Nolan said his book details how unionizing has been the most effective way for workers to improve their conditions and rise into the middle class, highlighting the Las Vegas Culinary Workers Union as an example.

“I have a chapter in my book about the Culinary Union in Vegas, one of the strongest local unions in the U.S.,” Nolan said. “They have the entire casino industry in their union; they are the union that created the middle class in Las Vegas and in Nevada.”

Nolan said social and political victories mean little without economic change, and strengthening the working class through organized labor is the only path forward. 

“You cannot win the political war without winning the class war,” Nolan said. “So what do we need to do? Unions need to organize.”