Out of the Lab, Into the Street - by Aleida García Aguirre (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Out of the Lab, into the Streets tells the story of how academic workers built the largest strike in the history of American higher education and set a new standard of militancy in one of the fastest growing sectors of the labor movement. In doing so, these workers also taught organizers everywhere lessons about the effectiveness of collective power cemented through worker-to-worker organizing, militant escalation strategies, and cross-union solidarity.

On November 14, 2022, academic workers of the University of California began a strike that brought workers out of the lab and into the streets for six weeks to fight for more equitable working conditions. The strike was a point of arrival and a process at the same time. It was the hard-fought achievement of a short- and long-term history of union organizing and a learning practice for workers across campuses, disciplines, job classifications, political affiliations, and identities. This book documents the everyday and on-the-ground making of union organizing and power building.

The nine workers who gave lengthy testimonies for this project challenge preconceptions about the advantages and difficulties of organizing in higher education. They make insightful analyses of how being active union members transformed them personally and reshaped their approach to science and education.

Union organizers and other activists will find lessons and reflections on core topics for the labor movement: how to build a worker-led union, the practical meaning of democracy during mass action, dissent and unity amongst workers, and how to measure a fight's success. Within these nuanced accounts of militant organizing, everyone will find inspiration to keep collective power alive and keep fighting for a better future.

Review Quotes

"Out of the Lab, into the Streets, provides a rare, honest, revealing, and instructive book on the unforgiving but essential work that goes into union organizing told through unguarded first-person accounts of UC academic workers as they fought for their rightful place in labor history. In doing so they affirm that every worker, regardless of their job classification or socioeconomic status, can be an organizer and can win representation of a union that they deserve but only if they are willing to do the hard work. All workers engaged in present-day struggles for representation would benefit from reading this modern account while also remembering to draw on lessons from the many landmark victories that comprise our rich labor history in the United States and beyond."
--Dolores Huerta, American labor leader and civil rights activist who cofounded the United Farm Workers union with César Chávez

"UAW members at the University of California are on the cutting edge of the American labor movement. Their 2022 strike was groundbreaking and it taught us all lessons that continue to resonate throughout our union today. This book offers a thrilling look at the daily work that made that strike possible. Anybody interested in joining with their coworkers to take collective action and win big should read this book."
--Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers

"The oral histories collected in this extraordinarily compelling book constitute the most intimate and revealing strike history I've ever encountered. We can only imagine the day-to-day hopes and fears of rank-and-file workers and on-the-ground organizers at Homestead in 1892 and Flint in 1937. But those emotions and sensibilities are on full display in this detailed history of the 2022 University of California strike: from the resolve and friendships generated during the long weeks of preparation to the euphoria of the early, massive picket lines, and on to the doubts and conflict that came with contract ratification. In this set of nine oral histories, solidarity, militancy, and union democracy cease to be abstractions and become tactile, tangible, first-person realities."
--Nelson Lichtenstein, coeditor of Labor's Partisans: Essential Writings on the Union Movement from the 1950s to Today

"Collective power is built from the ground up. We can create the future we deserve through solidarity, determination, and courage. That's how student and graduate workers built and led and won a historic strike at the University of California. Their journey to victory is a roadmap for workers everywhere--whether you're in a classroom, a lab, or on the front lines of any labor union. In their own words, nine academic workers show us how they organized, escalated and won real change--and how we can, too."
--Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

"When I marched on the boss as a teenager to organize my workplace, I experienced firsthand the transformative power of collective action. That same power was unleashed on a massive scale during the 2022 University of California strike, as thousands of young people discovered their ability to shape their future through solidarity and labor organizing. This book brings the strike to life through the voices of those who made it happen, showing us the hard work, solidarity, and persistence required to win material change. Whether you're a college student learning about unions for the first time or a seasoned union member, this is a must-read for anyone who believes in the power of collective action to create a better world."
--Hugo Soto-Martínez, Los Angeles City Council member and lifelong union organizer

"Out of the Lab, Into the Streets is an invaluable look into the behind-the-scenes work of organizing. The stories told by these workers, of both their backgrounds and their daily experiences planning and leading a strike, make human and familiar the daunting work of organizing for power. Through their stories, readers can feel not only the excitement and fear, but also the excruciating work that comes with taking collective political action and can imagine themselves having the courage and commitment to take on big fights."
--Astra Taylor, cofounder of the Debt Collective and author of The Age of Insecurity