Can concessions save jobs? Almost always they cannot, and certainly not in the big picture. Concessions can’t fix a collapsed market or stop offshoring, nor the 1%’s relentless assault on the working class. But concessions may save jobs in the short term if the union bargains hard in areas not traditional to our thinking and gets specific, concrete guarantees.

Social media are presenting new challenges for unions as employers develop policies and discipline employees for online behavior. But whether workers are talking to each other in the lunch room or on Facebook, labor law still provides protections for private-sector workers.

Verizon fired 40 union members in December for picket-line activity. Aren’t members protected in legally sanctioned strikes? Not always. But unions can prevent firings for strike conduct by mounting massive and disciplined activity that doesn’t allow the boss to target a few troublemakers.

Workers have the right to organize and take action on the job, even with a contract and grievance procedure in place. But stewards need to know how to bend the rules without getting people in trouble.