Social-Movement Unionism and U.S. Labor's Uncertain Future

Victor G. Devinatz

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DOI: 10.2190/CN.32.3.c

Abstract

Based on Moody's discussion of social-movement unionism (SMU) in Workers in a Lean World, in "Global Labor's Uncertain Future," Roukis states that SMU is a "class-based approach" in which unions "organize beyond their organizational bounds and liaison with neighborhood/community organizations" that has been somewhat successful in South Africa and Brazil. In Roukis' treatment of SMU, however, he fails to mention that even though this form of unionism is not the dominant type in the United States, it has been successfully used, and continues to be utilized, as a strategy by a number of U.S. unions. Thus, the purpose of this article is to outline the development of SMU in the United States and to provide several examples of the successful use of SMU among U.S. labor unions. The article concludes with a discussion of how SMU has played a crucial role in living wage campaigns, an issue of extreme importance to low-wage workers, in the United States during the 1990s and 2000s.

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