Taking Back The Workers Law

Prolabor critics often question the effectiveness of the National Labor Relations Board. Some go so far as to call the Board labor's enemy number one. In a daring book that is sure to be controversial, Ellen Dannin argues that the blame actually lies with judicial decisions that have radically "rewritten" the National Labor Relations Act. But rather than simply bemoan this problem, Dannin offers concrete solutions for change. Dannin calls for labor to borrow from the strategy mapped out by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the early 1930s to eradicate legalized racial discrimination. This book lays out a long-term litigation strategy designed to overturn the cases that have undermined the NLRA and frustrated its policies. As with the NAACP, this strategy must take place in a context of activism to promote the NLRA policies of social and industrial democracy, solidarity, justice, and worker empowerment. Dannin contends that only by promoting these core purposes of the NLRA can unions survive—and even thrive.

This book explores the complicated relationship between the EU legal framework for posting of workers and collective labor law. It examines this topic from the perspective of EU law and of international labor law. In doing so, the book builds upon a solid interdisciplinary foundation, which looks at sociological and economic aspects of the posting phenomenon, also taking into account issues related to industrial relations. However, the immediate focus is on the creation and evolution of the said EU legal framework. Hence, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the drafting process of the Posting of Workers Directive (96/71), as well as an exhaustive examination of the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU dealing with posting of workers. This evolving legal framework is subsequently considered in its broader context, with two tensions identified. On the one hand, the book investigates the growing conflict between the EU framework for posting of workers and the international protection of social rights. It argues that, with regards to the relationship at stake, the EU is presently violating the standards set by the Council of Europe and by the International Labor Organization. On the other hand, the book critically considers the impact of the trend towards decentralization of collective bargaining on the application of collective agreements to posted workers. In particular, it analyzes the so-called "New Economic Governance" of the EU, and its role in fostering such a trend. The book outlines the far-reaching implications of the lack of coherence between the action of the EU institutions involved in the "New Economic Governance" and the case law of the Court of Justice dealing with posting of workers. (Series: Social Europe - Vol. 33) [Subject: European Law, Labor Law, International Law, Comparative Law]

A deeply-reported examination of why "doing what you love" is a recipe for exploitation, creating a new tyranny of work in which we cheerily acquiesce to doing jobs that take over our lives. You're told that if you "do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." Whether it's working for "exposure" and "experience," or enduring poor treatment in the name of "being part of the family," all employees are pushed to make sacrifices for the privilege of being able to do what we love. In Work Won't Love You Back, Sarah Jaffe, a preeminent voice on labor, inequality, and social movements, examines this "labor of love" myth—the idea that certain work is not really work, and therefore should be done out of passion instead of pay. Told through the lives and experiences of workers in various industries—from the unpaid intern, to the overworked teacher, to the nonprofit worker and even the professional athlete—Jaffe reveals how all of us have been tricked into buying into a new tyranny of work. As Jaffe argues, understanding the trap of the labor of love will empower us to work less and demand what our work is worth. And once freed from those binds, we can finally figure out what actually gives us joy, pleasure, and satisfaction.

Have you ever felt your blood boil at work but lacked the tools to fight back and win? Or have you acted together with your co-workers, made progress, but wondered what to do next? If you are in a union, do you find that it operates top-down just like the boss and ignores the will of its members? Labor Law for the Rank and Filer: Building Solidarity While Staying Clear of the Law is a guerrilla legal handbook for workers in a precarious global economy. It demonstrates how a powerful model of organizing called “solidarity unionism” can help workers avoid the pitfalls of the legal system and use direct action to win. Blending cutting-edge legal strategies for winning justice at work with a theory of dramatic social change from below, Staughton Lynd and Daniel Gross deliver a practical guide for making work better while reinvigorating the labor movement. The book examines specific cases concerning fundamental labor rights and includes a section on tactics and principles of practicing solidarity unionism. Illustrative stories of workers’ struggles make the legal principles come alive. The New York Times has reported on the book’s importance in recent and ongoing labor organizing in the tech industry—for example among employees of Google, Kickstarter, and Uber, whose union campaigns were influenced by ideas gleaned from Labor Law for the Rank and Filer. Meredith Whittaker, a former Google research scientist who was one of the organizers of the 2018 Google employee walkout, said that the book has been “incredibly helpful in thinking through options for action, ways of building collective power, and giving workers who often aren’t familiar with labor law some working knowledge that can guide decision making.”

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