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Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell); My Decade Fighting for the Labor Movement
In 1995, in the first contested election in the history of the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney won the presidency of the nation’s largest labor federation, promising renewal and resurgence. Today, less than 7 percent of American private-sector workers belong to a union, the lowest percentage since the beginning of the twentieth century, and public employee collective bargaining has been dealt devastating blows in Wisconsin and elsewhere. What happened?
Jane McAlevey is famous—and notorious—in the American labor movement as the hard-charging organizer who racked up a string of victories at a time when union leaders said winning wasn’t possible. Then she was bounced from the movement, a victim of the high-level internecine warfare that has torn apart organized labor. In this engrossing and funny narrative—that reflects the personality of its charismatic, wisecracking author—McAlevey tells the story of a number of dramatic organizing and contract victories, and the unconventional strategies that helped achieve them.
Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell) argues that labor can be revived, but only if the movement acknowledges its mistakes and fully commits to deep organizing, participatory education, militancy, and an approach to workers and their communities that more resembles the campaigns of the 1930s—in short, social movement unionism that involves raising workers’ expectations (while raising hell).
Jane McAlevey is famous—and notorious—in the American labor movement as the hard-charging organizer who racked up a string of victories at a time when union leaders said winning wasn’t possible. Then she was bounced from the movement, a victim of the high-level internecine warfare that has torn apart organized labor. In this engrossing and funny narrative—that reflects the personality of its charismatic, wisecracking author—McAlevey tells the story of a number of dramatic organizing and contract victories, and the unconventional strategies that helped achieve them.
Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell) argues that labor can be revived, but only if the movement acknowledges its mistakes and fully commits to deep organizing, participatory education, militancy, and an approach to workers and their communities that more resembles the campaigns of the 1930s—in short, social movement unionism that involves raising workers’ expectations (while raising hell).
332 pages, Unknown Binding
First published November 20, 2012
73 people are currently reading
1826 people want to read
About the author
Jane F. McAlevey
6 books214 followersJane F. McAlevey is a union and community organizer, educator, author, and scholar. She’s fourth generation union, raised in an activist-union household. She spent the first half of her organizing life working in the community organizing and environmental justice movements and the second half in the union movement.
She has led power structure analyses and strategic planning trainings for a wide range of union and community organizations and has had extensive involvement in globalization and global environmental issues.
She is currently a Senior Policy Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley’s Labor Center, part of the Institute for Labor & Employment Relations.
She has led power structure analyses and strategic planning trainings for a wide range of union and community organizations and has had extensive involvement in globalization and global environmental issues.
She is currently a Senior Policy Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley’s Labor Center, part of the Institute for Labor & Employment Relations.
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October 7, 2024
Organizing 101…
Preamble:
--This is the most memorable book I’ve read in the past 2 years.
--It provides so many insights from labour organizing experience, a major gap in my toolkit. Furthermore, it’s truly a rare book that can weave together:
i) Structural analysis: I’ll map out in my review
ii) Style: accessible and inspirational, in an autobiographical flow (here’s an interview series). I got teary-eyed during numerous moments; such a thrill of emotions reading about marginalized folks building connections and fighting back together (rather than being atomized and/or lured by divide-and-rule scapegoating ).
…Jane McAlevey is an absolute badass.
Highlights:
1) US Labour History 101:
--I want to keep this context section short, so we don’t miss the core contents (organizing 101).
i) craft unions:
--This form of union is organized by their craft/trade, which under capitalism is recognized as more “skilled” with “shop floor power” to halt production and thus more privileged within the working class.
--The US example of a federation of craft unions was the AFL (American Federation of Labor), founded in 1886; their conservative protection of their skilled privileges became known as “business unionism”, in contrast to the working-class radicalism of the Socialist Party featuring less-“skilled” workers.
ii) industrial unions:
--In the 1930s, industrial factory assembly lines increasingly mechanized skilled crafts, with more coloured/immigrant participation in the industrial process. This led to another form of union organized by industry (i.e. all workers, not just particular “skilled” craft).
--The US example of a federation of industrial unions was the CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations). A highlight was the 1936-7 Flint “sit-down strike” (workplace occupations to prevent scabs replacements) at a General Motors plant. McAlevey highlights the Communist Party (CPUSA) as the key resource (monetary and experience) behind this growth of unionism, with strong overlaps with the CIO.
iii) WWII:
--During WWII, US unions made a “no-strike pledge” (although Zinn highlights war-time “wildcat strikes”) in exchange for government arbitration, and many members entering the military while women kept the factories running (there are many contradictions in war-time social mobilization).
--After WWII, unions peaked covering 1-in-3 US workers. However, the Cold War’s McCarthyism (Second Red Scare) fear-mongering purged communists (ex. Taft-Hartley Act), derailing the CIO. In 1955, the AFL-CIO merger rode the post-WWII boom/welfare state compromise while supporting US’s imperialist foreign policy.
--McAlevey highlights the Black church as the key resource behind the Civil Rights movement; black public-sector workers led the push for public-sector workers to win collective bargaining.
iv) Neoliberalism:
--With the 1970s recession and rise of Neoliberalism dismantling the welfare state, the wheels fell off the compromise. Unions, purged of communist organizers, were no longer supporting “unskilled” workers, and the Reagan administration attacked the remaining union workers through lawfare (ex. legalize permanently replacing striking workers, union avoidance laws, etc.). For a macro analysis of Neoliberalism, see: The Global Minotaur: America, the True Origins of the Financial Crisis and the Future of the World Economy
--The carcass of unions now operates as “grievance mills”, wasting their efforts on legalism paperwork and “turf wars” with other unions rather than building confrontational power. The rest of this review details McAlevey’s alternative organizing approach to build workplace power (micro); McAlevey acknowledges the big picture’s missing piece is finding resources (so we can consider macro analysis).
2) Organizing 101:
i) “Organizing”:
--Framed as expanding the base support, whereas “mobilizing” focuses on existing support. The historical context above should reveal the constant class struggle under capitalism, where working class rights must be won and maintained through organized bargaining power. McAlevey’s foundations below are systematic and materialist, while avoiding rigidity by narrating all the emotions of interpersonal relations.
ii) “Whole-worker organizing”:
--Narrow organizing focuses on the “worker” at the “workplace” (esp. wages), separate from the community, and considers alliances as an afterthought. “Deep organizing” is considered too costly, so unions use short-cuts: “air-drop”/“parachute” external organizers for intense, short-term organizing. Despite short-term “efficiency”, this has diminishing returns; we cannot compete with capitalism’s increasing short-termism (esp. finance), nor should we! The goal should be to rebuild long-term communal solidarity.
--“Whole-worker organizing” synthesizes workplace and community concerns. Organizers become embedded through long-term, continuous, face-to-face interactions, where the “worker” identity connects various concerns (“social movement unionism”, also in contrast to fractured social justice movements). This reflects the community (class/race/gender/culture etc.).
iii) “Power Structure Analysis”:
--This is the materialist systems-thinking I get excited about.
--“Quantitative phase”: external researchers analyze trends in demographics/voting/finances etc. Full info request on prior union info in bargaining process (often lacked transparency).
--“Qualitative phase”: organizers facilitate the pooling of workers’ knowledge/networks of workplace/community; this in itself is a power-building/political education process, to share collective resources.
…This includes charting of workplace/community to identify actors/support bases/allies/opponents, including interactions. Since both workers’ workplace and community challenges are discussed, this opens up creative and strategic coalition-building (ex. black church previously hostile towards unions but sharing community concerns) and leverage points to target.
…Capitalists rely on divide-and-rule to preserve social consent. Hospital workers (registered nurses/licensed practical nurses/cooks/cleaners) offer a clear example of such hierarchies in class/gender/race/skill, with employers trying to separate and coopt the registered nurses (most “skilled”); doctors are mostly considered management. The communication required for address worker disagreements often requires identifying and developing the right workers.
iv) “Leader ID”:
--In worker leaders identification, the goal is to identify “organic leaders”, which are the capable/trusted/committed workers amongst other workers.
--This is often mistaken as the “loud mouths”, those most vocal and first to approach organizers, but these usually fail the key qualities. Other surface appearances that can be potential traps include experienced/confident/skilled/popular/nice/radicals etc.
--Next is leadership development, since this movement needs long-term sustainability led by workers.
v) Organizing:
--The role of organizers is to challenge workers with radical education (coordinating worker knowledge, re-framing and synthesizing issues, “raising expectations”) and facilitate worker problem-solving in the organizing/collective bargaining process. Key is the experience to back up strategy: understanding framing of issues/capturing rather than squandering momentum/identifying critical mass, etc.
--Key themes include direct communication, direct action (“shop floor” activism), high participation (including open to non-union members), transparency, coalition-building (organizing workers meeting with community religious institutions, politicians), etc. You’ll have to read the case studies to bring these to life.
--McAlevey also includes parallel community projects like running rank-and-file union organizers in political elections to kick out pro-capitalist Democrats; in the US context, the focus is on primary elections (low cost) more so than general elections.
…see the comments below for rest of the review…
Preamble:
--This is the most memorable book I’ve read in the past 2 years.
--It provides so many insights from labour organizing experience, a major gap in my toolkit. Furthermore, it’s truly a rare book that can weave together:
i) Structural analysis: I’ll map out in my review
ii) Style: accessible and inspirational, in an autobiographical flow (here’s an interview series). I got teary-eyed during numerous moments; such a thrill of emotions reading about marginalized folks building connections and fighting back together (rather than being atomized and/or lured by divide-and-rule scapegoating ).
…Jane McAlevey is an absolute badass.
Highlights:
1) US Labour History 101:
--I want to keep this context section short, so we don’t miss the core contents (organizing 101).
i) craft unions:
--This form of union is organized by their craft/trade, which under capitalism is recognized as more “skilled” with “shop floor power” to halt production and thus more privileged within the working class.
--The US example of a federation of craft unions was the AFL (American Federation of Labor), founded in 1886; their conservative protection of their skilled privileges became known as “business unionism”, in contrast to the working-class radicalism of the Socialist Party featuring less-“skilled” workers.
ii) industrial unions:
--In the 1930s, industrial factory assembly lines increasingly mechanized skilled crafts, with more coloured/immigrant participation in the industrial process. This led to another form of union organized by industry (i.e. all workers, not just particular “skilled” craft).
--The US example of a federation of industrial unions was the CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations). A highlight was the 1936-7 Flint “sit-down strike” (workplace occupations to prevent scabs replacements) at a General Motors plant. McAlevey highlights the Communist Party (CPUSA) as the key resource (monetary and experience) behind this growth of unionism, with strong overlaps with the CIO.
iii) WWII:
--During WWII, US unions made a “no-strike pledge” (although Zinn highlights war-time “wildcat strikes”) in exchange for government arbitration, and many members entering the military while women kept the factories running (there are many contradictions in war-time social mobilization).
--After WWII, unions peaked covering 1-in-3 US workers. However, the Cold War’s McCarthyism (Second Red Scare) fear-mongering purged communists (ex. Taft-Hartley Act), derailing the CIO. In 1955, the AFL-CIO merger rode the post-WWII boom/welfare state compromise while supporting US’s imperialist foreign policy.
--McAlevey highlights the Black church as the key resource behind the Civil Rights movement; black public-sector workers led the push for public-sector workers to win collective bargaining.
iv) Neoliberalism:
--With the 1970s recession and rise of Neoliberalism dismantling the welfare state, the wheels fell off the compromise. Unions, purged of communist organizers, were no longer supporting “unskilled” workers, and the Reagan administration attacked the remaining union workers through lawfare (ex. legalize permanently replacing striking workers, union avoidance laws, etc.). For a macro analysis of Neoliberalism, see: The Global Minotaur: America, the True Origins of the Financial Crisis and the Future of the World Economy
--The carcass of unions now operates as “grievance mills”, wasting their efforts on legalism paperwork and “turf wars” with other unions rather than building confrontational power. The rest of this review details McAlevey’s alternative organizing approach to build workplace power (micro); McAlevey acknowledges the big picture’s missing piece is finding resources (so we can consider macro analysis).
2) Organizing 101:
i) “Organizing”:
--Framed as expanding the base support, whereas “mobilizing” focuses on existing support. The historical context above should reveal the constant class struggle under capitalism, where working class rights must be won and maintained through organized bargaining power. McAlevey’s foundations below are systematic and materialist, while avoiding rigidity by narrating all the emotions of interpersonal relations.
ii) “Whole-worker organizing”:
--Narrow organizing focuses on the “worker” at the “workplace” (esp. wages), separate from the community, and considers alliances as an afterthought. “Deep organizing” is considered too costly, so unions use short-cuts: “air-drop”/“parachute” external organizers for intense, short-term organizing. Despite short-term “efficiency”, this has diminishing returns; we cannot compete with capitalism’s increasing short-termism (esp. finance), nor should we! The goal should be to rebuild long-term communal solidarity.
--“Whole-worker organizing” synthesizes workplace and community concerns. Organizers become embedded through long-term, continuous, face-to-face interactions, where the “worker” identity connects various concerns (“social movement unionism”, also in contrast to fractured social justice movements). This reflects the community (class/race/gender/culture etc.).
iii) “Power Structure Analysis”:
--This is the materialist systems-thinking I get excited about.
--“Quantitative phase”: external researchers analyze trends in demographics/voting/finances etc. Full info request on prior union info in bargaining process (often lacked transparency).
--“Qualitative phase”: organizers facilitate the pooling of workers’ knowledge/networks of workplace/community; this in itself is a power-building/political education process, to share collective resources.
…This includes charting of workplace/community to identify actors/support bases/allies/opponents, including interactions. Since both workers’ workplace and community challenges are discussed, this opens up creative and strategic coalition-building (ex. black church previously hostile towards unions but sharing community concerns) and leverage points to target.
…Capitalists rely on divide-and-rule to preserve social consent. Hospital workers (registered nurses/licensed practical nurses/cooks/cleaners) offer a clear example of such hierarchies in class/gender/race/skill, with employers trying to separate and coopt the registered nurses (most “skilled”); doctors are mostly considered management. The communication required for address worker disagreements often requires identifying and developing the right workers.
iv) “Leader ID”:
--In worker leaders identification, the goal is to identify “organic leaders”, which are the capable/trusted/committed workers amongst other workers.
--This is often mistaken as the “loud mouths”, those most vocal and first to approach organizers, but these usually fail the key qualities. Other surface appearances that can be potential traps include experienced/confident/skilled/popular/nice/radicals etc.
--Next is leadership development, since this movement needs long-term sustainability led by workers.
v) Organizing:
--The role of organizers is to challenge workers with radical education (coordinating worker knowledge, re-framing and synthesizing issues, “raising expectations”) and facilitate worker problem-solving in the organizing/collective bargaining process. Key is the experience to back up strategy: understanding framing of issues/capturing rather than squandering momentum/identifying critical mass, etc.
--Key themes include direct communication, direct action (“shop floor” activism), high participation (including open to non-union members), transparency, coalition-building (organizing workers meeting with community religious institutions, politicians), etc. You’ll have to read the case studies to bring these to life.
--McAlevey also includes parallel community projects like running rank-and-file union organizers in political elections to kick out pro-capitalist Democrats; in the US context, the focus is on primary elections (low cost) more so than general elections.
…see the comments below for rest of the review…
October 21, 2018
WOW WHAT A BOOK. This book is about McAlevey’s decade Organizing hospital staff (nurses, techs, etc.) in Las Vegas. It is a book about what bringing democratic practices into the workplace really looks like, the failures of contemporary labor organizing, and the endless possibilities of worker power. this book has inspired me to learn more about labor history and different models of labor organizing and to work for a union in the future.
In the middle of reading this book, I even emailed the author to see if she would start an organizing institute similar to Obama‘s 2018 organizer training institute — I want to learn the power of my being, communications, and other skills that make McAlevey described in this book from her directly.
I would recommend this book to anyone who needs something Bright, exciting, and motivating in this political climate. I would also recommend to anyone who is curious/doesn’t know anything about unions or the labor movement in the United States since the author weaves crucial history into the book. lastly I would recommend anyone who is struggling to figure out what democracy looks like in practice, outside of the political/electoral sphere.
The annoying part of the book is that the author dwells on petty cheese mi The annoying part of the book is that the author dwells on some interpersonal conflict she had that after reading so many of them come across as very petty. I recognize that she unveiled the conflicts to show some of the structural issues with contemporary labor organizing, it just gets a little irritating.
In the middle of reading this book, I even emailed the author to see if she would start an organizing institute similar to Obama‘s 2018 organizer training institute — I want to learn the power of my being, communications, and other skills that make McAlevey described in this book from her directly.
I would recommend this book to anyone who needs something Bright, exciting, and motivating in this political climate. I would also recommend to anyone who is curious/doesn’t know anything about unions or the labor movement in the United States since the author weaves crucial history into the book. lastly I would recommend anyone who is struggling to figure out what democracy looks like in practice, outside of the political/electoral sphere.
The annoying part of the book is that the author dwells on petty cheese mi The annoying part of the book is that the author dwells on some interpersonal conflict she had that after reading so many of them come across as very petty. I recognize that she unveiled the conflicts to show some of the structural issues with contemporary labor organizing, it just gets a little irritating.
October 1, 2024
This is a great book to read to understand internal organizing within a Union. The power of solidarity and a little on negotiating contracts.
The power struggles of Union leaders and how that can hurt a union and so much more.
If you are in a Union or any type of labor movement, this is hands down a must read.
Don’t quit organize!
The power struggles of Union leaders and how that can hurt a union and so much more.
If you are in a Union or any type of labor movement, this is hands down a must read.
Don’t quit organize!
March 26, 2013
It's hard to feel completely comfortable with a tell-all. It is hard to distinguish the pursuit of score-settling from honest critiques and assessments and since a large portion of this book is designed to illuminate worker successes in the labor movement - and how they are still possible in this day and age, the negativity about many well-known union players makes it feel all that more futile.
That being said, as a former SEIU organizer myself, I agree with many of her points and her arguments are compelling to an insider - from the need for more militancy and openness to strike to the sad churn of talented organizers who get turned off or directed away by the petty politics and egos in these locals. I would recommend this for all young people exploring working in the movement, though be prepared obviously for a bit more movement-veneer to be tarnished - it shows some ways forwards within a regressive system, yet is a reminder that this is a fight that never ends in victory...or in defeat, but perpetual struggle.
That being said, as a former SEIU organizer myself, I agree with many of her points and her arguments are compelling to an insider - from the need for more militancy and openness to strike to the sad churn of talented organizers who get turned off or directed away by the petty politics and egos in these locals. I would recommend this for all young people exploring working in the movement, though be prepared obviously for a bit more movement-veneer to be tarnished - it shows some ways forwards within a regressive system, yet is a reminder that this is a fight that never ends in victory...or in defeat, but perpetual struggle.
January 7, 2013
After Michigan went “Right to Work” I realized I knew precious little about labor unions. All I’ve had to go on was my parents, grandparents and now in laws telling me that unions are absolutely essential while countless others told me about their waste and irrelevance. This well written account of a former SEIU organizer, predominately about her support of nurses in right to work Nevada, opened my eyes about why unions are still needed (on the shop floor and in the community) and where they can so easily go wrong (locally and nationally). Predominately personal accounts of real activities with a little history/legal mixed in, I found it entertaining as well as informative.
June 13, 2024
I came to this book pretty skeptical of McAlevey but very curious based on success stories I have heard of. I put the book down very impressed with her basic approach, even if I would quibble with certain political choices she made in given situations.
It should also be added: this book is riveting! I was constantly smiling, laughing, and sometimes shedding a tear at the storytelling and eccentric characters. Many of the emotional highs and lows were familiar to me from my own organizing experiences, but the way she embeds those in a narrative of an ambitious strategic battle rich with organizing lessons was brilliant.
McAlevey presents the development of her organizing approach through a series of case studies, primarily among several hospitals in Las Vegas, while chronicling her beefs with the top brass of the SEIU on the side. The latter squabbles are mainly illustrative of the sorry state of the US labor movement, in the early 2000s as now. But in the narrative, McAlevey’s whole-worker organizing approach comes to life through a series of methods and priorities that, if consistently applied by talented organizers, result in powerful, densely-organized unions with a sense of purpose. McAlevey’s techniques are, of course, inseparable from a larger strategy, which aim to revivify the labor movement through a CIO-style social-movement unionism.
The militant unions McAlevey and the rank and file nurses built in Nevada were quite successful before coming crashing down, victims of turf wars between the SEIU, the NNU, and the NUHW. McAlevey blamed herself in part:
She is referring to the need to consolidate power within the union, which could take many forms, but the same lessons could be applied to the need for “organization-building” amongst the communities and networks so crucial to the militant social-movement-unionism approach.
It should also be added: this book is riveting! I was constantly smiling, laughing, and sometimes shedding a tear at the storytelling and eccentric characters. Many of the emotional highs and lows were familiar to me from my own organizing experiences, but the way she embeds those in a narrative of an ambitious strategic battle rich with organizing lessons was brilliant.
McAlevey presents the development of her organizing approach through a series of case studies, primarily among several hospitals in Las Vegas, while chronicling her beefs with the top brass of the SEIU on the side. The latter squabbles are mainly illustrative of the sorry state of the US labor movement, in the early 2000s as now. But in the narrative, McAlevey’s whole-worker organizing approach comes to life through a series of methods and priorities that, if consistently applied by talented organizers, result in powerful, densely-organized unions with a sense of purpose. McAlevey’s techniques are, of course, inseparable from a larger strategy, which aim to revivify the labor movement through a CIO-style social-movement unionism.
The militant unions McAlevey and the rank and file nurses built in Nevada were quite successful before coming crashing down, victims of turf wars between the SEIU, the NNU, and the NUHW. McAlevey blamed herself in part:
In the final analysis, I think my single-minded focus on organizing, to the detriment of organization-building, was wrong. (…) In many ways this has served me well. But when I took this to the point of believing that fighting the boss is “real” union work, and consolidating the power of the most militant and democratically minded workers within the union is not, I made a costly error. And that’s an understatement.
She is referring to the need to consolidate power within the union, which could take many forms, but the same lessons could be applied to the need for “organization-building” amongst the communities and networks so crucial to the militant social-movement-unionism approach.
May 3, 2022
Uniquely inspiring and uniquely depressing lol
August 23, 2015
Over the last few decades Australian unions, when they’ve thought about organising, have been strongly influenced by the American Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Many an official and organiser have been flown to the US to participate in industry wide campaigns on organising and growth, to return notionally with reports and recommendations about how it ought to be done. So it is bracing to read an account of the SEIU in which the heroic innovators: Andy Stern, Tom Woodruff, Anna Burger, and Mary Kay Henry, are the villains. For that’s what former SEIU Nevada leader Jane McAlevey accuses them of being in her angry and egotistical book ‘Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell)’. Far from being interested in organising, McAlevey attacks these leaders for being narrow minded and self-interested - ignoring the possibilities for organising work-power in preference for merely growing union membership rolls as a means of gaining influence in Washington DC. McAlevey offers her own experience of rebuilding SEIU locals in the casinos and the hospitals of Las Vegas as a genuine effort to empower ordinary union members - only to be crushed by the SEIU national leadership.
As is the way of these intra-union disputes, McAlevey has been accused of the same things of which she accuses others - notably by former organiser and labor journalist Steve Early. Certainly among the incidents McAlevey describes there is a clear case of her as a union staffer trying to overthrow rank and file elected officials. However, whatever the rights and wrongs of the internecine warfare she describes, it is hard to fault her overall bleak diagnosis of the US labor movement: besieged by hostile laws and a viscous ‘union-busting’ corporate culture, while being undermined by internal craft/industry, and national/local divisions.
At its best, this book gives a tremendous sense of what it is like to be inside a fast moving industrial campaign - with the race between organising and contract deadlines, spiced with the excitement of workers, often for the first time, realising that they can stand up for their own interests and win. At its worst, McAlevey trips over her own ego as she uses every action she takes, including the dubious ones, to justify her own awesomeness and centrality to every important action.
For unionists, the take-home lesson from this book is in a moment of self-reflection on McAlevey’s part as she contemplates (what she says is) the ruin of her work in Nevada
‘In the final analysis, I think my single-minded focus on organizing, to the detriment of organization-building, was wrong.’
The tension between organising and organisation is both creative and destructive for unions. Creative, in that organised worker power needs to be sustained over time for gains to be protected and built upon - hence the need for organisation. Destructive, because as your organisation becomes sufficiently large and complex - fractures between interests will appear which undermine both the organising and the organisation particularly as external circumstances change. There’s not really an answer in this book, except perhaps in the title ‘Raising Expectations’. Workers should expect more from their unions, and from their working lives. Without that nothing else happens.
As is the way of these intra-union disputes, McAlevey has been accused of the same things of which she accuses others - notably by former organiser and labor journalist Steve Early. Certainly among the incidents McAlevey describes there is a clear case of her as a union staffer trying to overthrow rank and file elected officials. However, whatever the rights and wrongs of the internecine warfare she describes, it is hard to fault her overall bleak diagnosis of the US labor movement: besieged by hostile laws and a viscous ‘union-busting’ corporate culture, while being undermined by internal craft/industry, and national/local divisions.
At its best, this book gives a tremendous sense of what it is like to be inside a fast moving industrial campaign - with the race between organising and contract deadlines, spiced with the excitement of workers, often for the first time, realising that they can stand up for their own interests and win. At its worst, McAlevey trips over her own ego as she uses every action she takes, including the dubious ones, to justify her own awesomeness and centrality to every important action.
For unionists, the take-home lesson from this book is in a moment of self-reflection on McAlevey’s part as she contemplates (what she says is) the ruin of her work in Nevada
‘In the final analysis, I think my single-minded focus on organizing, to the detriment of organization-building, was wrong.’
The tension between organising and organisation is both creative and destructive for unions. Creative, in that organised worker power needs to be sustained over time for gains to be protected and built upon - hence the need for organisation. Destructive, because as your organisation becomes sufficiently large and complex - fractures between interests will appear which undermine both the organising and the organisation particularly as external circumstances change. There’s not really an answer in this book, except perhaps in the title ‘Raising Expectations’. Workers should expect more from their unions, and from their working lives. Without that nothing else happens.
April 21, 2017
There are a couple different things going on in this book.
First, it's an on the ground story of community based labor organizing, why it works, is more just and can achieve better outcomes. It also covers hierarchical, entrenched labor unions and problems with their current strategies. That's interesting and the community approach to organizing is heartening.
Another aspect is the author's personal history, narrative and experience in organized labor. Which helps bind the narrative together. That's ok too, if a bit name-dropy and self congratulatory at times.
Lastly, there is just a ton of rather direct, bitter, personal attacks and score settling that are not particularly discreet. It feels slightly awkward to read the author directly naming people and making both professional and semi-personal character attacks. For large union leaders who are semi-public figures making power plays against each other it's sort of understandable given the context. It's less so when the author mentions employees they had who were not terrible, just unsatisfactory, by first-name. Overall, the style, presence and treatment of this stuff in the book just left a bad taste.
The author also generally glosses over their own mistakes while decrying and seriously railing against those of others.
For what it's worth, I'd love to see a more humble and mature version of this book.
First, it's an on the ground story of community based labor organizing, why it works, is more just and can achieve better outcomes. It also covers hierarchical, entrenched labor unions and problems with their current strategies. That's interesting and the community approach to organizing is heartening.
Another aspect is the author's personal history, narrative and experience in organized labor. Which helps bind the narrative together. That's ok too, if a bit name-dropy and self congratulatory at times.
Lastly, there is just a ton of rather direct, bitter, personal attacks and score settling that are not particularly discreet. It feels slightly awkward to read the author directly naming people and making both professional and semi-personal character attacks. For large union leaders who are semi-public figures making power plays against each other it's sort of understandable given the context. It's less so when the author mentions employees they had who were not terrible, just unsatisfactory, by first-name. Overall, the style, presence and treatment of this stuff in the book just left a bad taste.
The author also generally glosses over their own mistakes while decrying and seriously railing against those of others.
For what it's worth, I'd love to see a more humble and mature version of this book.
April 10, 2025
there were plenty of parts in this book that made me emotional (in a good way, its powerful hearing stories of workers trying so hard and succeeding to create their own power in a truly democratic way), and then the last part of the book made me really sad. i wish things werent so petty and power grabby and that the state of american labor wasnt so shity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2020
This book was incredible and inspiring. First of all, it read like a suspenseful thriller while showing the effectiveness of building power through whole-worker organizing and worker-led, democratic processes in a labour organization. This is the third book I have read by Jane this year and is my favourite one (though the others do not fall short). Thank you Jane.
September 22, 2022
Great history of unionism and working class politics in the US. Also a valuable lesson in building power to win. Felt a little defeatist at the end.
February 16, 2019
I am working on a project about unions (keeping it close to vest because it's a good idea), and I've been searching for contemporary books about the organizing experience. If you want to learn about union organizing, this is a great starting point.
McAlevey delivers exactly what she promises in "Raising Expectations," walking the reader through her journey from wide-eyed radical doing volunteer work in Central America to becoming one of the most influential figures in Nevada union life to leaving the union world disgusted by the politicization of the organizing process. Her no-nonsense, no-bullshit attitude shines through on the page, and both in terms of tactics and entertainment, this is a useful and fun book.
The meat of the book details McAlevey's experience organizing nurses in Las Vegas. This is especially interesting in our current moment because nurses' unions have seen renewed political power and Las Vegas has become a de facto hub for union resurgence thanks to the Culinary Union. McAlevey had a first-hand view of what brought us to this resurgent moment in labor, and offers her unvarnished perspective, warts and all.
McAlevey is not a writer first: she is an organizer, an agitator, a radical. Though you can't help but appreciate the passion she brings to the page, her prose style can sometimes read as scattered, manic, and unfocused. At other times, she gets bogged down in the internecine struggles and procedural minutiae of union organizing. If you work for a union, this stuff might be a page-turner, but for rank and file civilians like myself, it can get a little bogged down.
Of course, if you want the real perspective of a union organizer, it is rare that such a person will also be a perfect prose stylist. It's hard to imagine a better version of this book with its unflinching access, dauntless confidence, and inspiring dedication to building worker power. The writerly shortcomings are almost charming and what really matters is the skill, experience, and passion behind the words.
McAlevey delivers exactly what she promises in "Raising Expectations," walking the reader through her journey from wide-eyed radical doing volunteer work in Central America to becoming one of the most influential figures in Nevada union life to leaving the union world disgusted by the politicization of the organizing process. Her no-nonsense, no-bullshit attitude shines through on the page, and both in terms of tactics and entertainment, this is a useful and fun book.
The meat of the book details McAlevey's experience organizing nurses in Las Vegas. This is especially interesting in our current moment because nurses' unions have seen renewed political power and Las Vegas has become a de facto hub for union resurgence thanks to the Culinary Union. McAlevey had a first-hand view of what brought us to this resurgent moment in labor, and offers her unvarnished perspective, warts and all.
McAlevey is not a writer first: she is an organizer, an agitator, a radical. Though you can't help but appreciate the passion she brings to the page, her prose style can sometimes read as scattered, manic, and unfocused. At other times, she gets bogged down in the internecine struggles and procedural minutiae of union organizing. If you work for a union, this stuff might be a page-turner, but for rank and file civilians like myself, it can get a little bogged down.
Of course, if you want the real perspective of a union organizer, it is rare that such a person will also be a perfect prose stylist. It's hard to imagine a better version of this book with its unflinching access, dauntless confidence, and inspiring dedication to building worker power. The writerly shortcomings are almost charming and what really matters is the skill, experience, and passion behind the words.
January 10, 2020
As someone new to organizing who has only organized in a few spaces, I really appreciated two things from this book:
1) Each chapter is the story of a big, high-stakes struggle in union organizing (and McAlevey, the author has so many stories!), but she breaks it down into her strategy and the tactics, often to the level of detail of "at the first meeting we had to figure out what were all the relationships that each worker had in the town" and "the boss sent email A and we immediately printed fliers of it and passed them out to every worker." I am looking forward to using some of the tactics she uses in my organizing work.
2) The over-arching story is about a philosophy of organizing, where the goal is to empower individual workers to participate, to be invested, to realize their own collective power -- instead of being protected by leaders or being spectators. The story in each chapter gives an example of how she helped workers take power, and usually, how they were able to win even more than they expected. But also throughout, her grassroots philosophy of organizing is at odds with that of some of her peers in union leadership, who believe that e.g., the greatest power of unions is in leadership endorsing politicians who will act on behalf of workers. McAlevey's philosophy is what I agree with more, and what I want to happen, so she is serving as a role model for how to fight for it.
1) Each chapter is the story of a big, high-stakes struggle in union organizing (and McAlevey, the author has so many stories!), but she breaks it down into her strategy and the tactics, often to the level of detail of "at the first meeting we had to figure out what were all the relationships that each worker had in the town" and "the boss sent email A and we immediately printed fliers of it and passed them out to every worker." I am looking forward to using some of the tactics she uses in my organizing work.
2) The over-arching story is about a philosophy of organizing, where the goal is to empower individual workers to participate, to be invested, to realize their own collective power -- instead of being protected by leaders or being spectators. The story in each chapter gives an example of how she helped workers take power, and usually, how they were able to win even more than they expected. But also throughout, her grassroots philosophy of organizing is at odds with that of some of her peers in union leadership, who believe that e.g., the greatest power of unions is in leadership endorsing politicians who will act on behalf of workers. McAlevey's philosophy is what I agree with more, and what I want to happen, so she is serving as a role model for how to fight for it.
September 9, 2024
F. McAlevey has a very engaging writing style although in an, what I view as, American communication style. The many personal conflicts and attacks on specific persons don't really contribute to the reading for me. But besides that the very personal writing style is easy to read and I had many insights in organising and the American labour movement.
I enjoyed combining it with some critical reviews like: https://monthlyreview.org/2013/05/01/...
I enjoyed combining it with some critical reviews like: https://monthlyreview.org/2013/05/01/...
November 17, 2017
This is a shit book written by a someone with a giant ego who was never rank-and-file labor and who got busted for illegally interfering with union elections.
Read this much more in-depth critique: https://monthlyreview.org/2013/05/01/...
Read this much more in-depth critique: https://monthlyreview.org/2013/05/01/...
February 7, 2018
Wow, what an amazing book! So glad I finally picked it up. Riveting narrative, so many gems about organizing, strategy, and power - and I feel like I understand the unique pieces of labor organizing more than before I read the book too. HIGHLY recommend.
October 24, 2024
Read for work after attending training with Jane, just before she died.
Includes some excellent war stories (of both internal and boss-facing fights) and inspiration.
Includes some excellent war stories (of both internal and boss-facing fights) and inspiration.
March 6, 2018
It is hard to know where to start this review. Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell): My Decade Fighting for the Labor Movement, by Jane McAlevey, is an absolute organising weapon. It's hopeful. It brings us back to what unions once were, what they could be and what they can be again, and there isn't much rocket science to it.
Unions today will have us believe that the day of the strike is over, that workers are too apathetic to fight, the world and industry has moved on from militant unionism, and other such charges. Bosses and their associations all but echo the same arguments. And yet, in the middle of the 2000s, in the right-to-work state of Nevada with a corrupt local union, McAlevey's organising strategies and principles turned this local into one of the toughest and most successful in the country. Who were these fearless union activists? Nurses. Technicians. Ancillary hospital staff. Women-dominated, and with no history of fighting the multinational healthcare corporations. They won, time after time with methods that by and large are not of McAlevey's creation, but they are uniquely McAlevey's in a sea of unions entirely incapable of organising workers — if they want to in the first place.
McAlevey trusts workers. In fact, she knows and makes it known that workers will win when they are united, and when they fight, and they and only they can make that happen. When they are intricately involved in bargaining and drawing up a log of claims, when they are driving what they want to see in new contracts, when they tell the bosses, one after the other, what they feel like they deserve and why, that is a fire that has long been extinguished elsewhere in the union movement.
McAlevey work with the Nevada nurses and healthcare workers shows us that neither service model nor 'organising' model unionism is what the union movement needs: it's the whole worker organising model. Workers becoming leaders, workers themselves organising, being proactive and taking ownership over their union campaigns and workplace fights, these are the things can go some way to turning the labour movement around.
And yet, McAlevey was eventually shafted from the union and the labour movement. Rusted on union bosses don't care about labour for labour's sake, and they will use their members as bargaining chips in whatever political games they want to play. The power of union, exemplified in this book, is undeniable. It has stood the test of time, election cycles, changing Industrial Relations laws and shifting industries, ever present as a solution to the helplessness so many workers are stuck in today. The question is this: how do we broaden what McAlevey succeeded in doing in Nevada, across the entirety of the working class? How do we build our strength deep and wide within the working class? Looking at the great upsurges in union history, one would be hard-pressed to not find a radical buried deep within those struggles, at the heart of the fight. If we want a return to rock-solid unionism, to throw out Hedderman-style, corrupt leaders and fight our fights as workers in union, we need the politics which puts workers at the centre of social change, of everything that moves against the grain, away from the trajectory of unchecked capitalism. Those politics of workers putting workers first, being of themselves and for themselves, are the politics that believe another world is possible, and want to fight tirelessly to make that happen. These are the politics of revolutionary socialism.
Unions today will have us believe that the day of the strike is over, that workers are too apathetic to fight, the world and industry has moved on from militant unionism, and other such charges. Bosses and their associations all but echo the same arguments. And yet, in the middle of the 2000s, in the right-to-work state of Nevada with a corrupt local union, McAlevey's organising strategies and principles turned this local into one of the toughest and most successful in the country. Who were these fearless union activists? Nurses. Technicians. Ancillary hospital staff. Women-dominated, and with no history of fighting the multinational healthcare corporations. They won, time after time with methods that by and large are not of McAlevey's creation, but they are uniquely McAlevey's in a sea of unions entirely incapable of organising workers — if they want to in the first place.
McAlevey trusts workers. In fact, she knows and makes it known that workers will win when they are united, and when they fight, and they and only they can make that happen. When they are intricately involved in bargaining and drawing up a log of claims, when they are driving what they want to see in new contracts, when they tell the bosses, one after the other, what they feel like they deserve and why, that is a fire that has long been extinguished elsewhere in the union movement.
McAlevey work with the Nevada nurses and healthcare workers shows us that neither service model nor 'organising' model unionism is what the union movement needs: it's the whole worker organising model. Workers becoming leaders, workers themselves organising, being proactive and taking ownership over their union campaigns and workplace fights, these are the things can go some way to turning the labour movement around.
And yet, McAlevey was eventually shafted from the union and the labour movement. Rusted on union bosses don't care about labour for labour's sake, and they will use their members as bargaining chips in whatever political games they want to play. The power of union, exemplified in this book, is undeniable. It has stood the test of time, election cycles, changing Industrial Relations laws and shifting industries, ever present as a solution to the helplessness so many workers are stuck in today. The question is this: how do we broaden what McAlevey succeeded in doing in Nevada, across the entirety of the working class? How do we build our strength deep and wide within the working class? Looking at the great upsurges in union history, one would be hard-pressed to not find a radical buried deep within those struggles, at the heart of the fight. If we want a return to rock-solid unionism, to throw out Hedderman-style, corrupt leaders and fight our fights as workers in union, we need the politics which puts workers at the centre of social change, of everything that moves against the grain, away from the trajectory of unchecked capitalism. Those politics of workers putting workers first, being of themselves and for themselves, are the politics that believe another world is possible, and want to fight tirelessly to make that happen. These are the politics of revolutionary socialism.
October 7, 2024
What will jobs look like in the future? What roles will AI displace? What industries will emerge? What roles will remain for us outnumbered humans? Makes sense things are brewing in labor. You’ve probably heard about Chris Smalls and a group of Amazon workers on Staten Island forming the first Amazon Workers Union (which, two years later, the company is still fighting). Or news that after many staunchly anti-union years, Starbucks may be willing to negotiate with representatives of its 400+ unionized stores. There’s a bill on California governor Gavin Newsom’s desk this month seeking to ban employer-led anti-union meetings at work. Yet despite the bubbling: There is a record low percentage of American workers in a union today. Why? Are unions becoming ineffective? Have gig roles and freelance jobs taken over? Are turnover rates too high to organize? Have laws tilted from pro-labor to pro-corporation? There were a lot of lines about unions at the Democratic National Convention: “As President, I will bring together labor and workers…” said Kamala Harris. “We need to pass the PRO Act so that workers can organize a union and gain the decent pay and benefits they deserve,” said Bernie Sanders. This fiery, spirited, slightly disorganized 2012 book by recently deceased union organizer and Berkeley policy fellow Jane McAlevey offers an insider’s from-the-ground view of the passion, resolve, and fight necessary to organize workers in a system largely oriented to disorganize them. The book opens with a gripping tale of Florida during the butterfly ballot Bush v. Gore election crisis then veers into dramatic fighting, and infighting, over the years. There is a militant pulse in the book and also messiness, ugly politics, and sadness. A good peek into an issue gaining momentum as disparities widen around the world.
August 5, 2020
Maybe more like 3.5. I wish more of the book was as constructive as the afterward chapter. But this book is genuinely very motivating between all the personal feuds inserted into it. Some of these feuds were super valid, some felt unnecessary to include. That’s besides the point though; this book is a powerful argument for the potential of effectively fighting capital through effective organizing that puts workers at the forefront of these efforts. Empowering workers to use their collective power is the best way to ensure a better quality of life for the workers and for those who benefit from their labor (more so nurses to patients as is outlined here, rather than the bosses. Tho McCalevey argues that a strong union can be beneficial to to a business insomuch as the workers will provide better labor.)
I haven’t read enough about unions, don’t really know exactly what state they’re in nowadays other than generally bad. If McCalevey is to be believed, and I’m inclined to believe her, it’s a pretty sorry state that doesn’t put workers first.
I think folks should read this if they’re interested in learning more about labor organizing and the like. It’s got a pretty conversational tone that guides you nicely through the more complex pieces of info. It definitely got me pretty jazzed about the topic of organized labor and worker’s rights.
I haven’t read enough about unions, don’t really know exactly what state they’re in nowadays other than generally bad. If McCalevey is to be believed, and I’m inclined to believe her, it’s a pretty sorry state that doesn’t put workers first.
I think folks should read this if they’re interested in learning more about labor organizing and the like. It’s got a pretty conversational tone that guides you nicely through the more complex pieces of info. It definitely got me pretty jazzed about the topic of organized labor and worker’s rights.
August 2, 2021
Having gotten into political organizing recently, I was excited to read Jane's account of her experience in labor organizing. At times she felt like an unreliable or judgmental narrator, but I think that's somewhat expected with any first-hand account. Still, I appreciated all the history of the labor movement that she included because it's admittedly not something I'm very familiar with. There were so many parallels and applicable lessons between the work Jane did and what I feel needs to happen in order to make real change through politics and electoral organizing. I came away wishing there were more answers to some of the challenges to deep organizing that Jane mentions (especially in the epilogue), and am interested in reading some of her later works like No Shortcuts to hopefully get more insight!
October 16, 2021
absolutely fabulous; the most gripping and exhilarating non-fiction work i have ever read, with loads of practical pointers. mcalevey is an incredible writer. the work shows yet again that radical change begins at the hyperlocal.
the biggest issue i have is that mcalevey's horizon (clearly spelled out in the 2014 epilogue) is for workers to build enough power to earn 'a seat at the table' - instead of, like, you know, destroying the table in the first place, because electoral politics are not the basket where one should put one's eggs. another thing is mcalevey's suggestion that cop unions are part of the labor movement; they are not, never have been, and never will be.
the biggest issue i have is that mcalevey's horizon (clearly spelled out in the 2014 epilogue) is for workers to build enough power to earn 'a seat at the table' - instead of, like, you know, destroying the table in the first place, because electoral politics are not the basket where one should put one's eggs. another thing is mcalevey's suggestion that cop unions are part of the labor movement; they are not, never have been, and never will be.
January 2, 2025
I appreciate the learning in this book - it has a ton of info about internal labor structures and gets into the strategy of true democratic processes at locals, and what that can do for worker leadership and sustainability. Jane McAlevey also gets into the turf wars that holds back unions (and other public institutions). Her belief in workers is a through line in this book; it’s wild what they were able to accomplish in Nevada and wild what was so quickly destroyed. Rest in power Jane McAlevey and thank you for the fire and light you gave us.
January 17, 2021
Jane provided me with the language, history and framework to understand my jumbled mix of joy, pain, frustration and disappointment that was my three years in union organizing in Canada. Her stories are funny and charming but at their core always about her vision of worker-centred labour organizing. The book would have benefitted from a good editor and I did get lost in all the names and acronyms at times.
February 6, 2023
Beyond a compelling memoir, this is a handbook about how to fight like hell in the labor movement — how to navigate bosses, union busting thugs, union infighting (this is something that should be talked about much more openly), and the general societal messaging to shut and do your job no matter how shitty it is. McAlevey is so practical in how to analyze power to get what you want that she makes the rest of us (well at the very least me) look like fools. She don't miss.
June 11, 2025
Read for school - employee and labor relations. I learned a great deal from this book about unions and the labor movement and the politics of community organizing. The author highlights some significant and encouraging successes and some sad moments as well. A good read for anyone interested in the power of organizing people, the importance of labor unions on workers lives and having to navigate political work as a headstrong and smart af woman.
January 5, 2020
I've never read a book about labor/community organizing OR unions and it was really fascinating! Lots of battle stories from the author's pov, lots of history + context about various labor unions, and overall and interesting read!
March 5, 2022
Jane presents her experiences in the Nevada SEIU as a case study of her approach to labor organizing "whole worker organizing". It's very interesting and clearly deeply personal. It's as much a manual as a narrative and deserves a read.
November 2, 2017
This is a very compelling & interesting read. Inspired!
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