Reading some of post mortems on the  Amazon vote in Bessemer makes me wonder if any of the prescriptive advice offered would have made enough of a difference to turn a pronounced defeat into a breakthrough victory. What I don’t wonder about is the imperative of a full mobilization of labor and its allies in support of the Pro Act – the present day equivalent of the Wagner Act.

While it faces a wall of opposition from Congressional Republicans and some temporizing by a handful of Democrats, the urgency of its passage is undeniable. It would not only change the terrain on which organizing drives are fought out and likely expand the labor movement in size and strength, but it would also constitute at once a bulwark of multi-racial democracy and progressive reform, not to mention a powerful barrier to right wing authoritarian rule.