the surprising history of american labor

When the pandemic first hit a lot of us yearned for a silver lining. We wished that this dark moment in our history could provide us with enough time to reshuffle our priorities. While many of us feel frustrated with the pace of change, the labor movement has been a sharp point of optimism for those of us who believe a better world is possible. From major companies like Starbucks and Amazon successfully unionizing, to smaller businesses nationwide also shaking things up, we’ve seen a fresh revitalization of the labor movement.

Union membership remains at an all-time low, but union popularity is at an all-time high. The labor movement is often erroneously considered the domain of white men when in fact, women and marginalized people have been pivotal throughout history. For instance, did you know that that a female union got the government to investigate its first labor rights violation? In 1834, before white women even had the right to vote, the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association who represented textile workers, nicknamed the “mill girls,” petitioned the Massachusetts State Legislature for a 10-hour work day. Yet, these women were left out of the narrative of both the labor movement and the women’s movement. As Angela Davis writes in Women, Race, and Class, these white working class women “had more than earned the right to be lauded as pioneers of the women’s movement.  But their trailblazing role was all but ignored by the leading initiators of the new movement who did not comprehend that women workers experienced and challenged male supremacy.’’

If you think we need a revised and definitive history of the labor rights movement, you are in luck because Teen Vogue columnist Kim Kelly’s new book “Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor” does just that. Kelly does a remarkable job of highlighting the meaningful and invaluable contributions of those who rarely get credit for their role in shaping history like women, people of color, disabled folks and sex workers. It’s the kind of book you want to put in the hands of every educator and historian to help set the record straight! Kelly agreed to answer a few questions just for our community. I hope you enjoy her answers as much as I did.

Liz Plank: It’s been less than a month since the Amazon Labor Union won a historic victory and voting has already begun this week at a second Amazon warehouse in Staten Island at an a LDJ5 sort center. What is at stake? If workers were to unionize, what would it mean for the future of the labor movement?

Kim Kelly: We probably won’t find out the results for the LDJ5 vote until May 2nd, but if they do win, that will be huge! Winning LDJ5 would not only increase the size and power of the Amazon Labor Union (which will in turn put them in a stronger position when it comes time to bargain a contract with Amazon), but prove that their fellow workers at JFK8’s win wasn’t a fluke—it’s the beginning of a movement, and that workers at any other Amazon facility in the country could be next. 

Liz Plank: When people think of the working class and unions, an image of a white man might come to mind, but your book outlines that the history of the labor union movement in the United States that is much more diverse.  Who do we have to thank for the labor movement we have today?

Kim Kelly: So many of labor’s most important victories and pushes towards progress came thanks to women, Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander workers, queer and trans workers, immigrant workers, disabled workers, sex workers, incarcerated workers, and workers who exist at various intersections of those identities; white men have played an important role too, of course, and continue to do so, but there is an entire world of solidarity and struggle that has played out without (and often in spite of) them.

Liz Plank: People with disabilities have been part of every social movement and yet their role in American history is often erased. Can you tell us about how they redefined labor rights?

Kim Kelly: I was so excited to write about this in the book, both because I wanted to make it explicitly clear that disabled folks have always played a crucial role in labor, and because as a disabled worker and union member, I was hoping to find out more about my people, too, and find some of myself in this history. One of the major tensions there is that, not only have disabled workers had to fight for fair wages and accessible workplaces, there was a time when we weren’t welcome in the workforce at all, and had to fight for the right to be hired in the first place. Whether we’ve been staging protests to demand that federal programs stop discriminating against disabled workers, walking out on wildcat strikes for black lung disability benefits, organizing against the subminimum wage, or occupying federal buildings to force the government to enforce civil rights regulations, disabled workers have always been on the front lines of the class war—and we’re not going anywhere!

Liz Plank: Sex workers have often been shunned or explicitly excluded from being part of the workforce, but how have they been central to the labor union movement?

Kim Kelly: Sex workers have always been such an important part of the fight for workers’ rights in this country, but have been burdened with so many additional layers of repression, violence, and oppression—their jobs criminalized and stigmatized, their status as workers challenged by labor laws that cut them out, their safety threatened by law enforcement and politician. Even with the deck stacked against them (and usually without the support of mainstream organized labor), these workers have been organizing protests, demonstrations, and yes, even labor unions since the early 20th century, building legacies of resistance and advocating for their rights as workers. There really is so much crossover, too; Marsha P. Johnson is a labor icon! It was truly incredible digging into the long history of rebellion and resilience within the sex worker community, and also seeing current efforts play out right now (shout out to the Strippers United members on strike in North Hollywood, whose creative costuming and deft social media mastery has turned their picket line into a site of celebration as well as struggle!). 

Liz Plank: We hear a lot about how the union membership rate has been on the decline, but what makes you hopeful about the future of the labor movement?

Kim Kelly: Labor has certainly been on its back foot for a good long while now—probably longer than I’ve been alive—but we’re seeing such a massive upswing in optimism and enthusiasm around the movement right now, and it’s coming directly from the workers. That is what’s important; that workers around the country, from Amazon and Starbucks to Alabama coal mines and Midwestern bookstores, have started organizing, and are driving this momentum forward directly from the shop floor. They’ve decided that it’s time to stand together against the oligarchs and corporations and bad bosses, and fight like hell for what they deserve. I believe in the workers. And I believe that we will win.