DSA’s ‘Rank-And-File Strategy” Has 60s Roots In Berkeley
Some young radicals are still pondering how they should relate, personally and collectively, to the labor movement. Should they try to become agents of workplace change while serving on the staff of local, regional, or national unions?
Or should they organize “on the shop-floor”—in non-union shops or as a unionized teacher, nurse, or social worker? And then, later on, seek elected, rather than appointed, union leadership roles?
A few years ago, delegates to a national convention of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) debated this latter strategy and then narrowly passed a resolution favoring the rank-and-file route.