelson ; Ness ; Reynolds , ; Simmons and Luce ). While these case studies chronicle the work of central labour organizations in the United States, a deeper analysis of the factors driving this work has not been undertaken.…”