Wall-to-wall worker organizing in the university: the Coalition of Rutgers Unions

Workers at Rutgers University, the state university of New Jersey, US, have formed the Coalition of Rutgers Unions (CRU). This workplace-based union coalition engages in wall-to-wall organizing, which seeks to include every Rutgers worker, irrespective of occupation, status, or union affiliation. This form of coalition creatively retains the benefits of certified unions while navigating the sectionalism encouraged by American labour laws. CRU’s recovery of traditional organizing principles amid neoliberal conditions is a new industrial unionism. It is thereby an example of the union renewal affirmed by proponents of social movement unionism. CRU is also an organizational model for workers in large, complex, heterogeneous workplaces with multiple existing unions. This article draws from qualitative interviews with CRU activists to discuss its participants, structure, activities, and its role in a victorious 2023 strike at Rutgers University.