Unions

Perfect Storm 2010?

Robert Hertzberg | Posted 12.14.2009 | Los Angeles


Robert Hertzberg

A sour economy, political gridlock and year upon year of sagging budget revenues are threatening to combine into a perfect initiative storm that could hit California next November.

My Grandmother Takes a Stand for Gay Marriage in Church Despite Loving Glenn Beck

Mike Elk | Posted 12.11.2009 | Politics


Mike Elk

To label all these Glenn Beck followers as unreachable, bigoted racists is an extraordinarily dangerous and misleading move for the progressive movement, which aims to include all people.

Wal-Mart of Construction Industry Launches Another Assault on Its Workers

María Elena Durazo | Posted 12.07.2009 | Los Angeles


María Elena Durazo

The anti-worker Associated Builders & Contractors has teamed up with its right-wing friends to fight President Obama's health care reform efforts.

We the Populists: How to Make Taxpayer Funded Bailouts Toxic

Linda R. Monk, J.D. | Posted 11.20.2009 | Business


Linda R. Monk, J.D.

Want to join in the fun? Call Goldman's executive offices at (212) 902-1000, and tell them that nobody makes big profits at public expense while 10.2 percent of Americans are unemployed.

In Kenya, Workers in the Tea and Flower Industries Find Strength in Solidarity

Bernard Pollack | Posted 11.21.2009 | World


Bernard Pollack

Bella Rose, Red Calypso, Sunny Sher, Wild Thing, Ria, and Inca are all grown here in Kenya--roses with enticing names that give little indication about how they are grown or how the workers are treated.

The Change We Deserve

Edwin D. Hill | Posted 11.18.2009 | Politics


Edwin D. Hill

It didn't take long for the anti-worker far right to try to spin the results of the 2009 elections as a mandate for their pro-corporate agenda.

Making Teachers Unions Work for Students -- And All Teachers

Paras Bhayani | Posted 11.18.2009 | Chicago


Paras Bhayani

Getting unions to prioritize compensation and not the strictures that constrain schools would require a tectonic shift in their priorities, but precedent for such reformed advocacy does exist.

The Lifeblood of Undergraduate Education Is on Strike

Emily F. Shaw | Posted 11.16.2009 | Chicago


Emily F. Shaw

The Fighting Illini don't have much fight on the gridiron this year. But the University administration has more than enough fight to allow a strike of its TAs to begin.

In America, Selfishness and Lack of Solidarity Know No Bounds

Dave Lindorff | Posted 11.11.2009 | Local


Dave Lindorff

As the strike by transit workers in Philadelphia enters its fifth day, it is clear why unions have such a tough time in the United States, where fewer than one in eight workers is covered by a union contract.

Bomb Appalachia (and Face the Music)

Michael Gould-Wartofsky | Posted 11.09.2009 | Green


Michael Gould-Wartofsky

Theirs is a coast-to-coast campaign to save Appalachia's mountains and streams -- and Appalachians' homes, jobs, and culture -- from the devastating coal mining practice known as mountaintop removal.

Rep. Kosmas's Health Care Position Draws Unions' Ire

Jerry Waxman | Posted 11.11.2009 | Politics


Jerry Waxman

All of the union leaders declared that their members felt betrayed by Kosmas and that she had sold out to her big insurance and real estate friends.

Health Care's Next Big Fight: Tax the Rich or Slam Workers?

Art Levine | Posted 11.02.2009 | Politics


Art Levine

Neither the House nor Senate versions of the health care bill could offer the extensive, affordable coverage that reformers are hoping for or that Democrats have been promoting.

Time to Change the Game for Airline and Railroad Workers

Edward Wytkind | Posted 10.29.2009 | Business


Edward Wytkind

Unionization in the airline industry has slowed. Why? Union-busting campaigns are alive and well because current election policy encourages employer-run voter suppression campaigns.

Mexico's Union Bust Reveals Flaws in NAFTA

Laura Carlsen | Posted 10.26.2009 | World


Laura Carlsen

"From one day to the next, they left us with no job," said an out-of-work electrician, as he marched alongside some 200,000 fellow workers and their supporters in downtown Mexico City this month.

Tiffany's Looks To Africa As Diamond Industry Shifts

Wall Street Journal | By VANESSA O'CONNELL | Posted 10.26.2009 | Business


In a windowless factory in this African village, Tiffany is teaching more than 80 workers to transform raw diamonds into gems for Tiffany engagement r...

Showdown in Chicago

Richard Trumka | Posted 10.22.2009 | Business


Richard Trumka

We're gathering outside the American Bankers Association meeting to demand reform that will allow us to rebuild our communities, our lives and the real economy. We've got a lot to rebuild.

My Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now

Michael Moore | Posted 10.22.2009 | Politics


Michael Moore

I have 15 things we can all do right now to fix the very broken system in this country and to fight back against those who have brought us to where we are. C'mon people -- we can do this!

State's Human Rights Guy Needs to Man Up Fast

Jeff Ballinger | Posted 10.21.2009 | Politics


Jeff Ballinger

Now that Michael Posner has been officially installed as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, it's about time we get started down the road to righting a whole slew of global wrongs.

Maybe Conservatism is Dead?

Stewart Acuff | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics


Stewart Acuff

The leaders of the Republican Party and the ideologues of conservatism have no answers for any of the problems that our country and our people are trying to deal with.

Growing Up In Detroit: Community Organizing With Mostaccioli

Nancy Cronk | Posted 10.16.2009 | Living


Nancy Cronk

Raising a big family was tough for my parents. Feeding eleven people on an auto-workers income meant everything my parents did required effort and creativity.

The Chamber of Commerce's Jobs Deception Campaign

Richard Trumka | Posted 10.15.2009 | Business


Richard Trumka

Unions are popularly known as "the folks who brought you the weekend." In contrast, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has the distinction of trying to take away a long and ugly list of benefits.

Women and People of Color Down for the Count in Jobless Recovery

Arlene Holt Baker | Posted 10.13.2009 | Home


Arlene Holt Baker

A close look at the unemployment figures shows that while white males are taking it on the chin in this recession, women and people of color are down ...

It's Time to Lead -- And That Means You!

Madeline Janis | Posted 11.28.2009 | Politics


Madeline Janis

More than 2.6 million people fell into poverty between 2007 and 2008 is only the "tip of the recession iceberg." In the city of L.A., more than a quarter of children live below the federal poverty line.

Key Senators, Krugman Call for Tariffs on High-Carbon-Footprint Imports

Mike Elk | Posted 11.23.2009 | Business


Mike Elk

In the wake of the China tire-import decision, we have heard a lot of rhetoric falsely labeling it as the beginning of a trade war. It is not. Workers around the world are engaged in an effort to protect themselves.

ReThinking Norma Rae: A Union Icon Falls Fighting the Healthcare Industry

Jonathan Kim | Posted 11.16.2009 | Entertainment


Jonathan Kim

We should be thankful that Crystal Lee Sutton's struggle to help the working poor has been immortalized in a film as great as Norma Rae for generations to enjoy and be inspired by.