Organizing Together: Benefits and Drawbacks of Community-Labor Coalitions for Community Organizations marc doussard University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign brad r. fulton Indiana University abstract Community-labor coalitions unite grassroots community organiza- tions and hierarchical labor unions with the promise of increasing the effectiveness of each. Little is known, however, about whether and how community organizations benefit from such partnerships. We analyze survey data from the National Study of Community Organizing Organizations and field data from community-labor coali- tions in Chicago to identify benefits and drawbacks for community organizations collaborating with unions. We find that community organizations that have unions as members generate more media attention, possess a broader tactical repertoire, and are more likely to mount state-level advocacy campaigns. Those benefits, how- ever, come at the expense of grassroots mobilizing and result in less neighborhood- level organizing, fewer volunteers, and smaller turnouts at protest actions, all of which are vital to community organizing. Understanding these benefits and draw- backs can help advocates adjust strategy, tactics, and goals to ensure the long-term viability of community-labor coalitions. introduction Coalitions of community organizations and labor unions play important political roles in many US cities and states (Milkman and Ott 2014; Reich, Jacobs, and Dietz 2014; Luce 2015). 1 In the past decade, community-labor coalitions have won notable policy victories, such as a $15 minimum wage Social Service Review (March 2020). © 2020 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0037-7961/2020/9401-0002$10.00 1. Throughout this article, we use the term “community organizations” as shorthand for grassroots community organizations engaged in community organizing. 36 This content downloaded from 140.182.176.013 on April 07, 2020 11:39:57 AM All use subject to University of Chicago Press Terms and Conditions (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/t-and-c).