Author: 10thumbs Page 1 of 2

Yes, cultivate sensitivity in how you relate to different kinds of people, but that’s secondary. If you spend enough time doing these things, the social competence will come naturally. If you don’t get your hands dirty, you are at risk of becoming a politically correct nullity. Spend less time contemplating privilege and more time acting, to be part of the change.

Indulging the sense of intellectual and political superiority that comes from an exquisite acknowledgment of privilege—and the passivity that results—can be its own form of privilege.

from Prospect.org (emphasis added)

Really good read:

Joe Biden Thinks Coal Miners Should Learn to Code. A Real Just Transition Demands Far More.

But my whole point is, I’m looking right now as I’m talking to you, at dozens of wind turbines in Greenbrier County. And they’re building more. These things have to be built somewhere. Solar panels have to be built somewhere. Batteries and the technology that goes along with storing electricity has to be built somewhere. What other, better place to build them then these areas that have no jobs, that have sacrificed everything for this country already, than areas like this right here?

I know for wind turbines, there’s probably a lot of pipe fitting and welding and things along those lines, which miners are good at. As far as solar jobs, I don’t know what it entails exactly, but miners are smart enough to do those things if they’re trained. That’s the only thing I think that Biden was right on in that sense, that they’re smart enough to do some of these jobs with the right training. But to get people to get behind something like the Green New Deal, it’s difficult until you give them something to go on. Build one of these things and hire them, and you’d see them flood to your site. You’d see them flood to these jobs.

From Do-It-Yourself Class Struggle

Workers need strong unions, but they also need to organize independently in the workplace and learn to rely on their own power. Building durable rank-and-file networks and union caucuses is a crucial next step in revitalizing American labor.

and

In the words of one striker, a strike is not simply to earn more benefits from the state, but to force the state to negotiate with labor on labor’s terms.

… then from “There’s No Trick”

But Madeloni is referring to the fundamentals of building worker power from the inside out. That means having direct and repeated conversations with current members to engage them in the daily life of the union, winning contract fights, converting fee payers to dues-paying members, identifying leaders that will help restore the union’s membership after the initial expected losses under Janus, and waging political battles for the common good.

and

“People stay engaged when they can see that fighting means they win,” [Borsos] said.

Interesting note on Portside about non-union workers’ groups organizing around non-workplace economic issues:

The new group will not seek to negotiate contracts as unions do, but its leaders say it will most likely push for a higher minimum wage and for many other issues fast-food workers support, including affordable housing, immigration reform, better police-community relations and improvements to New York’s subway system.

NOTE: not sure that I want to intermingle organizing ideas here, but also know I don’t need to start a new blog (at least today), so for now I’ll just add an Organizing tag that I’ll migrate later.