After it was too late to make a difference, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry denounced the debt-ceiling agreement as “a raw deal for working people and the 30 million Americans who are still looking for work.” In fact, neither SEIU, the AFL-CIO, nor AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka aggressively mobilized union members against the deal […]
Subjects Archives: Labor
Suez Workers on Strike
Workers of the Suez Canal Authority are continuing their three-week strike for better wages and working conditions. Improvements have already been negotiated, but with implementation now twice delayed, the workers are calling for the resignation of Suez Canal Authority Chairman Ahmed Fadel. This video was released by Ahram Online on 6 July 2011. Cf. […]
Welcome to Lebanon
“Making Memories!” 80 percent of domestic workers are not allowed to leave the house. “Shopping Paradise!” 85 percent of domestic workers are not allowed a regular day off. “Sea & Sun!” 56 percent of private beaches limit access for migrant workers. Directed by Jowe Harfouche. Actresses: Rahel Abebe, Priya Subedi, Michelle Cafarelle, Lioba Hirsch, […]
The Assault on Public Services: Will Unions Lament the Attacks or Lead a Fightback?
We are living one of those historic moments that cry out for rallying the working class to build new capacities, new solidarities, and concrete hope. The crucial question is not how far the attacks on the public sector will go. The real question is how far we will let them go. How will working-class […]
One Week from Bargaining Deadline, GE and Unions Far Apart, May Be Headed for Clash
With just one week to go in national negotiations between the General Electric Company and a coalition of unions, confrontation looks increasingly possible. GE, whose 2010 profits were over $14.2 billion while it paid zero in 2010 federal income taxes, is seeking deep cuts in pensions, healthcare and other benefits to union workers. At […]
Calling Up Old Soldiers for the Reserve Army of Labor
Terry Everton is a cartoonist. Visit his blog Working Stiff Review at . See, also, Terry Everton, “Retirement Is for Pussies” (MRZine, 24 May 2011). Cf. “Civilian Labor Force Participation Rates by Age, Sex, Race, and Ethnicity” (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8 December 2010). | Print
Women Speaking Out on Trade: 2011 Labor Solidarity Delegation to Honduras
STITCH invites you to join us on a ten-day women’s delegation to Honduras as we assess the impact of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) five years later. Our labor solidarity delegation to Honduras, PUSHING BACK: WOMEN SPEAK OUT ON TRADE will take place July 27-August 06, 2011. Participants will meet with women […]
The Tea Party Creams Labor
To Tea Partiers and supporters of the Far Right, Madison, Wisconsin has become the latest “Shining City Upon a Hill,” where one of their courageous leaders, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, is waging a heroic battle to tame big government and balance the state’s budget. American Exceptionalism has always defined liberty as keeping government off […]
Statement of Principles and Call for International Trade Union Support for BDS
Occupied Palestine, 4 May 2011 — In commemoration of the first of May — a day of workers’ struggle and international solidarity — the first Palestinian trade union conference for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel (BDS) was held in Ramallah on 30 April 2011, organized by almost the entirety of the Palestinian trade […]
May Day Toast to the Workers of the World
“Let’s drink a toast to all those farmers, workers, artists and intellectuals of the last 100 years who without thought of fame and profit . . . worked tirelessly in their dream of a worldwide socialist revolution, who believed and hoped that a new world was dawning and that their work would contribute to […]
Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect
This 2011 edition of “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect” marks the 20th year the AFL-CIO has produced a report on the state of safety and health protections for America’s workers. This year is historic for workers’ safety and health. It is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, where 146 […]
Letter to the International Labor Organization
Excerpt: We demand that Ali Nejati, Fereydoun Nikoofard, Ghorban Alipour, Mohammad Heydari Mehr, Jalil Mohamadi, and Reza Rakhshan (who are all board members of the Haft Tapeh Trade Union), and Behrooz Nikoofard, another laid-off worker, be returned to work immediately. Full Text: See the letter in Persian: نامه سندیکای کارگران نیشکر هفت تپه به […]
Syria: Banias Refinery Workers March for Syria and Bashar
Could it be that Syrian refinery workers thought it wise to warn imperialists not to descend on Syria to liberate their oil and jobs from them in the name of liberating them from Bashar? — Ed. Tartous, Syria, 29 March 2011 Cf. “Syria is the only significant crude oil producing country in the Eastern Mediterranean […]
Ohio Senate Bill 5 to Be Voted on Wednesday — Show Your Opposition at the Statehouse
Against the strong will of Ohioans, the House Commerce and Labor Committee passed a version of Senate Bill 5 today that goes further in gutting the rights of workers and destroying the working middle class than the bill passed by the Senate. This blatant assault on working families, orchestrated by Gov. Kasich and his […]
President of Madison Firefighters after Senate Vote in Wisconsin
Joe Conway and The UpTake
Joe Conway, Madison Fire Fighters Local 311: This is a game changer for everybody here. . . . They took people’s rights away in a matter of minutes, . . . not playing by any rules at all. The UpTake: We’re hearing people talk about a call for a general strike. What do you […]
Position on Senate Bill 5
Excerpt: The bill allows an employer to refuse to talk to the union about subjects reserved to the exclusive purview of management and deletes the requirement that the continuation of a current provision of a collective bargaining agreement is a “mandatory subject” of collective bargaining. Those provisions put the safety of all employees at […]
State and Local Government Job Losses a Serious Drag on Weak Job Growth
The unemployment rate edged down to 8.9 percent in February, as the Labor Department reported that the economy generated 192,000 new jobs. This number is undoubtedly inflated some by the weather-weakened January performance, when the economy generated just 63,000 jobs. The unemployment rate has now dropped by 0.9 percentage points in the last three months. […]
From Egyptian Workers to American Workers: “We Stand with You as You Stood with Us”
Kamal Abbas is General Coordinator of the Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services, an umbrella advocacy organization for independent unions in Egypt. The CTUWS suffered repeated harassment and attack by the Mubarak regime and played a leading role in its overthrow. Abbas, who witnessed friends killed by the regime during the 1989 Helwan […]
Ohio State Troopers against Senate Bill 5
Testimony before the Insurance, Commerce, and Labor committee, 17 February 2011 Statehouse Mobilization against SB 5 and Kasich’s Anti-Worker Agenda Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Time: 1 PM Location: Ohio Statehouse, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus, OH Click here for more info. Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee for giving me the […]
Ohio Firefighters against Senate Bill 5
Testimony before the Insurance, Commerce, and Labor committee, 17 February 2011 Statehouse Mobilization against SB 5 and Kasich’s Anti-Worker Agenda Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Time: 1 PM Location: Ohio Statehouse, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus, OH Click here for more info. Chairman Bacon, Vice Chair Faber, Ranking Member Schiavoni, and all members of the […]
