Sociology ETDs
Publication Date
1-30-2013
Abstract
Contemporary debates on immigrants and the labor movement focus on whether immigrant workers are joining and thereby revitalizing unions. But Somos un Pueblo Unido or Somos', an immigrant resource center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has been using an obscure provision of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) less to boost union density than to develop an alternative to contract unionism. By helping non-unionized workers use Section 7 of the NLRA to act concertedly in their own defense, I argue, Somos is simultaneously combating employer abuse, in the short run, and demonstrating that immigrants may be transforming, rather than simply revitalizing, the US labor movement in the long run.
Degree Name
Sociology
Level of Degree
Masters
Department Name
Sociology
First Committee Member (Chair)
Wood, Richard
Second Committee Member
Evans, Peter B.
Keywords
Foreign workers -- Labor unions -- Organizing -- New Mexico -- Santa Fe, Collective labor agreements -- New Mexico -- Santa Fe, United States -- National Labor Relations Act
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Recommended Citation
Garrick, Jessica R.. "Repurposing American Labor Law: Immigrant Workers, Workers' Centers and the National Labor Relations Act." (2013). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/soc_etds/15
