Post-Labor Organizing Resources

• Student Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Activist Trauma Support

"Activist Trauma Support formed in 2004 in the UK, due to a recognition of the potential for people involved in political activism to have distressing or traumatic experiences. Over the following decade, ATS ran Wellbeing Spaces at a number of large convergences like G8 and Climate Camps, facilitated workshops at many gatherings, supported individuals by telephone as well as face-to-face, produced the literature available on this site and collaborated with groups doing similar work in other countries. The initial focus on post-traumatic stress widened to include burnout when this too was observed to be a problem in activist groups and grassroots campaigns."

• Cox, Laurence. "How do we keep going? Activist burnout and personal sustainability in social movements." (2011).

Black Feminist Reflections on Activism:

• Scott, Karla D. "Black feminist reflections on activism: Repurposing strength for self-care, sustainability, and survival." Departures in Critical Qualitative Research 5, no. 3 (2016): 126-132.
• Sheehy, Chris, and Suryia Nayak. "Black feminist methods of activism are the tool for global social justice and peace." Critical Social Policy 40, no. 2 (2020): 234-257.
• Finch, Aisha K. "Introduction: Black Feminism and the Practice of Care." Palimpsest 11, no. 1 (2022): 1-41.

• Register of the Daniel M. Berman Papers: The Berman papers contain significant material relating to the development of grassroots and union movements which addressed occupational health issues in the 1970's and early 1980's. Carton 3, Folder 78, National Lawyers Guild + Labor https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf8v19p32p/?query=labor
• “This Date in History: Divided We Stand.” Originally published in Synapse, May 11, 2000.  

UCSF Janitors Strike, 1970:

"The UCSF Janitors' Strike of 1970 occurred during a period of national unrest. A group of employees gathered to present a list of demands to the University, highlighting injustices taking place on campus. The Black Caucus, which supported the strike, was instrumental in starting the conversation that would move USCF toward a future that now includes greater diversity and fairness for all UCSF students, faculty and staff."

• Black Caucus Records: DVD of 1970 strike, and White Coats for Black Lives #ActionsSpeakLouder art project tags https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf538nb3k7/
• Draft cover of the June 1971 edition of the Black Bulletin, a newsletter created by the UCSF Black Caucus about the UCSF strike headed by the UCSF Black Caucus, Black Student Union (BSU), staff and students (https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/81983/s92s5c/)

Please note that most of the primary archival resources have not been digitalized yet. Please contact the library or archival institution to book an appointment to see the physical file. If you have any questions about using archival catalogue, please contact UCSF Library, Archives & Special Collections.

Sources collected by Shinyi and Peggy Tran-Le (Research and Technical Services Managing Archivist, UCSF)

• Ferguson, Roderick A. We Demand: The University and Student Protests. University of California Press, 2017.

This book revisits the student-led movements in the postwar era which demanded that universities to provide better services for the increasingly diversified student population—female, minorities, foreign, and indigenous student communities.

The San Francisco General Hospital Strike, 1970:

• Becker ER, Sloan FA, Steinwald B. “Union Activity in Hospitals: Past, Present, and Future.” Health Care Finance Rev. 1982 Jun;3(4):1-13.
• “1970 General Hospital Strike Ends.” Basta Ya! Community Newspaper
• “intern strike probable at s.f. general hospital intern strike probable at s.f. general hospital.” SYNAPSE - The UCSF Student Newspaper, Vol. 14, No.19 (March 1970).
• San Francisco General Hospital Historical Documents, Protests and Strikes 1969-1970 https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c84j0md3/

The Unionization and Strikes of California Nurses Association in 1970s-1990s:

• David Gaynor, Elinor Blake, Thomas Bodenheimer, and Carol Mermey.” RN’s Strike.” Science for the People Vol. 7, No. 3 (May 1975): 6-12. (The web-formatted archive is preserved complete with typographical errors and available for reference and educational and activist use by Science for the People (SftP)).
• Finding Aid to the California Nurses Association–Golden Gate Nurses Association (CNA–GGNA) Records, 1906-1995: Carton 28, Folders 43-47, Unionization + Strikes https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt9r29s33j/
• 25th St Photograph Collection: Box 11, Folder 19, Strike 1990; Box 11, Folder 24, Nursing Strike Reunion https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c83x8dfk/
• San Francisco General Hospital Historical Documents: Oral History Transcript -- Nursing Strike Reunion 1991 https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c84j0md3/

Please note that most of the primary archival resources have not been digitalized yet. Please contact the library or archival institution to book an appointment to see the physical file. If you have any questions about using archival catalogue, please contact UCSF Library, Archives & Special Collections.

Sources collected by Shinyi and Peggy Tran-Le (Research and Technical Services Managing Archivist, UCSF)

This Guide to Having Respectful Conversations from Repair the World provides tools to utilize when facilitating a space for difficult conversations surrounding identity.

Here are their suggestions on how to create a space that in which individuals can express and listen to each other's lived experiences and where both their experience and someone else's are incorporated into a larger communal narrative:

• Acknowledge that you and others might have moments of discomfort
• Establish group ground rules
• Use "I" statements
• Be respectful of introverts - and of silence
• Provide space for everyone to have a voice

If the discussion becomes heated or uncomfortable:

• Avoid "right" and "wrong"
• If it will help, take a breath (or two) before responding
• Be intentional about your language
• Keep power dynamics in mind
• We all make mistakes
• Use facts graciously - not to shut down a conversation
• If you're offended, consider some options:
  • Call people "in", not "out"
  • Move back and listen
  • Remove yourself from the conversation