Read more
Insurgent Labor tracks the trials and tribulations
of bringing a formerly stagnant labor union into national relevance with
an unapologetically left-wing agenda.David Van Deusen
charts the rise of the UNITED! ticket to create a progressive and
militant labor union. He chronicles the many victories throughout his
tenure including expanding union democracy into the rank and file,
moving power away from single individuals and into democratic
structures, supporting farm workers, supporting Black
self-determination, and supporting Black Lives Matter. Van Deusen also managed to include support for the revolutionary efforts in Rojava.
The
boldest step undertaken by the Vermont AFL-CIO—and marker of years of
steady progress in labor organizing and raising of political
consciousness in Vermont—was authorizing a call for a general strike
throughout Vermont as a possible response to the November coup threat
This book should be of interest to anyone, whether
they have merely thought of joining a union or are an old union hand.
Most importantly,
Insurgent Labor offers a blueprint for
militant labor’s advances in an era of capitalist polycrisis and offers
hope for a brighter future based around equality, justice, and true
democracy.
List of contents
Foreword by Kim Kelly
Introduction: Working Class Unity, Union Power!
I. Mass Labor Picket: Scott Walker & the VT Republican Party
II. Rock Bottom: The Near Death of VT Labor
III. The United! Campaign: From Ashes Rise
IV. The 2019 Convention: United! Comes To Power
V. From Opposition to Governing
VI. Concerning Elections: Rejecting the Premise of the Democrats & Building a More Direct Democracy
VII. Black Lives Matter, the Police, and the Politics of Reality
VIII. Aftermath: Residual Challenges, New Elections, & Structure Building
IX. Exporting the Revolution Within Labor: United! In VSEA & NEA
X. Building International Solidarity: Rojava, Palestine, and Cuba
XI. Preparing for The Trump Coup: The General Strike Vote & Anti-Fascism
XII. War Against the Old Guard
Afterwards
Appendix A: Ten Point Program For Union Power: The Little Green Book
Appendix B: Electoral Policy: Building Power Beyond Political Parties
Appendix C: President Van Deusen’s General Strike Speech Convention
Appendix D: The Vermont General Strike Authorization Resolution
Appendix E: Vice President Katie Harris’ May Day 2023 Speech
About the author
David Van Deusen is a longtime libertarian-socalist thinker, organizer, and militant union leader. He has been President of the Vermont AFL-CIO since 2019 and is part of the progressive United! Slate. He is also a member of Democratic Socialists of America and a past member of Anti-Racist Action and the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective (NEFAC-VT). Van Deusen resides in Northern Vermont.
Kim Kelly is an independent journalist, author, and organizer. She has been a regular labor columnist for Teen Vogue since 2018, and her writing on labor, class, politics, and culture has appeared in the New Republic, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Baffler, the Nation, the Columbia Journalism Review, and Esquire, among many others. She is the author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor and resides in Philadelphia, PA.
Steve Early has been active as a labor journalist, lawyer, organizer, or union representative since 1972. He is the author of Embedded with Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home, The Civil Wars in U.S. Labor: Birth of a New Workers’ Movement or Death Throes of the Old?, and Save Our Unions: Dispatches from a Movement in Distress. He lives in Port Richmond, CA.
Summary
Insurgent Labor tracks the trials and tribulations of
bringing a formerly stagnant labor council into national relevance with
an unapologetically left-wing agenda.
David Van Deusen charts the
rise of the UNITED! slate to create a progressive and militant labor
organization. He chronicles the many victories throughout his tenure
including expanding union democracy into the rank and file, moving power
away from single individuals and into democratic structures, supporting
farm workers, supporting Black self-determination, and providing
solidarity with the Revolution in Rojava.
The boldest step
undertaken by the Vermont AFL-CIO—and marker of years of steady progress
in labor organizing and raising of political consciousness in
Vermont—was authorizing a call for a general strike throughout Vermont
as a possible response to the November 2020 coup threat by then US
President Donald Trump.
This book should be of interest to
anyone, whether they have merely thought of joining a union or are an
old union hand. Most importantly, Insurgent Labor offers a
blueprint for militant labor’s advances in an era of capitalist
polycrisis and offers hope for a brighter future based around equality,
justice, and true democracy.
