Remembering Union Organizer, Author & Teacher Jane McAlevey

We are deeply saddened to learn this week of the passing of labor writer, instructor and union organizer Jane McAlevey from cancer at age 59. 

With books like No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the Gilded Age and her Organizing for Power classes (O4P), Jane’s teachings have had a tremendous influence on a new generation of militant workers, including hundreds of union members in Maine. Over the years, several of our Maine participants in the O4P classes – including once the entire Machinists’ Local S6 Organizing Committee – appeared on screen to help illustrate an exercise or a concept. Besides the many Maine union members who participated in the O4P and Power & Participation in Union Negotiations classes, in 2021, Jane facilitated a discussion in the Maine AFL-CIO Labor Reading Group about her book A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy.Jane knew us and respected the organizing work happening here in Maine.

Jane understood that workers have power, and that the role of an organizer is to support workers to harness that power to make the changes they care about. Her speaking, teaching and writing featured numerous organizing case studies, success stories and lessons on how to win. She focused on seeking out organic leaders in theworkplace, as opposed to the activists who may have the right views on unionizing, but not necessarily the influence with coworkers. She stressed “whole worker organizing,” removing the distinction between community and labor organizing, arguing for “bringing community organizing techniques right into the shop floor while moving labor organizing out into the community.”

Jane emphasized the need for building super-majority support in organizing campaigns and constant “structure tests” to test the strength of that majority in order to build “strike-ready unions.” As she wrote in her book, A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy: “Strikes are uniquely powerful under the capitalist system because employers need one thing, and one thing only, from workers: show up and make the employer money. When it comes to forcing the top executives to rethink their pay, benefits, or other policies, there’s no form of regulation more powerful than a serious strike. The strikes that work the best and win the most are the ones in which at least 90 percent of all the workers walk out, having first forged unity among themselves and with their broader community. To gain the trust and support of those whose lives may be affected, smart unions work diligently to erase the line separating the workplace from society.”

Jane did not let cancer stop her deep commitment to organizing. Over the past two years she successfully transitioned teaching of the O4P class to a strong team of other organizers to keep the program going after she was gone, and she still made an appearance in the most recent series that started this May. We will deeply miss Jane, but her writings and her lessons will live on in our movement.

The O4P team will hold a tribute to Jane McAlevey's life and legacy on Saturday July 27,  at 12pm EST, with interpretation into many languages. Register here to mourn her passing and celebrate her life, in community with people across the