Stephen Lerner

Aug 31, 2023 | znetwork.org | Stephen Lerner

The recent uptick in labor organizing has prompted not only a rise in strikes, but also the return of an old labor weapon: the boycott. While boycott campaigns generally have a mixed record at best, this tactic was used successfully in the recent unionization and first contract victories at Burgerville in Oregon as well as in upstate New York — a campaign that set the stage for the subsequent Starbucks upsurge.

Aug 26, 2023 | portside.org | Stephen Lerner |Eric Blanc

Can Boycotts Help Workers Win? Published August 26, 2023 The recent uptick in labor organizing has prompted not only a rise in strikes, but also the return of an old labor weapon: the boycott. While boycott campaigns generally have a mixed record at best, this tactic was used successfully in the recent unionization and first contract victories at Burgerville in Oregon as well as  in upstate New York — a campaign that set the stage for the subsequent Starbucks upsurge.

Aug 25, 2023 | jacobin.com | Stephen Lerner

Eric Blanc At the most general level, what do you see as the big lessons of the UFW boycott? Stephen Lerner First of all, you need a favorable context for a national boycott to work, a moment where lots of people care or could be convinced to care. In most conditions, boycotts don’t work; they’re usually called by unions when we know we’ve lost. But the UFW boycott wasn’t like that at all — it was part of a plan to win.

Jul 24, 2023 | democracyjournal.org | Lauren Jacobs |Stephen Lerner |Joseph A. McCartin

We’re pleased to join the debate between “deliverists” David Dayen and Matt Stoller and their critics, Deepak Bhargava, Shahrzad Shams, and Harry Hanbury. This debate pushes us all to think more clearly about democracy’s crisis and what must be done if we are to build the kind of democratic future we need.