BOOKS
Strike! by Jeremy Becker The dramatic story of repeated, massive, and sometimes violent revolts by ordinary working people in America. This exciting hidden history is told from the point of view of the rank-and-file workers who lived it.
No Shortcuts by Jane McAlevey The seminal text on how to do workplace organizing. McAlevey explains why unions need to focus on building “actual power” through organizing rather than “pretend power” through advocacy and mobilizing. Plus, there’s an audiobook version!
How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers How Chicago Teachers Union members engaged thousands of their coworkers to build a stewards network that became the backbone of their 2012 citywide strike.
Teachers Unions and Social Justice: Organizing for the Schools and Communities Our Students Deserve An anthology of more than 60 articles documenting the history and the how-tos of social justice unionism. Plus there’s an entire chapter on teachers organizing in North Carolina!
The Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door by Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider Gripping non-fiction about the different forces trying to privatize our public schools and how to stop them.
PODCASTS
The Dig: Teach the children well with Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider This episode features an interview about the politics of public education with the writers of The Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door. https://thedigradio.com/podcast/teach-the-children-well-w-jennifer-berkshire-jack-schneider/
Have You Heard: #162 State of Emergency This episode was produced following former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s declaration of a state of emergency for public schools. It explores the efforts of right-wing privatizers to dismantle public education and the opportunity that the state of emergency created for organizing. https://on.soundcloud.com/1NTnp
The Dig: Strike! with Jane McAlevey An interview with Jane McAlevey about strikes and the forces we’re up against. https://thedigradio.com/podcast/strike-with-jane-mcalevey-2/
Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know: Union Busters, Part I: An Origin Story In part one of this two-part series, the hosts explore the history of unions and the powerful forces seeking to destroy unions, or prevent them from forming in the first place. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1bfwknimlsiXxpPDjYduIg?si=9d5b3da5db174719
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin The story of farm animals organizing against the farmer.
Something, someday by Amanda Gorman and Christian Robinson A book about solving a problem through collective action.
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull A picture book biography about labor movement leader Cesar Chavez.
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel A picture book biography about Ukrainian immigrant, and leader of the shirtwaist strike of 1909, Clara Lemlich.
