Takin’ It from the Streets: How the Sixties Mass Movement Revitalized Unionization

Abstract

Was the militant zeitgeist of the “long sixties” social movement wave harmful, irrelevant, or revitalizing for labor militancy and union growth? The authors extend research on intermovement relations by examining the influence of ascendant militancy of the new left–inspired mass movement wave on the organizational fortunes of labor. Time‐series models buttressed by secondary historical evidence show that “the movement,” as radical flank, did stimulate a militant oppositional culture that moved from the streets into workplaces. That oppositional culture was especially significant in the public sector, where it fueled union recognition strikes which, in turn, helped push the extension of collective bargaining laws in that sector, opening the door for union growth. The authors consider implications for social movement theory and labor movement revitalization.