A New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement

Amy Dean and co-author David Reynolds have a daunting task: publicizing labor's victories. In the mind of the public -- to the extent they think about it at all -- labor is about rusting steel mills, and the shrinking and aging of America's industrial unions. In other words, lament and nostalgia. While this is true in many areas, there's another, equally compelling, story that never seems to make it into the national news. That's because good labor news seems to go nowhere. As A New New Deal makes very clear, though, in many areas labor is changing and chalking up some astonishing victories along the way. The transformation of Los Angeles from a bastion of conservatism to one of the most progressive and labor-friendly cities in the country is a story that needs even more space than Dean and Reynolds give it here. But they do a good job in telling about the rise of labor under Miguel Contreras and the formation of community-wide coalitions with deep roots in LA's many, and varied, communities. And Amy Dean herself, as the youngest leader of the South Bay Labor Council, fought for similarly sweeping changes in the San Jose-Silicon Valley area. On her watch, the South Bay moved from domination by real estate interests into one where labor-backed candidates won elections and implemented things like living wage statutes and health and safety rules. For the general reading public, the book is a bit dense and could use more of an over-arching narrative. But it's filled with fascinating details about real, honest organizing, and how the working class -- if it's lucky enough to generate some good leadership -- can sometimes win over money and venality. And, if you're a labor or community activist in an area that needs changing, A New New Deal is a great place to start. But you have to read it here. It won't be on the network news.

In their Introduction to A New New Deal, Amy Dean and David Reynolds make a clear statement of what is becoming conventional wisdom among both union and community organizers: "Labor is unlikely to revive without becoming part of a larger social awakening that aims to put the nation on a different course." (p. 14) They waste little time assessing the prospects for such an awakening because they are eager to explain their recipe for nurturing it. But as they illustrate and trace the history of their "regional power-building model," they actually provide lots of evidence that we are likely in the midst of such an awakening process. I'm not referring to awakening moments -- like the amazing resurgence of young people and minorities during last year's Presidential election campaign - but rather to a longer-term politicization of both unions and community groups, often in concert with each other, over the last decade or so. This process involves a redefinition of "politics" as a year-round, mostly local, activity focused on achieving influence and then power over governing - not a cyclical process where temporary electoral mobilizations interrupt the "real work" of labor and community activists and then leave governing to the politicians. Focused on public policy changes that can make real differences in working people's lives while shifting power relations, this involves grassroots policy and political education, leadership development, careful institution-building, all in the service of what Dean and Reynolds call "deep coalitions" among a wide range of locally-based progressive organizations. The very powerful model Dean and Reynolds advocate is based on this broader redirection toward a more expansive practice of both politics and organizing. Though the range of organizations and campaigns they report on and evaluate is both extensive and diverse, it is but a small portion of the larger landscape of increasing activism over the last two decades. For Dean and Reynolds, the problem with this upsurge in activism -- not just in its crushing defeats and demoralizing compromises but even in its most heartening victories -- is its episodic lack of permanent institution-building. The stated purpose of their regional power-building model is to build permanent structures that generate well-targeted campaigns to advance a regional economic policy agenda that "ultimately aims to establish a labor-community movement [as] part of the region's governing fabric." Policy wins on good jobs, living wages, affordable housing, and, more broadly, on regional economic development with broad and sustainable benefits for workers and working-class communities is one important metric. But the other one, for Dean and Reynolds, is establishing a dialectic where "[g]rowing and strengthening . . . grassroots institutions become[s] a core way to strengthen a region's quality of life." (p183) Dean and Reynolds are supportive of one-off campaigns for specific legislati

I was heartened by the stories of real change told in A New New Deal. I am a community-based educator who wants to see our cities, states, and nation build a more social just and environmentally sustainable economy. The book shows how community and labor can come together in metropolitan areas to organize for real change. The authors point to stories of real successes and since they are both experienced grassroots activists they convey a sense of how leaders can get started in their own communities. Susan Santone, Executive Director, Creative Change Educational Solutions

By Ken Volante, MTI Staff Amy Dean and David Reynolds' A New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement ($29.95), recently released by Cornell University Press, is a timely meditation on the strategies necessary to build regional progressive power and reshape the political direction of the United States. The "regional power" analysis shows the promise in labor organizing and political activism in close coalition with other progressive organizations such as faith-based groups, community advocacy groups, environmentalists, living wage campaigns and local referenda committees. The book does not offer a theoretical fix-all nor promise a specific nuts-and-bolts how-to of regional power building. Rather, the authors take great pains to describe the elements of what works in regional labor power building. Author Amy Dean's first hand experience in the field, particularly, her work in the Silicon Valley's South Bay Labor Council, lend credence to the applicability of the blueprint. The authors also detail regional power building movements that (for the time being) failed. Finally, they issue a humble call to arms based on the massive gains possible in a regional strategy. That carrot should be enticing enough for the famished American labor movement. A New Hope Labor must think and act regionally. As a result of fractured local governance and issues, such as transportation, that span beyond one specific locale, labor must think regionally and in concert with regional players in order to effect lasting change. Such work is extremely difficult. American Labor is rightly criticized for being insular, provincial and slow-as-auntie's molasses on a cold winter day. In all fairness, Labor has also been beat up pretty bad since "Business Organized as a Class" (to quote labor writer Kim Moody) in the 1970s. That said, while Labor has tremendous ability and resources to affect political change, it has largely done so in near term, cyclical outbursts of effort. While these may result in "wins" (a la Labor 2008) this behavior does not engender the trust of potential coalition partners who need labor's help, say, two months after the election. By building a coalition around a framework of progressive issues the labor movement can partner with a few to dozens of local advocacy organizations to affect regional change. If business organized as a class, why is it any less possible for Labor to work with those it can create close communion with? Coalitions that Work Dean and Reynolds identify three characteristics of regional power building: developing a regional policy agenda, creating a deep and lasting regional coalition and moving from access to government. A regional policy agenda is necessary to address workers' needs that are larger than the "meat and potatoes" work that unions tend to do well. These critical issues may include affordable housing, a living wage, public transportation issues, and affordable health insurance

Having worked in the labor movement for years, I must say that Dean and Reynolds make a convincing case that the labor movement must organize in the community as well as the workplace. In California we have seen some very dynamic labor councils bring together broad coalitions of community groups, faith leaders, unions, environmentalists, and others to fight for social justice and an economy that works for everyone. A New New Deal not only tells our California story but also uses examples from around the country to show how people can build these coalitions in their own regions. Jack McGlinn