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A review by kshim
Strike for America: Chicago Teachers Against Austerity by Micah Uetricht
3.0
Almost a whole month on this book is embarrassing, but I had a lot going on and...I'm not going to lie, it was just hard to read about a strike with members that worked so hard together while also working with my union and feeling frustrated by my members.
I don't have a lot to say about this book other than Uetricht brings up great points about how you have to work together with the community and make those strong relationships in order to win the battle with a union. It's so frustrating how universally hated unions are when they do so much to protect the everyday man and not big business--why are people rooting for big business? It's never done anything positive for the every day man. Unions are the reasons we have great things like weekends and vacations and anything you've ever liked. Whatever, I'm missing the point.
By making strong ties with the community, you prove the worth of unions not just on the members itself, but the communities they serve, so when the big bad men from the top try to turn the community against the union, the community knows better.
Looking back on the latest effort with my union, I suppose that was an issue we didn't deal with...but I'm struggling to think of how my rep and I could have gotten our members to interact more frequently with the community outside of work hours (since it obviously can't be done during work hours). It was already so hard to get people to wear shirts/pins, let alone do anything above that. This book has left me kind of spinning, in that regard.
Unlike Jeff Hobbes, Uetricht didn't make the book feel weird or disrupt the flow when he is actually involved in the narrative. It's not an unnecessary introduction of himself.
Uetricht uses the word "neoliberal" way too often. It's absolutely distracting. There are occasions it's on a page three or more times. I understand there aren't a lot of synonyms for it, but shit, was he getting extra money for every time he used it? If so, he was very successful.
No dogs barking, because why would there be?
I don't have a lot to say about this book other than Uetricht brings up great points about how you have to work together with the community and make those strong relationships in order to win the battle with a union. It's so frustrating how universally hated unions are when they do so much to protect the everyday man and not big business--why are people rooting for big business? It's never done anything positive for the every day man. Unions are the reasons we have great things like weekends and vacations and anything you've ever liked. Whatever, I'm missing the point.
By making strong ties with the community, you prove the worth of unions not just on the members itself, but the communities they serve, so when the big bad men from the top try to turn the community against the union, the community knows better.
Looking back on the latest effort with my union, I suppose that was an issue we didn't deal with...but I'm struggling to think of how my rep and I could have gotten our members to interact more frequently with the community outside of work hours (since it obviously can't be done during work hours). It was already so hard to get people to wear shirts/pins, let alone do anything above that. This book has left me kind of spinning, in that regard.
Unlike Jeff Hobbes, Uetricht didn't make the book feel weird or disrupt the flow when he is actually involved in the narrative. It's not an unnecessary introduction of himself.
Uetricht uses the word "neoliberal" way too often. It's absolutely distracting. There are occasions it's on a page three or more times. I understand there aren't a lot of synonyms for it, but shit, was he getting extra money for every time he used it? If so, he was very successful.
No dogs barking, because why would there be?