The aftershocks of the late-May defeat of the American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM) strike will be felt in the unionized sections of the auto industry — and beyond — for years to come. Swinging in line with the deep concessions made in the Big 3 contract settlements last fall, the AAM deal effectively completes the […]
Author Archive | Chris Kutalik
Auto Makers Push Health Care Trust Solution for Industry Crisis
A rising chorus of business gurus is singing the praises of a new solution to the U.S. auto industry’s ongoing crisis: one big health care trust for all the Big 3’s workers. According to the proposal’s cheerleaders, by making giant one-time pay-ins, the Big 3 auto makers can slice off an estimated $116 billion worth […]
Jobs, Wages, Health Care, Pensions — All in Jeopardy as Chrysler Is Sold to Private Firm
Auto workers are bracing for a bumpy road ahead at Chrysler, following the May 14 announcement that Daimler-Chrysler (DCX) would sell off 80 percent ownership of the company to Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm. The surprise sale may tip the balance of power further against the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the union […]
Immigrant Workers Buck Long Slide in Meatpacking: Raids Follow as Backlash
Heavily-armed federal agents stormed six Swift meatpacking plants last month and rounded up nearly 1,300 immigrant workers in one of the largest workplace raids in U.S. history. The raids represented the climax of a year in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ratcheted up its workplace operations. ICE claims that it’s tripled its workplace raids […]
Is the Fight for Union Democracy Corrupt? A Review of Robert Fitch’s Solidarity for Sale
Robert Fitch. Solidarity for Sale. PublicAffairs, 2006. In Solidarity for Sale, Bob Fitch argues that the defining weakness of U.S. unionism bubbles up from a single poisoned well: corruption. Much of his book is a well-written account of the rise of business unionism in this country — and business unionism’s ability to hold onto power […]
As Immigrants Strike, Truckers Shut Down Nation’s Largest Port on May Day
During the countdown to the May Day immigrant walkouts, transportation industry commentators worried about the impact that immigrant strikes would have on the nation’s ports. Many feared repeats of the 2004 and 2005 strikes by mostly immigrant Latino port truckers (or troqueros), which crippled freight traffic up and down the West Coast. Troqueros at the […]
As Crisis Deepens: Is a Comeback for Labor in the Cards?
As labor activists from around the country and world converge on Dearborn, Michigan in early May for the Labor Notes Conference, it’s worth reflecting back on a year that has brought back hopes for a revitalization of the labor movement. Several months ago, the Wall Street Journal described an increase in strikes in the United […]
Reforming the Teamsters: An Interview with Tom Leedham
Tom Leedham, principal officer of Teamsters Local 206 in Oregon, is challenging IBT President James Hoffa on a reform slate in this year’s Teamster elections. Leedham’s Strong Contracts/Good Pensions slate — and its rank-and-file supporters — won a big victory when their campaign was accredited for the 2006 International elections. In just over a month, […]
The Bankruptcy Bomb: Companies Use Bankruptcy Threats and Courts to Force Bigger Givebacks, Break Unions
Employers in heavily unionized U.S. industries are turning to bankruptcy courts as a strategy for gutting union contracts and imposing layoffs and givebacks even deeper than those workers made in the concessions of the early 1980s. Bankruptcy-as-a-strategy first became prominent during the restructuring of the steel industry in the late 1990s, then spread to the […]
Solidarity for Never? Northwest Mechanics Strike Against Deep Pay Cuts, Outsourcing
Airline unions have made wave after wave of wage, benefit, and pension concessions since September 2001– often under the gun of bankruptcy threats. Now Northwest Airlines is upping the ante, pushing for a business model that copies non-union airlines like JetBlue and demanding to lay off more than half its maintenance workforce. So when 4,400 […]
