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‘Power in the hands of people’: union leaders push to revive ailing US labor movement
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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I feel very conflicted about unions every time they come up, because it seems they should be dead-simply beneficial to workers. To me, that is the sole reason for their existence. But when I talk to people in unions in person and when I hear so many interviews, it doesn't seem to be so.
With the end of the recent JBS strike, I've seen a number of outlets talk about how the union itself brought in scabs. The deal they struck doesn't sound any better than the one they had that led to them striking.
How do unions end up so conflicted? Doesn't their funding come from membership? I've never had a union job, and being in a place where you can get fired for any reason, such as organizing, it seems to make it a very risk thing with a less than certain payoff. Can anyone with better insight share their experience?
That's because the labor movement in the US has been systematically suppressed for decades. Most surviving unions are what could be called "business unions" or class-collaborationist unions. They are corrupt and have leadership that cut deals with the employers, and union elections are intentionally manipulated to depress turnout, usually by keeping the rank and file in the dark about the schedule.