Right: Young doffers in Mollahan Mills, Newberry, S.C., early 1900’s; a public domain photo by Lewis Hine Denise Morris hosts this episode of the Old Mole, which includes a re-broadcast from Against the Grain:
In the Southern Key, Michael Goldfield draws on more than three decades of scholarship, both his own and that of many others, to elucidate a deceptively straightforward point: The failure of the American labor movement to organize sustainable interracial unions in the South in the 20th century had long-term deleterious effects on the American labor movement and political economy, many of which remain with us today.
Postmortem on Bessemer Amazon Defeat
First, we must recognize that the overwhelming vote against the union in Bessemer marks a decisive defeat, not to be under estimated. It will undoubtedly have a dampening effect on other workers, especially given its broad media attention, and the high expectations of many.
Yet, before dissecting what happened there, we need to recognize that this is a difficult period to organize for unions.
There is the pandemic and widespread unemployment, with the recognition that there are many other workers who are potential replacements. Threats by big companies, especially Amazon that they might just move a facility if it were unionized are widespread and credible. Unlike coal mines or ports, which are fixed in place, logistics facilities can indeed move. The vicious overwhelming nature of the anti-union campaign by management, has been well-documented (see, e.g., Alex Press’ recent article in