A New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement

A Century Foundation Book In A New New Deal, the labor movement leaders Amy B. Dean and David B. Reynolds offer a bold new plan to revitalize American labor activism and build a sense of common purpose between labor and community organizations. Dean and Reynolds demonstrate how alliances organized at the regional level are the most effective tool to build a voice for working people in the workplace, community, and halls of government. The authors draw on their own successes to offer in-depth, contemporary case studies of effective labor-community coalitions. They also outline a concrete strategy for building power at the regional level. This pioneering model presents the regional building blocks for national change. A diverse audience-both within the labor movement and among its allies-will welcome this clear, detailed, and inspiring presentation of regional power-building tactics, which include deep coalition-building, leadership development, policy research, and aggressive political action. A New New Deal explores successful coalitions forged in Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, San Jose, New Haven, and Atlanta toward goals such as universal health insurance for children and sensible redevelopment efforts that benefit workers as well as businesses. The authors view partnerships between labor and grassroots organizations as a mutually beneficial strategy based on shared goals, resulting in a broadened membership base and increased organizational capacity. They make the innovative argument that the labor movement can steward both industry and community and make manifest the ways in which workplace battles are not the parochial concerns of isolated workers, but a fundamental struggle for America's future. Drawing on historical parallels, the authors illustrate how long-term collaborations between labor and community organizations are sowing the seeds of a new New Deal.

Amy B. Dean served from 1993 to 2003 as the youngest elected leader of the AFL-CIO in Silicon Valley. She is founder of two national nonprofits. Working Partnerships USA and Building Partnerships USA, and she has served on the California Community College's Board of Governors and the California Secretary of Commerce's Economic Strategy Panel. A recipient of numerous awards, Dean contributes regularly to New Labor Forum. In These Times, and the Huffington Post. Her work has been featured in the Economist, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Le Monde, Mother Jones, and more. David B. Reynolds is Labor Extension Coordinator at the Labor Studies Center of Wayne State University and a Curriculum Director for Building Partnerships USA. He is the author of Taking the High Road, Partnering for Change, and Living Wage Campaigns: An Activist's Guide to Building the Movement for Economic Justice. Harold Meyerson is Editor at Large of The American Prospect, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a member of the editorial board of Dissent.