Books

Rebuilding Power in Open-Shop America: A Labor Notes Guide

"Right-to-work" laws and the Supreme Court's Janus decision don't have to mean game-over for unions.

For this special expanded issue of Labor Notes (July 2018) we talked to workers who are building powerful unions despite a mandatory open shop—in schools, factories, buses, hospitals, oil refineries, grocery stores, post offices, and shipyards across the U.S.

This guide reveals the principles and practical steps behind their successes. Packed with info, exercises, and tips, it's a great tool to share with union stewards, executive board members, or rank-and-file activists.

Order 25 copies ($50), 50 copies ($100) or 100 copies ($200). Prices include shipping to any U.S. address. Contact us for international shipping rates.

$200.00

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See Inside! 

Take a peek at our prescription.

Read about the racist history of "right to work" and the anti-union game plan.

Browse the full guide and download the PDF here.

Come to a Training 

Labor Notes offers workshops based on Rebuilding Power in Open-Shop America.

Check out events coming to your area, or contact us to plan a training for your local.

Try the Exercises 

What will it take to make your union bulletproof?

Try the “open-shop stress test” to start a conversation in your next steward meeting.

Take the quiz to assess the threat level for your own union.

Publisher: 
Labor Notes

The FMLA Handbook

The FMLA Handbook, by union attorney Robert M. Schwartz, explains the rights of employees under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), including:

- The right to be absent for up to sixty days each year if you are unable to work because of a serious health condition.

- The right to be absent to care for a family member such as a parent with a stroke, a husband who suffers a nervous breakdown, or a child who is too ill to go to school.

- The right to take twelve weeks leave for child birth, adoption, or in order to care for a child under one year of age.

This book is highly readable, illustrated with numerous examples, questions and answers, sample letters, union pointers, and legal citations. It provides practical explanations of U.S. Department of Labor regulations, and contains special chapters on grievance handling and contract bargaining.

Bulk discounts available:
Want to read with your co-workers, organizing committee, caucus, or steward council? Save when you buy twenty-five or more copies! See our bulk discount rates here.

$20.00

Go Further

Buy in Bulk 

Buying for your whole study group or steward conference? Bulk discounts are applied automatically when you add the books to your shopping cart:

25-49 copies = 10 percent off
50-99 copies = 15 percent off
100-249 copies = 20 percent off
250+ copies = 25 percent off

Publisher: 
Work Rights Press

How to Win Past Practice Grievances

This book explains the powerful labor relations principle of past practice.

It assists union representatives in identifying past practice violations, investigating grievances, making presentations, evaluating whether to file for arbitration, and filing labor board charges.

It answers dozens of critical questions, including: What are the five requirements necessary to establish a past practice? Must a practice exist throughout the workplace? Must a past practice be jointly established? and Is a new owner required to respect a past practice?

Bulk discounts available:
Want to read with your co-workers, organizing committee, caucus, or steward council? Save when you buy twenty-five or more copies! See our bulk discount rates here.

$13.00

Go Further

Buy in Bulk 

Buying for your whole study group or steward conference? Bulk discounts are applied automatically when you add the books to your shopping cart:

25-49 copies = 10 percent off
50-99 copies = 15 percent off
100-249 copies = 20 percent off
250+ copies = 25 percent off

Publisher: 
Work Rights Press

Secretos de un organizador exitoso

Our popular book Secrets of a Successful Organizer, is now available in Spanish! (For the English version of the book, click here.)

Nuestro manual popular, Secretos de un organizador exitoso, ya está disponible en español.

¿Hay problemas en su lugar de trabajo? A lo mejor la paga es muy baja, las condiciones son inseguras o su jefe tiene a alguien con quien usted trabaja en la mira… y usted está listo para hacer algo al respecto.

Este libro le mostrará cómo luchar en su lugar de trabajo y ganar. Aprenderá a identificar los asuntos clave en su lugar de trabajo, construir campañas para abordarlos, anticipar los trucos y trampas de la gerencia e inspirar a sus compañeros y compañeras de trabajo para luchar juntos a pesar de sus miedos. Este es un manual que lo guiará paso a paso para construir su poder en el trabajo.

$15.00

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See Inside! 

Capítulos de Muestra:Secreto #2: La apatía no es real; Secreto #3: Apunte para dar en el blanco; Secreto #5: No trate de ser un héroe; Secreto #11: La gente se mueve poco a poco

Download Free Handouts 

Haga fotocopias de lo que le guste. Para su conveniencia, tenemos una selección de materiales que están disponibles para descargarse gratuitamente en formato tamaño carta, el cual es fácil de imprimir y compartir.

Buy in Bulk 

Hay grandes descuentos si quiere comprar copias de Secretos por volumen:

  • 5-10 copias = 10 por ciento de descuento
  • 11-50 copias = 25 por ciento de descuento
  • 51 copias y mas = 40 por ciento de descuento
Publisher: 
Labor Notes

No Contract, No Peace

Don't let your boss be the only one who's informed on your rights as a union member to organize a strike, picket, or action. Robert Schwartz's latest book, a revised third edition of No Contract, No Peace: A Legal Guide to Contract Campaigns, Strikes, and Lockouts, walks union members and leaders through their rights to speak out. An easy-to-read resource and a powerful tool for any union mobilizing its ranks, this book will help you organize your next contract campaign, work grievance action, or picket.

No Contract, No Peace vividly explains the crush of rules regulating economic warfare in the U.S. It is filled with examples, pointers, picketing instructions, sample letters, and answers to common questions. Schwartz provides valuable guidance on working without a contract, mobilizing members, ambulatory picketing, residential picketing, targeting outside businesses, dealing with scabs, unemployment benefits, unfair-labor-practice strikes, offers to return, lockouts, and other related topics. This book is a must for every union officer, steward, and activist!

Some of the many questions answered in No Contract, No Peace: A Legal Guide to Contract Campaigns, Strikes, and Lockouts: Why is working without a contract and conducting an inside campaign a promising alternative to a strike? In comparison with a strike, what are the four advantages of a lockout? How can failing to send a one-sentence notice to an obscure state agency make a strike illegal? Is being arrested for civil disobedience grounds for termination?

Bulk discounts available:
Want to read with your co-workers, organizing committee, caucus, or steward council? Save when you buy twenty-five or more copies! See our bulk discount rates here.

$20.00

Go Further

Buy in Bulk 

Buying for your whole study group or steward conference? Bulk discounts are applied automatically when you add the books to your shopping cart:

25-49 copies = 10 percent off
50-99 copies = 15 percent off
100-249 copies = 20 percent off
250+ copies = 25 percent off

Publisher: 
Work Rights Press

Running For Local Union Office

Do you think your union needs a new direction? Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work?

Then this book, written by Teamsters for a Democratic Union, is for you. You'll learn how to develop a winning campaign timeline; how to build a slate; the ins and outs of raising money and campaigning; and how to ensure a clean election.

This comprehensive guide includes advice on: Campaign timelines; Picking your slate; Campaigning do's and don'ts; Leaflets, mailings, websites, and more; Raising money; Getting a clean election; Getting out the vote; Dealing with negative attacks;

$20.00
Publisher: 
Other

Democracy Is Power

Do you want to know how to run your local union more effectively or how to get more members involved? Democracy Is Power, by Mike Parker and Martha Gruelle, provides a blueprint for building a member-driven union. They demonstrate what member control really looks like, and why it is crucial to labor's future. With a focus on union activity in the workplace, the authors describe democratic approaches to contracts, grievances, communications, and leaders' relationship with members. They shine a revealing light on democratic union culture, yet also address the more obvious parts of democracy, like elections and bylaws.

Bulk discounts available:
Want to read with your co-workers, organizing committee, caucus, or steward council? Save when you buy five or more copies! See our bulk discount rates here.

$15.00

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See Inside! 

Get a sneak peek inside Democracy is Power. Read Chapter 1.

Come to a Training 

Labor Notes offers workshops based on Democracy is Power. Check out events coming to your area, or contact us to plan a training for your local.

Buy in Bulk 

Buying for your whole study group or steward conference? Bulk discounts are applied automatically when you add the books to your shopping cart:
5-10 copies = 10 percent off
11-50 copies = 25 percent off
51 copies and up = 40 percent off

Publisher: 
Labor Notes

US Labor In Trouble and Transition

Kim Moody's latest contribution, US Labor in Trouble and Transition tells the story of union decline in America and of the split in the labor movement it led to, following the dismal tale of union mergers and management partnerships that accompanied the retreat from militancy since the 1980s.

Looking to the future, Moody shows how the rise of immigrant labor and its efforts at self-organization can re-energize the unions from below.

Kim Moody was a founder of Labor Notes and author of Workers in a Lean World. He has taught at the Cornell Labor Studies program and at Brooklyn College, and is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

$25.00
Publisher: 
Other

The Legal Rights of Union Stewards

Whether you're a new union steward, or simply want to bone up on your legal knowledge for an upcoming campaign, Robert Schwartz's The Legal Rights of Union Stewards is a welcome addition to your library.

This easy to navigate book is a primer on your rights as a steward and walks you through all the basics from the National Labor Relations Act to the grievance process to Weingarten rights.

The following are the kinds of questions The Legal Rights of Union Stewards tackles: When can you call your boss a liar? Can a manager warn you for soliciting grievances? Do Weingarten rights apply when an employer telephones an employee? Can a criminal conviction bar a union member from running for union office? Can a union settle a grievance without the employees' consent? When a company adopts a drug testing policy, does it have to bargain with the union?

The new 7th edition was released in September 2025. Updates include information on challenging unilateral changes, a new law giving rights to pregnant and breastfeeding workers, and more questions and answers on issues confronting stewards.

Bulk discounts available:
Want to read with your co-workers, organizing committee, caucus, or steward council? Save when you buy twenty-five or more copies! See our bulk discount rates here.

NEW: The Legal Rights of Union Stewards is now also available as an audiobook! Narrated by actor Jamie Renell, you can complete your crash course on this classic Robert Schwartz manual, wherever you are, in 2.5 hours. Get your copy for $6.95 on Audible!

$20.00

Go Further

Buy in Bulk 

Buying for your whole study group or steward conference? Bulk discounts are applied automatically when you add the books to your shopping cart:

25-49 copies = 10 percent off
50-99 copies = 15 percent off
100-249 copies = 20 percent off
250+ copies = 25 percent off

Publisher: 
Work Rights Press

Stopping Sexual Harassment

This organizing manual highlights a range of tactics that unions and other workers can use to fight sexual harassment, including training sessions, contract language, job actions -- and more.

Camille Colatosti wrote for Labor Notes from 1989 to 1992. She covered the concerns of women workers as well as public, health care, and other service sector workers.

Elissa Karg, formerly an auto worker, wrote the 1980 edition of Stopping Sexual Harassment.

Save Big When You Buy in Bulk

Interested in buying a Labor Notes book for your whole study group or steward training conference? Big discounts are available:

  • 5-10 copies = 10 percent off
  • 11-50 copies = 25 percent off
  • 51 copies and up = 40 percent off

You can order discounted purchases online. Simply add the number of books you want to your shopping cart and the discount will be applied automatically!

For questions about discounted bulk purchases, call Labor Notes’ Detroit office at 313-842-6262.

Contents include:

  • Defining sexual harassment
  • Sexual harassment and racism
  • Defending yourself
  • Organizing against the boss' harassment
  • Stopping harassment from co-workers
  • Using your union
  • Union women's committees
  • Forming cross-union support groups
  • Women in the building trades
  • Using the law
  • Fighting back in an unorganized workplace
  • Model union training
  • Sample newsletter articles
  • Resources: books, videos, organizations, and more

What others are saying about Stopping Sexual Harassment

"Stopping Sexual Harassment is full of real life examples, the experiences of unionists who have waged the struggle against sexual harassment. The lesson is clear: a union that takes the initiative in attacking the problem stands a much better chance of ending up with a united membership."


— Amy R. Newell, secretary-treasurer, United Electrical Workers

"Camille Colatosti and Elissa Karg have written a book that fills a genuine need. The solutions they suggest are based on organizing and involving the workers. This approach will serve not only to stop sexual harassment, but also to build the union."


— Bob Wages, president, Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers

"Stopping Sexual Harassment explains available avenues in fighting sexual harassment in an unorganized workplace. These include forming support groups, and organizing for stronger legislation."


— Farah Ravanbakhsh, director, Immigrant Worker Resource Center

"This handbook is an important addition to the campaign of the Coalition of Labor Union Women to stop sexual harassment. It should be available in every workplace -- both organized and unorganized."


— Joanie Parker, president, Boston CLUW

"This primer educates and focuses our response on fighting back. Relying on our collective strength, we can humanize the workplace and create an environment where all workers are treated with respect."


— Alice Dale, executive director, Service Employees Local 503

$6.00
Publisher: 
Labor Notes

Pages

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