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Chris Bohner

@radishresearch.bsky.social
994 followers 162 following 40 posts

Research-tivist with stops @ IBT, UNITE HERE, Culinary 226, AFL-CIO, worker centers, and 50/50 Climate Project. Research Director at UAW, opinions my own.

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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
And then there were 12, who’s next? LFG!!
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Barry Eidlin @eidlin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
With Trump’s impending return, rebuilding a fighting labour movement is more important than ever. Here @ericblanc.bsky.social and @radishresearch.bsky.social make the case for how unions can keep building in the Trump era: open.substack.com/pub/radishre...
open.substack.com
Labor’s Resurgence Can Continue Despite Trump
Nobody should underestimate the importance of defending our movement against Trump’s looming attacks. But it’s not factually or tactically justified to dismiss the potential for labor advance over the...
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Dan Galvin @djgalvin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
"Sometimes going on the offense is also the best form of defense." Good insights and data from Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social and Eric Blanc @ericblanc.bsky.social jacobin.com/2024/11/labo...
jacobin.com
Labor’s Resurgence Can Continue Despite Trump
Donald Trump will do his best to undermine unions. But the labor movement still has momentum on its side and numerous opportunities to seize. Trump’s presidency has to be a time for labor action, not ...
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Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
The instinct of a lot of unions will be to retreat and hunker down and try to ride out the Trump years. That instinct will get us killed. Offense is defense now. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/lean-into-...
hamiltonnolan.com
Lean Into the Punch
Labor under Trump.
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Power At Work @poweratwork.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Trump's reelection brings challenges for workers, but the fight isn't over. Learn why labor can still thrive and why bold organizing is essential in @ericblanc.bsky.social & @radishresearch.bsky.social's piece for Labor Politics, now posted on @poweratwork.bsky.social: poweratwork.us/labors-resur...
poweratwork.us
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Eric Blanc @ericblanc.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Trump’s election doesn't have to mean the labor resurgence is over Unions actually organized more workers under George W. Bush than under Obama (mostly because labor seriously funded organizing in the early 2000s) Here's why unions can still go on the offensive today 🧵
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Thoughtful & tough reflection on next steps for labor: "We can’t afford to turn down any of the 52 percent of non-union workers who say that...they would vote to join a union today..This effort will require unions to radically rethink their organizing strategy" www.bostonreview.net/articles/whe...
bostonreview.net
Where Did the Labor Vote Go? - Boston Review
Until unions open the gates, they won't deliver working-class voters to Democrats.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Thank's very much for for the rec's, excited to read these.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Thanks!
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laura harshberger @laurzard.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
A friend sent me this piece by @radishresearch.bsky.social this morning - motivating read for how the labor movement can rise to the occasion in the face of four more years of Trump portside.org/2024-11-18/l...
portside.org
Labor’s Resurgence Can Continue Despite Trump
Does Trump’s re-election mean that the US labor resurgence is over? Not necessarily. It’s true that the new administration is preparing major attacks against workers and the labor movement. And many u...
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Any suggestions for books/articles on public sector organizing in the 1960s and 70s? It seems relevant today - organizing under hostile legal conditions. Thx!
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Or Shay @orshay.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
"It’s worth remembering that US labor’s current uptick began with the statewide teachers’ strikes that swept across red states in 2018 during Trump’s first term." An optimistic read in pessimistic times.
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Mark Firla @unioncat.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Time to organize!
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
5. Organized labor is reforming 6. Young worker activism is not going away 7. The (latent) power of unions to disrupt the political and economic system is high 8. Republicans may overplay their hand, creating new openings for labor Read full article here jacobin.com/2024/11/labo...
jacobin.com
Labor’s Resurgence Can Continue Despite Trump
Donald Trump will do his best to undermine unions. But the labor movement still has momentum on its side and numerous opportunities to seize. Trump’s presidency has to be a time for labor action, not ...
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
1. The economic forces fueling Trumpism also favor labor’s continued resurgence 2. Unions can still grow under Republican administrations 3. Labor has huge financial assets at its disposal 4. Unions remain popular and trusted 3/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
We offer 8 positive factors that should ward off despair and encourage unions to invest more, not less, into organizing the unorganized... 2/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Today @ericblanc.bsky.social and I co-published an article on why labor’s resurgence can continue. While Trump is preparing major attacks against labor, unions are actually well-positioned to continue their organizing and bargaining momentum. 1/ radishresearch.substack.com/p/labors-res...
radishresearch.substack.com
Labor’s Resurgence Can Continue Despite Trump
Nobody should underestimate the importance of defending our movement against Trump’s looming attacks. But it’s not factually or tactically justified to dismiss the potential for labor advance over the...
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Thanks. Could you add me? I write on labor for Jacobin, and do independent research on unions.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Meanwhile in Manitoba, Canada - a province up north somewhere - the NDP passed a ban on scab labor, and improved card check procedures for union representation. 👇 (I've visited Manitoba many times and it's fun year-round, even in the arctic cold)
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
Awesome, I’d love to be included. I write for Jacobin on labor, and my research is cited in many labor pubs as well.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
I cannot wait to read this 👇👇👇
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Will Jones @willpjones.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
I made a Labor History Starter Pack - who did I miss? go.bsky.app/3QqduGj
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 08/11/2024
I wonder if Starbucks management breaks off the substantive bargaining with SBWU that's been going for abt a year? Election result changes the incentives.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
More at my stack of subs: radishresearch.substack.com/p/why-is-har...
radishresearch.substack.com
Why is Harris Lagging with Union Voters?
The apparent decline in real wages is one compelling explanation
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
Perhaps a more aggressive populist economic message by Harris would resonate with union workers who believe they are economically worse off under Biden than Trump. 4/ www.thenation.com/article/poli...
thenation.com
Two Simple Lessons for Democrats to Win the Working Class
A poll conducted of 1,000 Pennsylvania voters tested the strength of Kamala Harris’s messaging against Trump. The best and worst strategies to pick up voters were crystal clear.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
There are many methods to calculate wages adjusted for inflation, but the BLS Employer Cost Index suggests that the perception by union voters is true: real wages of union workers declined under Biden, and went up under Trump. I was really surprised to see this. 3/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
Why is Harris lagging with union voters? A poll of 7 swing states by Bloomberg/Morning Consult suggests one reason: union households believe they were financially better off under the Trump administration than they were under the Biden administration by an 11% margin. 2/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
As the election mercifully draws to a close, I’ve been tracking the polls to see how Kamala Harris is doing with union voters in swing states and nationally (but take the polls with a big dash of salt on a margarita rim). 🧵 1/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 30/10/2024
Got this dubious mailer from the Democrat aligned “Center for Voting Information” threatening to out me to my neighbors if I don’t vote (I’m voting!). It appears vaguely official, and that why I opened it. Shame is not an effective GOTV tactic.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 24/10/2024
Meanwhile in Canada, a country somewhere up north, union density is 31.5% in British Columbia, 26.4% in Ontario, 39.6% in Quebec… I need to finally read @eidlin.bsky.social’s Class Idea in US & Canada open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...
open.substack.com
Union membership rebounds in BC, falls under Ontario’s laws
Eliminating barriers has let union coverage recover to 31.5% in BC; Ontario’s laws have shrunk union coverage to 26.4%, just above Alberta.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 22/10/2024
Important article regardless of who wins in Nov 👇 "killing the 1935 National Labor Relations Act...would also mean the lifting of a host of restrictions on unions’ ability to carry out solidarity activism and effective economic sanctions. Are unions prepared for a return to ​“the law of the jungle?”
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
How and why does the AFL-CIO boost its membership numbers, and is it defensible? Read more at radishresearch.substack.com/p/did-the-af...
radishresearch.substack.com
AFL-CIO Adds 452,000 New Members!
No, it's a dubious PR number
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
Membership at AFL-CIO's 60 affiliates (actual unions) is *down* 51,000 through 6/2024. Labor needs to add +/- 141,000 new members in 2024 just to keep its share of total employment (i.e. union density) at 10% (if employment increases 1m). 4/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
The AFL-CIO claims 4.5 million union “members” from its affiliate Working America, a political canvassing unit that is not a union (no collective bargaining contracts, no voting rights, no mandatory dues). It is undoubtedly doing crucial work in the election but is not a union. 3/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
Has labor finally turned around its decades-long membership decline? No, it’s a dubious number that the AFL-CIO is using to boost its clout. In reality, the AFL-CIO represents about 8.8 million members — or 61% of all union members — not the 13 million it claims. 2/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
In a new Department of Labor filing, the AFL-CIO — a federation of 60 unions — reports that membership among its affiliates has increased by 452,124 in 2024. Membership increased from 13.0 million in 2023 to 13.5 million in 2024 (fiscal year ending 6/2024). 🧵 1/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
NLRB Data: Fiscal year (Oct-Sept), closed cases, RC and RM for 2024, RC for all other years. 5/end.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
Also see @ericdirnbach.bsky.social comprehensive analysis of the NLRB data. 4/ ericdirnbach.medium.com/u-s-union-el...
ericdirnbach.medium.com
U.S. Union Election Wins Surge in Fiscal Year 2024
Just released National Labor Relations Board data shows a large increase in U.S. union elections and wins, as a three year labor movement…
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
To put data in perspective, only 0.10% of workers in the private sector had the opportunity to vote for a union in an NLRB election. That's better than 2010-20 decade (0.08%, but far below every decade since the 1970s. 3/ www.datawrapper.de/_/ReubH/?v=2
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
Top 10 election victories UAW - Volkswagen 4,326 workers UAW - Harvard 4,172 UAW - U. Penn 4,003 UE - Cornell 3,175 UAW - CalTech 1,997 SEIU - Sharp Metro. 1,982 SEIU - Xperts 1,781 ActorsEquity - Walt Disney 1,713 SEIU - Emory 1,647 SEIU - Northwestern U. 1, 283 2/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
NLRB fiscal year 2024 (Oct-Sep) annual report just dropped! 113,034 workers participated in union representation elections in 2024, up from 92,671 in 2023. In 2024, 93,768 workers won union rep. elections, up from 80,250 in 2023. Union win rate = 78.1% 🧵 1/
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
Wow, what a resource, thanks
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
Yes, I agree. Where’s that chart from?
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Forest Gregg @bunkum.us · 17/10/2024
if you are joining bsky today, here's a a starter pack for accounts that post about unions, worker power, and the labor movement.
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 19/01/2024
BREAKING: Ahead of the DOL release on 1/23, census data shows union membership up 135,000 to 14.4 million in 2023. The % of workers who were members of unions — the union density rate — was 10.0% in 2023, down from 10.1% in 2022. Read more at radishresearch.substack.com/p/breaking-u...
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 15/12/2023
2/ that chart pairs well with Joe Burn's clear and concise Reviving the Strike. www.igpub.com/reviving-the...
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 15/12/2023
1/ One reason many U.S. unions need governance reform. From 2010-2022, organized labor spent nearly $9 billion on political activities and less than $1b on strike benefits. While this mismatch will improve in 2023, not enough. Details in my newsletter (radishresearch.org/newsletter).
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 14/12/2023
How much do unions spend on strikes v politics? Are there signs that labor is staffing up? What’s the convention schedule for large unions? How many billions in cash does labor have for organizing? My latest on substack! open.substack.com/pub/radishre...
open.substack.com
"One Member, One Vote" and Finance Unionism
Is Labor starting to spend it's fortress of finance?
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 05/12/2023
If you want the argument against direct elections of union officers/#1M1V, you can read the campaign materials put out by the UAW's Administration Caucus. They ran the union for 80 years and campaigned against #1M1V. 👇 web.archive.org/web/20211202...
web.archive.org
Protect the Wheel
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Chris Bohner @radishresearch.bsky.social · 05/12/2023
My new piece for Jacobin examines the state of "one member, one vote" (#1M1V) at U.S. unions with new data on top union officer elections. Most union members do not have the right to elect their top officers directly, but they should. jacobin.com/2023/12/elec...
jacobin.com
Direct Elections for Labor Leaders Make for More Militant Unions
From the UAW to the Writers Guild, this year’s biggest contract victories have been won by unions in which members directly elect their leaders. That’s a right denied to most US union members — ...
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