The decline in unions is of course real, but the energy and support behind the idea of unions has reached similar highs as in the past. We have to not only grow existing unions, but continue to push into sectors that have previously never had unions, especially sectors that are at risk of “off-shoring” through Artificial Intelligence. Now is the time to cement support and ensure Mamdani’s tenure is successful, and we don’t revert to something worse after his time.
I like the “reverse engineer” framing. Early on in Labor for Zohran, an organization in which ultimately I was little involved, I floated the idea of talking to the campaign about trying to gather info about where those 100000 volunteers we’re working and try to establish workplace Zohran cells. This never got close to getting off the ground.
Now, Eric frames the same idea going forward:
“Workplace and neighborhood Our Time hubs could coordinate petitioning efforts, hold potluck socials, develop creative ways to reach peers, and escalate campaigns to pressure the governor and state legislators to back an affordability agenda.”
But I think more than this: it could not only mobilize but reverse engineer left leadership in workplaces. Perhaps in some cases that might lead to unionization efforts as well, but even without this, we just need to demonstrate that left activity exists where you work. And Zohran is an easy way to take up that task.
This victory needs to be turned into an organising effort to rebuild the labor movement. It requires not only a change in various leaderships but at heart a change in the social relations that produce the labor movement.
At present the labor movement has internalised the neoliberal turn in capitalism and this needs to be overcome so electoral breakthroughs are not fleeting moments but generational turns in sustained class improvements.
The DSA needs to embrace both traditional working class people but also small businesses because they are really part of the working class not the bourgeoisie. And I think Mamdani really is trying to do that. He just needs to keep crime low and not have the social unrest many people associate with the left.
One should remember that Mamdani had particularly obnoxious opponents in the general election. It was just as much an anti-Cuomo vote as it was pro-DSA.
A DSA member AND a Jacobin subscriber? Could Zohran be any cooler?
The decline in unions is of course real, but the energy and support behind the idea of unions has reached similar highs as in the past. We have to not only grow existing unions, but continue to push into sectors that have previously never had unions, especially sectors that are at risk of “off-shoring” through Artificial Intelligence. Now is the time to cement support and ensure Mamdani’s tenure is successful, and we don’t revert to something worse after his time.
I like the “reverse engineer” framing. Early on in Labor for Zohran, an organization in which ultimately I was little involved, I floated the idea of talking to the campaign about trying to gather info about where those 100000 volunteers we’re working and try to establish workplace Zohran cells. This never got close to getting off the ground.
Now, Eric frames the same idea going forward:
“Workplace and neighborhood Our Time hubs could coordinate petitioning efforts, hold potluck socials, develop creative ways to reach peers, and escalate campaigns to pressure the governor and state legislators to back an affordability agenda.”
But I think more than this: it could not only mobilize but reverse engineer left leadership in workplaces. Perhaps in some cases that might lead to unionization efforts as well, but even without this, we just need to demonstrate that left activity exists where you work. And Zohran is an easy way to take up that task.
This victory needs to be turned into an organising effort to rebuild the labor movement. It requires not only a change in various leaderships but at heart a change in the social relations that produce the labor movement.
At present the labor movement has internalised the neoliberal turn in capitalism and this needs to be overcome so electoral breakthroughs are not fleeting moments but generational turns in sustained class improvements.
The DSA needs to embrace both traditional working class people but also small businesses because they are really part of the working class not the bourgeoisie. And I think Mamdani really is trying to do that. He just needs to keep crime low and not have the social unrest many people associate with the left.
One should remember that Mamdani had particularly obnoxious opponents in the general election. It was just as much an anti-Cuomo vote as it was pro-DSA.