Solidarity Betrayed

“A clarion call to justice” Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her

“An important and courageous book” William A. Herbert, Distinguished Lecturer, Hunter College, City University of New York

In the years since #MeToo, there has been a fundamental shift in public consciousness about sexual harassment in the workplace. So what are trade unions, whose mission it is to improve the lives of workers, doing to address the issue?

Solidarity Betrayed reckons with the labor movement’s failures on sexual harassment. Ana Avendaño draws on decades of organizing 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 labor leaders and bureaucrats have perpetrated abuse, Avendaño explores how labor laws and practices contribute to the perpetuation of harassment. She concludes with positive 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.

Ana Avendaño is the Director of the Equality and Justice Practice Clinic at the City University of New York (CUNY) Law School where she also teaches labor and employment law. She has held senior positions in the US labor movement, including serving as Assistant to the President of the AFL-CIO. She also runs Minga Strategies, a consulting firm where she helps unions to create healthy activist cultures.