Bargaining for the Common Good

On December 12, 2015, nearly 2,000 people crowded into the Minneapolis Convention Center for a remarkable event organized by Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, a statewide network of unions and community groups. “the People’s Congress,” as the event was called, convened activists from across the state in an effort to “establish a collective vision for social, racial and economic justice.” As their invitation explained, participants aimed to “dismantle systems of racial discrimination and oppression; reclaim our democracy; reclaim our economy; reclaim our government”; and “build the power of workers and workers’ organizations.”