Jaz Brisack in conversation with Robert Reich: “Get on the Job and Organize”
“All across the country, workers have been standing up and fighting back against the unprecedented levels of corporate greed that have been taking place. I appreciate Jaz’s contributions in this book, which help us all better understand the aims and goals for a resurgent trade union movement and how workers all over the country can join in solidarity with it.” —Senator Bernie Sanders
Jaz Brisack in conversation with Robert Reich
Book talk on Get on the Job and Organize: Standing Up for a Better Workplace and a Better World by Jaz Brisack
Have you ever had a job you wanted to make better? Ever wondered how to start an organizing campaign in your workplace? Jaz Brisack, a co-founder of Starbucks Workers United, will discuss how workers can take action to unionize their own workplaces while sharing their story of organizing at companies ranging from Nissan to Starbucks to Tesla to Ben & Jerry’s.
Jaz Brisack is a union organizer and cofounder of the Inside Organizer School, which trains workers to unionize. After spending one year at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, they got a job as a barista at the Elmwood Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, becoming a founding member of Starbucks Workers United and helping organize the first unionized Starbucks in the United States. As the organizing director for Workers United Upstate New York & Vermont, they also worked with organizing committees at companies ranging from Ben & Jerry’s to Tesla. Jaz is currently a Practitioner in Residence at the UC Berkeley Labor Center. Learn more about their work at the Labor Center.
Robert Reich recently retired as Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration.
“Here’s the light to illuminate these dark times — an account of how workers take on corporate power and win. Even more inspiring, it’s led by Gen Z. Starbucks Workers United has given new life to the American labor movement, and Jaz Brisack helped make it happen. Essential reading for anyone who cares about tackling economic inequality and saving democracy.” —Robert Reich
Pegasus Books will be on site to sell copies of the book!
View the schedule of Jaz Brisack’s book tour. (View flyer alt text.)
Accessibility
If you need accommodations to participate in the event, please email Sierra at snbarton@berkeley.edu.