Author to speak on little-known workers’ right

A labor law scholar who argues that workers don’t need to win a majority vote to form a union will speak at two upcoming events in the Twin Cities.

In The Blue Eagle at Work: Reclaiming Democratic Rights in the American Workplace, Professor Charles J. Morris lays out the case that American workers have the right to bargain collectively with their employers through representatives of their choosing. Period. Not just if they win an election. Not just if they hand in authorization cards representing a majority of workers.

Morris traces the right to “minority unions” in U.S. labor law back as far as 1918; he says it remains national policy to this day, unrepealed, unchanged and supported further by international law.

Morris will be the featured speaker at the St. Paul Labor Speakers Club Monday, July 25, and at the AFL-CIO Organizers Roundtable Wednesday, July 27.

The Speakers Club program, titled “Reclaiming Our Rights in the American Workplace,” will start at 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 25, at the St. Paul Labor Centre, 411 Mahoney (aka Main) St., in downtown St. Paul. The program is free and open to the public.

The Organizers Roundtable will begin at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, at the hall of Operating Engineers Local 49, 2829 Anthony Lane South, Minneapolis. Morris, professor emeritus at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, will speak at 1 p.m.

For reservations or more information about the Organizers Roundtable, contact Minnesota AFL-CIO organizing director Tim Geelan at 651-227-7647.

Related articles
Read Professor John Budd’s review of the Morris book, An answer to labor’s prayers?
Read former union staffer Tom Beer’s review of the Morris book, Let’s re-examine an old method of organizing

Order The Blue Eagle at Work from the Labor Education Service bookstore. Mail a check for $40 (which includes shipping and handling) payable to “University of Minnesota” to Labor Education Service, Industrial Relations Center, 321 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55455, or call 612-624-5020 for more information.

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