How Class Should Be Central
A strategic focus on uniting the working class doesn’t mean marginalizing the struggle against racism and sexism.
102 Articles by: Eric Blanc
Eric Blanc is an assistant professor of labor studies at Rutgers University. He blogs at the Substack Labor Politics and is the author of We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big.
Educators Versus Exxon
To demand an end to Louisiana’s giveaways to ExxonMobil, Baton Rouge school employees this week took an extraordinary step: they voted to go on a political strike.
“This is a Struggle to Save Public Education”
The teachers strike wave has reached Los Angeles: teachers there recently voted overwhelmingly to strike. They are fighting against school privatization, wage and benefit cuts, and the nationwide project to dismantle public education.
Teachers’ Strikes Are Escalating in Washington
To win their walkouts for better pay and better schools, educators are defying court injunctions and district-organized strikebreaking across Washington state.
Betting on the Working Class
The nationwide teachers’ strikes are a reminder that the working class is still the most powerful agent for radical change.
The Outcome in Arizona
After six days of striking, Arizona educators are returning to work. Jacobin spoke with three strike leaders to assess the settlement.
Arizona Versus the Privatizers
Arizona has long been ground zero for school privatization. Striking educators now have a chance to turn back the tide.
Arizona Prepares to Strike
Educators in Arizona are walking out today to demand better pay and full school funding. It will likely be the largest and most dramatic education strike yet.
A Strategy to Win
The victory in West Virginia and the impasse in Oklahoma raise important questions for the Left. Drawing out the strategic lessons of these strikes is crucial for the fights ahead.
Red Oklahoma
A century ago, Oklahoma had the strongest socialist movement in the US. Today, there are signs it’s being reborn.
The Oklahoma Strike Is At a Crossroads
Oklahoma schools have been closed more than a week. But faced with Republican intransigence, the strike has now reached a critical turning point.
“This Is a Struggle of Regular Working People”
Kentucky schools are shut down today amid a growing grassroots worker rebellion. We spoke with one rank and filer who helped organize the action.
It’s Oklahoma’s Turn to Strike
On Monday, schools will be shut down across Oklahoma as rank-and-file teachers look to build on the momentum of the West Virginia strike.
The Lessons of West Virginia
West Virginia’s historic wildcat strike has the potential to change everything.
What the Teachers Won
West Virginia shows that we can fight back and win. We talk to two teachers to assess the tentative settlement and what comes next.
The State of the Strike
An update from West Virginia, where it’s virtually certain the strike will continue on Monday.
West Virginia’s Militant Minority
Without the bold initiative of a core of deeply rooted, radical teachers, there would be no strike in West Virginia right now.
The Strike Is On
“We’re not going back to work until there’s solid proof that our demands are going to be met,” a teacher unionist on strike in West Virginia tells Jacobin.
The Ballot and the Break
Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Party, the most successful labor party in US history, is rich in lessons for challenging the two-party system.
Finland’s Revolution
The forgotten Finnish Revolution has perhaps more lessons for us today than events in 1917 Russia.