Rudacille’s Tome: A Must-Read for Labor Buffs (Review) (tags)
In 1959, Bethlehem’ Sparrows Point plant, outside Baltimore, was “the largest steelworks in the world.” In its heyday, it employed 36,000 workers. Bethlehem went into bankruptcy in 2001, and many of its retirees at the “Point” got screwed out of their benefits. Deborah Rudacille’s book, “Roots of Steel,” recreates, via compelling “oral histories,” the history of the Point; the collapse of Bethlehem, an industrial titan; and the baleful impact that it had on the lives of its union workers and communities that they lived in.
AFL-CIO’s John J. Sweeney Fears “an American Nightmare!” (tags)
On April 8, 2008, John J. Sweeney said in Baltimore, MD, that the country is going down the tubes and dragging working class people with it. He’s the head of the national AFL-CIO. He added that in November: “We have an opportunity to reverse these awful trends.” On May 1, 2008, West coast dockworkers are calling a work stoppage to protest the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps, Mr. Sweeney will join them on the picket line. Stay tuned.
Misleaders’ Strategy Undermines Grocery Strike (tags)
"The strategy of relying on token informational pickets in in northern California, rather than extending the strike, is part of a loosing strategy by the UFCW bureaucrats that is defeating the strike. With a defeat in southern California it will be easy to extract concessions here. Victory will only come through real solidarity, with a militant rank and file class struggle leadership in the union that challenges the career bureaucrats for the continued life of the union!" --Steve Argue
SEIU is Getting even with a Senator (tags)
The state should investigate Tony Corcoran's claim that his union employer SEIU punished him for pension reforms 10/10/03