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In this episode, we consider the role of organized labor in the crisis of neoliberalism with labor organizer, campaigner, trainer, and migrant rights activist, Valery Alzaga. Drawing on decades of experiences within the global world of organized labor, this episode takes us through Valery's journey in order to elaborate the difficulty trade unions have had in adapting to a world no longer defined by the post-war settlement between capital and organized labor.
In walking us through this journey, Valery sketches a long vision towards a new combat unionism no longer concerned with petty legalisms, but focused on developing and expanding infrastructural eco-systems that make radical and transformative potentials possible. Rather than espouse an "either/or" vision of politics, Valery doubles down on a praxis of creative connection, cross- and inter-organizational alignment, and perpetual adaptation – a kind of multidirectional kung fu, as she calls it.
While this vision focuses on unions and the need to realign these towards offensive positions, that focus is deeply attuned to and considerate of the broader ecology of actors that define the field, and is concerned with how to act and work together towards winning – even when winning means failing forward.
For more information on Bargaining for the Common Good, please see incredible reading list put together by the Center for Innovation in Worker Organization and the Bargaining for the Common Good Network for The Forge.
Here, you can read about Harmony Goldberg's and Valery Alzaga's reflection on the deployment of Strike Schools and the importance of popular education in the United Teachers Los Angeles struggle of 2019.
