Unions Should Adopt Shorter, Limited First Contracts to Scale and Reverse Decline
Source: Chris Brooks. "Should Unions Radically Rethink First Contracts?." March 9, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author argues that unions are failing because they try to win too much in their first contracts with employers. Instead, they should copy successful unions from the past who won very basic, short contracts that just established the union's right to exist, then used that foothold to grow bigger and win more later.
Conclusion
Unions should radically rethink their approach to first contracts by pursuing shorter, more limited agreements that are 'small enough to win, big enough to matter, and quick enough to scale' rather than comprehensive contracts
Premises
- Current first contract negotiations are failing - taking an average of 500+ days and often ending without any agreement, as seen with Chipotle and Starbucks
- Employers use war of attrition tactics during first contract negotiations, dragging out bargaining to demoralize workers and break unions
- Labor law enforcement is too weak to prevent employers from bargaining in bad faith or refusing to negotiate seriously
- Historical examples show successful unions like UAW and UE won minimal first contracts (1-6 pages) that established union recognition and grievance procedures, then built power for future negotiations
- Union density may be approaching an 'event horizon' where unions become too small to reverse their own decline
- Comprehensive first contracts are impossible to pursue when organizing at mass scale, which is necessary to rebuild union power
Assumptions
- Union growth and density are more important than maximizing gains in individual first contracts
- Workers will accept limited first contracts if they understand the strategic rationale
- Establishing union recognition and basic procedures provides a foundation for future organizing success
- Historical organizing models from the 1930s-40s can be adapted to current conditions
- Mass organizing is both possible and necessary for labor's survival