LABOR DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR STANDING UP: TALES OF STRUGGLE
The Slowdown (1970)
- The laundry workers at Grady Hospital had to work under incredibly unsanitary conditions with no protections. What obstacles were they up against when they decided to organize?
- What led to their victory?
- In the process, what did Nick learn about race and racism?
Down Yonder Agin’ the Wall (1972)
- What struck you most about the working conditions at Grinnell Steel?
- Nick was eager to be part of some kind of organizing here. What did he find out about what good organizing takes?
- The workers at this workplace and the paper factory where Nick’s friend worked were unionized but the union leadership at each place was racist. How common is this today? Have you done or heard about any successful work to take that on?
Dirty Tricks (1974)
- Why did Nick’s co-workers decide to take matters into their own hands when A.D. starts killing kittens?
- Were they responsible for what happened to him?
The Listening Session (1981)
- Why do you think the phone company manager set up these sessions?
- Have you ever been in a workplace that does this?
- What would a genuine listening session look like?
Should Banks Care About Kids (1986)
- What did Sophie learn from her experience with Marisol and Rosa’s comments about it?
- Why did the bank workers decide to trust Working Women United?
- These workers did not have a union. What rights did they have? What rights did they lack that a union could have provided?
- What stood out about the organizing that went on here?
Listen to the Children (1988)
- Working Women United and others had built a significant coalition with labor, women’s, faith and community groups. What power did they have and where did it fall short?
- Have you included children in your organizing? What was the power they brought on this issue?
- What’s your view of the Working Women United’s evaluation session?
The Stand-Up (1993)
- This action at a call center happened nearly thirty years ago. How common today are the issues these workers faced?
- A later chapter shows one of these workers drawing courage from the stand-up to leave an abusive husband. What’s your experience on how worker activism impacts personal lives?
The Union Makes Us Strong (1995)
- A worker leader at Amazon in Staten Island really liked this chapter because of the way the workers organized their successful union drive and how much it had in common with what they did at Amazon. What tactics did you think were most important?
- Summarize the conversation among the workers about how to do the house visits and whether to raise pay equity. Have these issues come up in your union drives or contract struggles? If so, what approaches were most effective?
Feminists and Firefighters (2003)
- What are the key lessons from this training for union leaders and activists?
- How does good training differ from ones that are CYA?
- Sexual harassment isn’t the only form of sexism on the job. How has this come up in your workplace? What are effective ways a union has/can deal with it?
Magic Monday (2013)
- Kiki had to come in on her day off to avoid getting disciplined under the company’s absence control policy. What percentage of companies do you think use such policies? What are the most effective ways to fight it?
- How typical is Kiki’s experience of working at a place with a child care center that many or most front-line workers can’t afford to use? What can the union or other labor organizing do about that?
S*it that Needs Fixing (2013)
- What happened to turn Dorey from an eager crusader for women to the manager who’s oppressing workers?
- What are the lessons about the best way to make change?
Restoring Trust to People’s Trust (2013)
- What was your favorite part of the organizing that went on in this chapter?
- How was the organizing connected to the changes we see in Kiki?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR STANDING UP: TALES OF STRUGGLE
- In the acknowledgments, the authors reference “the deliberately unheard.” What does that phrase mean for you?
- What voices in the book most stand out for you and why?
- Unions are a critical tool for workers, but they aren’t immune to racism and sexism. What are your favorite examples in the book?
- How do the authors deal with whiteness?
- The book focuses on small, specific struggles but raises large, systemic problems. What do you think it will take to address these?
- In the first three stories, what are ways that Nick grows as an organizer?
- What are the differences in the ways Nick and Sophie view their first date?
- How do attitudes like those of Sophie’s orthopedist Impact health care outcomes?
- In “The State Hastens to Say,” what’s the significance of Vanessa’s comment, “Oh, I’ll do the talking.”
- Why should banks care about kids?
- In “Listen to the Children,” what do you make of the Working Women’s United evaluation session?
- In “The Stand-Up” and “The Union Makes Us Strong,” what are the key ways Emma changes?
- The stand-up inspires Annie to leave her abusive marriage, and then to get her children back. What are examples you know of where workplace organizing inspires change in personal lives?
- What makes Annie’s intervention with Dorey successful?
- What do People’s Trust stories tell us about the difference between top-down and bottom-up approaches to change?
- What can students and teachers learn from “We Won’t Let You Pollute Our Playground”?
- How do Vanessa and Sophie win over the majority of the firefighters in “Feminism and Firefighters”?
- Did you have any ‘aha’ moments during The Roar of the Elders?
- How does the book inspire you to think about the ways you already do or can stand up and organize?
Questions for Again and Again Discussion
- In Again and Again, we first meet Deborah Borenstein and Liddie Gombach in 1978 as college freshmen. What was your initial impression of each woman? How did their bond deepen and complicate after Liddie’s rape?
- How does alternating the narrative between 1979 and 2010 add to the novel’s drama? What did you learn from chapters about the earlier years that impacted your reaction to Deborah’s current dilemma?
- Think or refer back to the novel’s description of Liddie’s rape. If you had been in Deborah’s situation when you were in college, how would you have reacted?
- Deborah has felt guilty all those years for her role in the mishandling of Liddie’s case. How would you characterize her mistake? What did you think of the response from Claire Rawlings and Professor Davis?
- As news coverage reflects, date rape is an alarmingly prevalent, under-reported, and mishandled crime on college campuses. On an institutional level, why do you think so little has changed to protect and support women over the past three decades?
- Think of any of the many recent cases of young men—high school as well as college students—charged with shocking acts of sexual violence against young women. How does Again and Again offer insights into this disturbing trend? Does the novel offer possible solutions?
- What did you think of, or feel towards, the character of William Quincy? How does our society abet the transformation of young, privileged male sexual predators into powerful men, widely respected as political or corporate leaders?
- Did you agree with Deborah’s decision to refrain from officially denouncing Quincy the candidate as a college rapist? How do you interpret the significance of the way the situation is finally resolved?
- What did you feel about Deborah’s husband, Aaron? In the novel, he accused Deborah of failing to stand up for him, for their marriage, and for principle. Was he completely wrong? Did you agree with Deborah’s critique of his views about the aftermath of rape or did you feel she was being too hard on him?
- Does a rape victim’s right to privacy trump the public’s right to know about a political candidate’s past sexual offences? What helps shift this dilemma?
- How does Again and Again address questions of racial inequality and unintended bias? What are some key lessons Deborah has to learn?
- What did you learn about the inner-workings of American politics from Again and Again? How does the novel illuminate the danger of emphasizing image—and winning elections—over the truth?
- How did you feel about the ending of Again and Again? Can Deborah’s marriage survive and if so, what would it take?