A 'tough love' letter to the labor movement In the years since #MeToo, a fundamental shift in public consciousness about sexual harassment in the workplace has taken root. So what are trade unions, whose mission it is to improve the lives of workers, doing to address sexual harassment? Solidarity Betrayed critiques the US labour movement's failures on the taboo subject of sexual harassment. Ana Avendaño draws on decades of organising experience to provide a compelling insider's account of trade unions' complicity, collusion, victim blaming and lack of perpetrator accountability. Sharing survivors' stories and examples of how labour leaders and bureaucrats have perpetrated abuse, Avendaño explores how labour laws and practices are accomplices in perpetuating harassment, and how women labour leaders are too often enablers. She concludes with examples of what some unions are already doing to address the problem, and offers aspirational recommendations that unions and their allies can adopt to create harassment-free workplaces. About the Author Ana Avendaño runs Minga Strategies, a consulting firm where she helps unions and other organizations to create healthy, safe activist cultures. She is also a Lecturer in Law at the City University of New York (CUNY) Law School, where she teaches labor and employment law. She has held senior positions in the US labor movement, playing major roles in changing its position on immigration, and broadening the AFL-CIO's vision to include worker centers and other non-traditional worker organizations. She served as an Assistant General Counsel to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, as well as Associate General Counsel to the AFL-CIO, and Assistant to the AFL-CIO President for Immigration and Community Action. What People Are Saying "A clarion call to justice, marrying vivid survivors' stories with her incisive legal and cultural critique. This accessible and transformative book urges readers to envision a world rooted in dignity and collective resistance." Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger "An important and courageous book that shines an informed light on the failure of certain unions and leaders to respond to sexual harassment and the resulting damage to those victimized and the movement more generally." William A. Herbert, Distinguished Lecturer, Hunter College, City University of New York "A courageous masterwork of reporting that gives voice to those who have suffered sexual abuse in the workplace and sheds light on those workers who have managed to redress imbalances of power that keeps victims quiet and perpetrators free. It is a must-read for anyone who dreams of a future without sexual violence at work." Greg Asbed, Coalition of Immokalee Workers Table of Contents AcknowledgementsIntroduction1. In the Course of History2. Unions Under the #MeToo Spotlight3. The Survivors4. The Enablers: Law and Culture5. Rays of Hope6. The Global Response7. Change is EssentialNotesIndex
