WADE RATHKE is the founder of ACORN, Chief Organizer at ACORN International, and Author of "Nuts & Bolts", "Citizen Wealth", "Global Grassroots", and "The Battle for the 9th Ward".
San Pedro Sula Workers at three Starbucks stores in the Buffalo area successfully petitioned the NLRB for elections as part of the SEIU’s Service Workers Union. The company fought ferociously, and it’s a long way from over, but the results of the first elections are now in. The union won in one store outright by more than 2 …
Pearl River In a political world riven between the new president, Biden, and the defeated, but still roaring, president, Trump, it’s easy to forget sometimes that Obama was president only a short five years ago. Obama’s presidency seems almost like another version of the faux Camelot for JFK in the warm glow of nostalgia. As …
New Orleans What’s that old saying? It’s something like, if you can’t do, then teach. We may have gotten to the point in the labor movement, where if we can’t seem to organize, then at least we can lobby. Political work in creating leverage, opportunity, and even it seems, increased membership has long been the go-to Plan B driving …
Pearl River In the United States where some are still arguing about the last election, others are trying to fix the next election, and many believe their election is the only thing that matters, it’s worth remembering that lots of elections matter and determine the direction of the world we live in, not just the one …
Grenoble When I sat down in the evening to visit with some of the Grenoble leaders of ACORN’s Alliance Citoyenne affiliate, one kidded me about being “on tour.” Now at the end of this UK-France trip, maybe they had a point. Counting quickly, I had met with organizers and leaders in eight cities that …