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Open-Shop America: Bracing for the Trump Era
Donald Trump’s win is the gut-punch finale to a surreal election season. For thousands of rank-and-file activists the outcome is even more bitter after the inspiration and energy stirred up by Bernie Sanders’ improbable campaign. Unfortunately, we don’t need a crystal ball to figure out what a Trump presidency has in store for labor, especially […]
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New York Taxi Workers Strike over Tracking Devices
It was a good day to ride your bike in the Big Apple. New York City cabbies launched a two-day strike on September 6, leaving the city’s streets quiet and would-be passengers scrambling. Taxi workers were protesting a plan to install new technology into the city’s yellow cabs, a move they said would hurt both […]
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California Deal Left Members Out of Organizing, Bargaining: Service Employees End Nursing Home Partnership
Following months of criticism and sharp internal debate, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) ended its controversial partnership agreement with a group of California nursing homes on May 31. The four-and-a-half-year-old deal was a quid pro quo arrangement that brought over 3,000 workers into SEIU after the union secured higher state government payments to nursing […]
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Across Many Unions, Bloated Salaries Limit Organizing Budgets, Leave Members Cynical
In today’s labor movement it’s hard to find a leader who doesn’t stress the need for organizing new members. Judging by the size of their paychecks, however, some of labor’s top brass aren’t ready to put their money where their mouth is. According to data filed under the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), […]
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Made in (Deunionized) America: Despite Closings at Ford, GM, and Delphi, New Auto Parts Industry Springing Up in Michigan
Industry experts from Wall Street to Washington are busy writing the obituary of the U.S. auto industry — but someone needs to tell the Motor City. In sharp contrast to the current wave of buyouts at Ford, General Motors, and Delphi, new auto parts plants continue to spring up across Southeast Michigan. Conditions in these […]
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Katrina’s Aftermath Transforms Work in the Gulf Region
Six months after Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf Coast struggles with a new challenge — who will do the rebuilding? The region is awash in clean-up and reconstruction projects, but with more than 1.5 million people displaced by the hurricane, ready hands are in short supply. In many areas, the tight post-Katrina labor market has already […]