Author and journalist Kim Kelly joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the resurgence of salting as an organizing tactic in the modern labor movement. Kelly, a regular contributor to publications like The Washington Post, The New York Times and Teen Vogue, shared insights from her recent article exploring this strategy for unionization.
Kelly is a labor reporter and author known for covering workers' rights and union organizing. Her book "Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor" takes a comprehensive look at labor history. In a recent story for Teen Vogue, Kelly took a deeper look at the impact of salting on the current state of labor.
Kelly explained that salting involves individuals taking jobs with a non-union contractor to organize workers from within. This tactic has deep roots in labor history but has seen a resurgence in recent years, particularly among younger workers. She highlighted successful examples, such as the Amazon Labor Union in Staten Island and various Starbucks unionization efforts, where salts —the individuals hired with the intent to organize— played crucial roles in organizing campaigns. According to Kelly, salting counters many of the commonly used anti-union tactics. When organizers are already employees, it becomes harder for management to paint unions as outside entities interfering with worker-employer relationships.
Many workers lack a basic understanding of the purpose of unions, and Kelly identified the lack of labor education in schools as one of the primary reasons. To address this gap, she has authored a young readers' edition of her book, "Fight to Win," to introduce labor history to children aged 10-14. Kelly stressed the importance of educating young people about workers' rights and the labor movement. While acknowledging potential pushback against labor education materials in some regions, Kelly remains optimistic about reaching her target audience. She plans to leverage her connections within the labor movement, including union educators and parents, to ensure the book reaches young readers.
Listen to Kelly's interview above to learn more about salting and labor history.
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