| Summary: | Since the 1970s, organized labor in the United States has seen a steep decline in its membership and political influence due to capital flight, "right to work" and anti-union legislation, automation and technological innovation. Recently, however, millions of US workers have rallied behind organized labor campaigns demanding fairer working conditions and higher wages. Radical Labor profiles a local chapter of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 105, to understand how the labor movement is collaborating with allied community activists and working to build a multi-racial coalition of working people for social justice. SEIU Local 105's organizing is grounded in what President Ron Ruggiero called "whole person unionism," which is a fundamental understanding that workers "don't just exist at work." This recognition is crucial if the labor movement wishes to be part of a broader progressive social and political movement. Radical Labor confronts labor's problematic history with immigration and racial justice, and highlights how labor struggles, although rooted in class, are interconnected with race, gender, sexual orientation, and immigrant rights.
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