The Amazon union drive showed us the future of US labor | Donna Murch

In contrast to the stereotype of the union worker as a white man in a hard hat, today's labor movement skews black, brown and female

While many of us are mourning the outcome of the unionization vote among Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, we must not confuse the failure of this specific campaign with the wants and aspirations of workers on the ground. The Amazon drive is only one part of a larger tide of multiracial labor activism incubated in workplaces during the Covid-19 pandemic - activism that will undoubtedly grow as the lockdowns recede. Now is a time for reflection on recent union campaigns that have captured the imagination of workers of color and the communities in which they live. At the dawn of the Biden presidency, the most vital sector of the labor movement is in dialogue with the Movement for Black Lives' call for reinvestment in communities of color. From the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) fighting for the rights of homeless students during the pandemic, to public sector unions at Rutgers University demanding layoff protections for the most vulnerable, a new generation of labor activists see workplace struggle as an essential staging ground for racial and gender justice. The turn toward intersectional unionism matters, because it is the new face of labor militancy in the United States.

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