Join us for

“Fighting Union Busters in a Carolina Carpet Mill”, a discussion of the recent book by its author Phil Cohen

Phil Cohen will discuss his most recent book, an account of his 2017 insertion into a union local at a Fortune 500 company running an illegal decertification campaign, supported by the Trump NLRB and National Right to Work Committee. Their union busting law firm felt assured of victory. “Fighting Union Busters in a Carolina Carpet Mill” vividly portrays the legal and asymmetric organizing tactics that brought them to their knees.
The author will emphasize the critical distinction between understanding the law and knowing how to enforce it in the real world. He’ll share the art of convincing frightened witnesses to come forward in NLRB cases and of overcoming obstacles within the agency itself, to achieve landmark complaints sufficiently compelling to leverage settlement, regardless of which administration is in power and who sits on the Board.
These themes will be further expanded to discuss how the strategies revealed in the book can be applied during Trump’s second term.

Date and Time

March 25, 2026

5:30-8:00 p.m.

Schedule

5:30 – 6:30 pm – Reception and Networking (cash bar)
6:30 pm – Dinner and Program Begins
8:00 pm – Program Concludes

Speaker

Phil Cohen emerged from a rough working-class background in New York City and worked blue-collar jobs for twenty years, during which time he relocated to North Carolina and made headlines as chief steward of a union local for municipal employees. He was hired as a lead organizer in 1988 by ACTWU (a predecessor of Workers United) where he specialized in defeating professional union busters and subduing hostile employers.

Considered one of the labor movement’s top field investigators, his work before the National Labor Relations Board in Highland Yarn Mills established precedent defining a key element of illegal union busting, often cited by attorneys. Cohen’s expertise in industrial safety resulted in the highest OSHA fine for cotton dust violations in North Carolina history. He’s been credited with saving numerous union locals from decertification, negotiating exemplary first contracts, and mentoring some of the union’s most distinguished local officers.

Cohen is the author of two critically acclaimed memoirs: The Jackson Project: War in the American Workplace (University of Tennessee Press) and Fighting Union Busters in a Carolina Carpet Mill (McFarland & Company.) Both are written as entertaining action dramas with riveting character studies, embodying an insider’s view of the labor movement in action. He also writes a monthly column about his exploits for Work-Bites magazine.

Phil Cohen’s union campaigns and books have been the subject of ongoing media coverage for nearly forty years, including interviews by Mother Jones, Bitter Southerner, a variety of syndicated radio programs including Voice of America, and television. He’s periodically a source on labor issues for Bloomberg News and ProPublica. Cohen is also a songwriter with an international audience and eight albums, featured on hundreds of NPR and community radio stations; and a wildlife photographer with a variety of publishing credits.

Location

Chiapparelli’s Restaurant
237 S. High Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
(www.chiapparellis.com)
Located in the Little Italy area of Baltimore
Parking is located on the street and in the Little Italy Garage

Registration, Pricing, and Payment Options

$42 per person for members

$52 per person for non-members

$30 per person for students

Reservations

To reserve your ticket(s), please complete and submit the booking form online at: https://lerachapter.org/maryland/events/meeting-12-17-25/ or RSVP directly to MD LERA Immediate Past President DeAndra Roaché at deandra.roache@cynergisadr.com. You can choose to pay with a credit card when registering online, or pay at the door with a check/cash.

Membership

Our membership drive is in progress. If you would like to join our chapter, please use this link to the membership form on our website at:

https://lerachapter.org/maryland/membership-account/membership-levels/

and/or contact Rachel Lapp, 1^st Vice-President at rachel.lapp@rndc-usa.com

Future Meeting Dates

Please mark your calendars for our remaining Chapter meetings and events for the 2025-26 year. Times, topics and formats (in-person or virtual) are being posted to the website as finalized.

April 22, 2026 (In-Person) – TBD

May 27, 2026 (In-Person) – Developments at the NLRB with Sean Marshall