Paraphysique du coup de gueule (tags)
Tout faisant défense du capital...
Developing a common transformational project and building counter-power remains the central task of the left. Especially in areas of social infrastructure, such as housing and healthcare, profit maximization has a particularly devastating effect. The strategy of socialization, i.e. the transfer of private property into democratic structures, can provide orientation here.
Happy Anti-War Day! The weapons must be silent! (tags)
The DGB (the German alliance of unions) and its member unions, an important voice in the German peace movement, commemorate the barbaric consequences of war and fascism on September 1. Trade unionists fight for peace, democracy and freedom.
“An injury to one is the concern of all.” The events of 1886 – powerful displays of solidarity and mass strikes for an eight-hour work day followed by absolute abuses of state power in executing innocent labor organizers – continue to inspire workers to demand fair, just workplaces & laws.
To contain the pandemic in solidarity throughout Europe (tags)
In the fall of 2020, governments did the wrong thing. Although the infections were already increasing exponentially, they deliberately did not intervene or did not intervene sufficiently and weighed people in safety. It was not until November that they acted again, increasingly hasty and authoritarian.
Amazon's Meteoric Rise in World Capitalism (tags)
Amazon's meteoric rise is, in our view, a key moment in global capitalism. The company's rise to power reflects the increasing influence of neoliberal politics and corporate power in general. It represents a major shift in the global political economy, what we call Amazon capitalism.
SCOTUS is Giving Us a Ride (tags)
It's been a rough few weeks in 2018.
Basic Income: 80% of New Jobs are Low Wage (tags)
We must make crucial changes and need new approaches. Soon we willnot crate bad jobs but no jobs if the developments of 3D-printers, autonomous cars and further automation continue. Technical solutions will suddenly make countless people unemployed.
Philippines: Unions decry deceptive, vague ‘labor agenda’ of APEC (tags)
ORGANIZED workers sneered at the so-called labor agenda in the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila next month by describing it as deceptive and vague, which merely reaffirms APEC’s ideology based on the primacy of corporate power and profits over labor and trade union rights.
UK National Union of Students Joins BDS (tags)
Israel
Philippine President Aquino no longer deserves any support from workers and trade unions (tags)
THE workers and the trade unions throughout the world mark today the International Labor Day – 125th anniversary globally and 112th celebration here in the Philippines. This historic and revered day has been an enduring and stirring symbol for the working class despite serious setbacks caused by multipronged and systematic neoliberal attacks against the workers, the masses and their organizations, which have seriously threatened to dilute if not totally wipe out the hard-fought sociopolitical gains achieved by the labor movement in the past hundred years or so.
How Economists Change the World (tags)
Theory development is also a war over dominance. The goals of Hayek's war were expulsion of the Keynesians, liberalization of the financial markets, abandonment of full employment policy, dismantling the social state and weakening unions.
Labor Solidarity Demands a “No” Vote on Israel Boycott (tags)
The AAF currently consists of over 120 liberal and progressive scholars, affiliated with The Third Narrative, who are dedicated to combating academic boycotts and blacklists, defending freedom of expression and promoting empathy and civility in the debate over Israelis and Palestinians.
Climate Change and the Great Inaction, 20pp (tags)
More information at www.climateandcapitalism.com, www.commondreams.org, www.onthecommons.org, www.therealnews.com, www.truth-out.org, www.submedia.tv, www.citizen.org and www.worklessparty.org
The Uber-fication of the Democratic Party (tags)
For decades, the Democrats have been the workingperson's party, but no longer. Many important muck-e-mucks have abandoned the beleaguered worker.
Is AFT Pres Weingarten On The Take? (tags)
Is AFT President Randi Weingarten and other officials of the AFT/CFT and NEA/CTA taking millions of dollars from "non-profits" funded by union busters and privatizers such as the Gates Foundation, Broad Foundation and others is the question that attorney and education advocate Kathy Carroll answers
The Tiger and His Trainers (tags)
How preposterous to think we can avert the next crisis without regulating or shriveling the financial sector, addressing income inequality and radically rethinking the meaning and assumptions of economics? Hans-Jurgen Urban likens the financial crisis to a tiger breaking from his cage and sees the welfare state and unions as trainers
Labor Laws Learned by Studying OUR Walmart #2 (tags)
I'm not a labor lawyer, so this article doesn't condone anything or give legal advice. You should double check everything here.
Is Capitalism at an End? (tags)
The capitalist system in its current form is no longer fit for today's world. The system that led us into crisis has long been ourdated. The brave new world of neoliberalism lies in ruin. Surveys show that a majuority of people regard capitalism as unjust and unsocial.
Labor Leaders, Obamacare, and the Fate of the Unions (tags)
A funny thing happened a couple of months ago: labor leaders finally awoke from their coma and realized that Obamacare was not only bad for unions, but for working families in general.
Geekout Bookmarks 9/1/2013 (tags)
This is an irregular experimental feature to gather the links which I've posted to facebook and twitter over the past few days into a short digest. Most of the links are mainstream. I'll try to do better next time. Enjoy.
The AFL-CIO’s New Strategy: Inspiration or Hype? (tags)
After years of embarrassing denial, the AFL-CIO recently took its first baby step in addressing the crisis that has engulfed organized labor: it recognized there was a problem. In the run up to its national convention in early September in Los Angles, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka recently admitted that “what we’ve been doing isn’t working,” and consequently announced a new strategy that was, supposedly, a revolutionary break from the previously-failed strategy of organized labor.
A Big Victory For Oregon’s Biggest Union (tags)
After years of painful backsliding, the state workers of Oregon’s largest union, SEIU 503, recently stood firm and scored a big win in their contract negotiations against the state’s anti-union Democratic governor, John Kitzhaber.
Philippines: Another labor leader killed; second this month (tags)
BARELY two weeks after the death of Antonio “Dodong” Petalcorin, the transport leader who was murdered by a paid assassin in Davao City, another local leader of NCTU-APL in Cotabato City was gunned down in a brazen daytime attack again, which makes a mockery of justice and underscores the reign of impunity in the country.
Labor Solidarity in Neoliberal Structural Change (tags)
The self-regulating market and the invisible hand were neoliberal theories of Frederick August von Hayek and Milton Friedman. Submission to the market was described as a natural law, as natural and self-evident as the rotation of the planets. Solidarity and unions were decried as barriers.
Detroit’s Retired City Workers in the Crosshairs (tags)
With Detroit’s finances looking increasingly dire, the city’s creditors are beginning to face off with one another, each trying to minimize their losses. The city’s pension fund, which supports retired city workers, has found itself in direct conflict with a formidable opponent, the bondholders, individuals and institutions that gave the city money in order to enjoy the interest on the loan.
It's almost hidden on the ballot, but it's worth considering. It's a flawed proposition, and probably "toothless", but worth voting for.
A Curious New York Times Article on Teacher Evaluations (tags)
A recent New York Times article, “Curious Grade For Teachers: Nearly All Pass,” finds incredulous the idea that, “In Florida, 97 percent of teachers were deemed effective or highly effective in the most recent evaluations.” The author goes on to cite similar percentages in other states and concludes: “The teachers might be rated all above average, like students in Lake Wobegon, for the same reason that the older evaluation methods were considered lacking.” In other words, the teachers score well because the measuring standard is flawed. And this conclusion is reinforced by the observation that teachers’ high marks were achieved “even when students were falling behind.”
Democrats and Labor: A Tale of Abuse (tags)
The Democratic Party’s participation in the recent national “sequester” cuts is yet another big dent in their love affair with organized labor. But break-ups are often a protracted process. Before a relationship ends there is usually a gradual deterioration based on irreconcilable differences, until the split becomes inevitable. The decades-long marriage of labor unions and the Democratic Party is nearing such a divorce. Labor unions are becoming frustrated as the Democrats flaunt their affair with corporate America and Wall Street.
AFL-CIO’s Own Oil Disaster (tags)
With less than transparency, the AFL-CIO just issued a statement endorsing “expanding the nation’s pipeline system.” Although it did not explicitly endorse the Keystone XL pipeline, the labor federation nevertheless managed to extend its blessing to the project while hiding behind vague generalities. However, the logic of its position is unambiguous: the federation is in favor of extending pipelines in general and without qualification; the Keystone XL is a pipeline. Therefore logic compels us to infer that the federation supports the extension of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Why Organized Labor Must Stand Against the Keystone XL Pipeline (tags)
Spurred by real urgency over the corporate driven ruin of the environment, a growing social movement is taking shape that will be on display this Sunday, February 17, when tens of thousands descend on the streets of Washington, D.C. in a show of power titled “Forward On Climate.”
More Austerity Cuts Coming to the States (tags)
The Great Recession has quietly devastated public services on a state-by-state basis, with Republican and Democratic governors taking turns leading the charge. Public education has been decimated, as well as health care, welfare, and the wages and benefits of public sector workers. The public sector itself is being smashed. Since the recession began, states have made combined austerity cuts of at least $337 billion, according to the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities
How To Defend the Public Sector (tags)
The attacks on the public domain, particularly public education, social services, and the public sector unions that are linked to these services, are coming in rapid-fire succession, sometimes in an overwhelming barrage where the victims have little time to comprehend what is happening and respond effectively.
Longshore Struggle Brews on Both Coasts, Part 2 (tags)
In the Northwest, at the terminals on the Columbia River, Puget Sound, and Portland, Oregon, the membership of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) are on the defensive against the Northwest Grain Handlers Association (NWGHA). The conflict involves nearly 3,000 workers at terminals that handle a quarter of the nation’s grain exports.
Corporate Tax Breaks and Jobs (tags)
It has become an entrenched trend: corporations approach government officials and demand tax breaks, threatening to abandon the city, state or country if the politicians are not forthcoming.
Defeating “Right to Work” (tags)
The passage in Michigan of the anti-worker legislation grotesquely misnamed “Right to Work” (RTW) should be putting the entire nation on red alert. The downward pressure on the standard of living such bills unleash on the vast majority extend well beyond the union ranks. The bill’s success in Michigan, a pivotal state for organized Labor, indicates the unfolding of a national campaign by RTW’s backers.
Paul Krugman Discovers Marx (and Misses the Point) (tags)
In his recent New York Times op-ed piece, Princeton professor and regular columnist for The New York Times, Paul Krugman observed: The American economy is still, by most measures, deeply depressed. But corporate profits are at record high. It’s simple: profits have surged as a share of national income, while wages and other labor compensation are down. The pie isn’t growing the way it should — but capital is doing fine by grabbing an ever-larger slice, at labor’s expense.
Labor’s Call to Action: The Grand Bargain Betrayal (tags)
The labor movement is in terminal crisis. After decades of declining membership, the union movement has been targeted for destruction: private sector union membership is near eradication, and now the corporations are on a public-sector mopping up mission, using the city, state, and federal budget deficits as an excuse to target public sector unions. Obama’s Race to the Top education policy specifically targets the nation’s most powerful union workers, the teachers.
Will Unions Fight Fiscal Cliff Cuts to Medicare and Social Security? (tags)
With pro-Obama election posters still visible in most union halls across the country, the President has already taken steps towards selling out not only labor unions (again) but all working people. But this isn’t the “ordinary” sellout that working people have come to expect from Democrats — this is an attack of historic proportions.
Five Easy Post-Election Predictions (No Matter Who Wins) (tags)
It’s true that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have many political differences. But they also agree on many essential policies; enough to make the next four years easily predictable, no matter who wins.
Michigan’s Proposal 2: Labor’s Big Test (tags)
For some time now, Labor has been punched into a corner when it comes to state legislation. Over the last two years legislation has been passed in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan that has attempted to gut largely public workers of their union rights.
Airline unions to join PALEA in “Global Day of Action” (tags)
Airline unions are set to join the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) in a “Global Day of Action against Outsourcing” spanning four continents on Thursday. The September 27 action coincides with the anniversary of PALEA’s protest last year that led to the cancellation of all flights of Philippine Airlines and marked the start of a bitter fight over contractualization at the flag carrier.
U.S. Labor Movement Faces Choice of "Lesser Evils" in Coming Presidential Election (tags)
Interview with Steve Early, union organizer and author, conducted by Scott Harris
And The Workers Suffered (tags)
Politics has become so much a show about the candidates. We love a good show, after all the film industry as we know it and Hollywood were born right here in the good old USA. I'm a huge movie person, and the things that remove us from our everyday struggles for a small time, and don't leave us with life destroying addictions and/ or blow apart our bonds with the people we are closest to, are good things. After all, the people that actually do the work that build the wealth and corporations into what they are deserve it.
Labor Radicalism Alive & Well in U.S., Smith Says (tags)
Author and activist Sharon Smith came to San Diego to speak to Occupy San Diego's Labor Solidarity Committee, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) and other community members September 1, but it was her unannounced co-speaker -- a teachers' union activist from Chicago identified only as Becca -- who galvanized the crowd. Smith used the Chicago teachers' union struggle as an example that radical labor activism in the U.S. is alive and well despite decades of repression from the ruling class.
How Unions Could do Better (tags)
Workers Action has a new article on by Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer titled “How Unions Could Do Much Better.”
All Eyes on Chicago's Teachers (tags)
It’s impossible to exaggerate the national importance of the teachers’ struggle in Chicago. If the Chicago teachers’ union — 26,000 members strong — goes on strike, many critical yet ignored political issues will go into the national spotlight, exposing nastiness that many politicians and labor leaders would like ignored until after the presidential elections.
Money, Power, and Politics (tags)
There has been much talk recently about the impact of money on politics, especially in the wake of the Citizens United ruling that has ratcheted up the role of corporate money in political campaigns. Organized labor was quick to blame this ruling for its defeat in Wisconsin. And many have assumed that the relation of money to politics is like a law of nature: the more money one has, the more political power one can wield.
Republicrats Campaign About Jobs and Do Nothing About High Unemployment (tags)
Recently, Mitt Romney made a stop on his “Jobs Tour” in upper Bucks County, Pennsylvania just outside of Philadelphia. His appearance was supposed to be, interestingly, at a local WAWA store (for those out-of-state, WAWA is a convenience store chain) Why is this interesting? Because WAWA, like so many employers these days, is a low wage, no benefit “job creator.”
The U.S. Labor Movement at the Crossroads, in the Crosshairs (tags)
The labor movement had better do some deep soul searching, and fast. Although the defeat in Wisconsin is the horrible end to a local drama, the corporate winners hope to turn their victory into the beginning chapter of a national novel.
AFL-CIO Declares Victory in Wisconsin in the Face of Defeat (tags)
In the wake of the Wisconsin elections and the failure to unseat Governor Walker, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has issued a victory statement of sorts, resorting to the most tortured and convoluted logic.
The Taft-Hartley Act: ‘Neutrality’ as a weapon (tags)
All the new rules put into place by the act were directed against employees, despite the neutral-sounding language.
The Left, Labor and Occupy (tags)
Barely half a year after it burst on the scene, the Occupy Wall Street movement is splintering left and right. This was inevitable in a movement that was united only in what it opposed and could never put forward a positive program, whether of reformist "demands" on the capitalist state or of revolutionary action against it. Liberals, who latched onto Occupy hoping it could pressure the Democratic Party in a more populist direction, want to expel "black bloc" anarchists. Reformist social democrats rail against "ultraleftists" in Occupy and cozy up to the labor tops. On the other side, many (but not all) anarchists oppose unions. Some are simply arrogant petty-bourgeois labor haters. Others are grappling with real problems, but with skewed analysis and dead wrong conclusions. Discussion of recent workers' struggles, from Wisconsin to West Coast longshore, underlines that the key question is leadership, but not just replacing one set of bureaucrats with another. Unions have always faced vicious anti-labor laws, but we have the power to defeat them. It is necessary to drive out the pro-capitalist bureaucracy, the labor lieutenants of capital, in order to turn the unions into instruments of revolutionary class struggle.
PHILIPPINES: Sentro, Nagkaisa herald new era of labor unity (tags)
THOUSANDS of trade unionists and activists poured into the streets of Manila and other key cities to celebrate May Day amid renewed hopes that the two latest efforts at labor unity will provide strong impetus to their uphill battle for labor and trade union rights.
Philippine unions support campaign of workers in Hyatt hotels in US (tags)
TRADE unions and other organizations picketed today the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila in the Malate area to air their support to the global campaign to boycott the Hyatt chain of hotels prompted by the rampant abuses against the workers in several Hyatt hotels in the US, even as they recall the almost similar plight suffered by the workers in the shuttered Hyatt Regency Manila.
Filipino workers band together for a stronger labor front (tags)
SENTRO vows to fight for wages, secure jobs and other long-standing issues
The Unions, the Millionaires Tax, and the Road to Success (tags)
This winter the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) sent tremors of hope through its ranks by announcing it was going to spearhead an attempt to place an initiative on the California ballot — appropriately called the “Millionaires Tax” — that would raise taxes only on millionaires (3 percent on those making more than $1 million; 5 percent on those making more than $2 million).
The Struggle for Leadership Within “Leaderless” Occupy (tags)
The current debate that has erupted within Occupy circles was built into this movement’s foundation. It has been sparked by much needed soul searching in the wake of a series of confrontations with the police, most notably in Oakland, that ended disastrously.
The Rule of Supply-Side Economists (tags)
Supply-side economists dominate wherever one looks in politics, economics and the media. That wages and salaries are not onl.y costs but also demand usually doesn't interest supply-side economists.
Some Critical Notes on the Nov. 2 Oakland General Strike (tags)
Remember, remember,the second of Novemeber -- and what can be imporved on next time...
What is a General Strike? (tags)
What is a General Strike?
Philippines: PALEA holds motorcade on the 30th day of its protest vs. outsourcing (tags)
Also in commemoration of PALEA’s 30th day of protest against contractualization, solidarity actions were held in San Francisco and Los Angeles by US unions and the Filipino-American community. In San Francisco, the groups picketed the Philippine consulate and PAL ticketing office, and submitted a letter of concern to Deputy Consul General Alfonso Ver.
Bank Transfer Day, November 5th – Prepare Now to Move Your Money (tags)
When you keep your money in a local financial institution, that money in turn is reinvested in local businesses, which is important for building a stable economy and encouraging local growth. Put your money in the big Wall Street banks however, and they will use your deposits to make risky investments, gambling at the expense of the economy as a whole.
Occupy Wall Street: Protesters arrested 900--Bankers 0. We are the 1% (tags)
The Labor hierarchy is concerned about the influence the Occupy movement might have on the Unions' rank and file and will enter the Occupy movement in order to temper it, derail it and send it in to the Democratic Party as they did with the Madison events. The Occupy movement should beware the hierarchy and Labor's "official" representatives and welcome the rank and file worker.
The Labor Movement in Portland, Oregon, Takes a Step Forward (tags)
On only the second sunny weekend of the year in Portland, Oregon, 60 plus labor activists decided to spend their Saturday at the Electricians union hall (IBEW Local 48), at the United Labor Strategy Meeting ? an event unlike any other happening in the country. What made the meeting unique was both its perspective and the diversity of unions that participated.
Attack on Democratic Traditions (tags)
The situation of the US public budget is really dramatic. This indebtedness is the result of excessive military spending and the neoliberal policy launched at the beginning of the 1980s. A progressive counter-movement in the form of a broad Obama coalition is emerging.
Education of the Homo Oeconomicus (tags)
The school system should not only produce students with a narrowed economic view. Society consists of more than the sum of benefit-maximizing individuals.An economic system with fewer income differences, regulated financial markets and welfare state brings greater stability.
Labor Representatives Under Attack, Seek Queer Democrats’ Help (tags)
Three San Diego union leaders — Central Labor Council CEO/secretary-treasurer Lorena Gonzalez, Municipal Employees’ Association general manager Michael Zucchet, and SEIU Local 221 head Eric Banks — spoke to the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club April 28 on the state of the local labor movement. They focused on the attacks on public workers by the Republican party and the radical Right, which is aimed not only at driving public-sector wages and benefits below those offered by the private sector but also denying the one source of substantial campaign funding available to Democrats and thereby winning elections by eliminating effective competition. They also talked about the Right-wing bias of San Diego’s media and their success in demonizing public workers’ pensions as the source of San Diego’s financial ills.
Downtown March for Workers' Rights (tags)
Saturday, March 26, 2011
LOS ANGELES - Approximately 20,000 marchers demonstrated their support for unions and the right to collectively bargain.
March 26 Labor Solidarity March Photos (tags)
Photo copyright 2011 David Sachs / SEIU. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike.
March 26 Labor Solidarity March Photos (tags)
Photos by Chris Valle.
March 26 Labor Solidarity March Photos (tags)
Photos by joiseyboyy on flickr.
March 26 Labor Solidarity March Photos (tags)
Photos by Slobodan Dimitrov.
Wisconsin: For a General Strike Now! (tags)
A law challenging the very existence unions of government workers has just been rammed through the legislature in Wisconsin. In addition, wages have been slashed by up to 10 percent to make up for cuts to health insurance and pensions. The labor movement and workers nationwide and internationally are vividly aware of the stakes. There has been a lot of talk in the last three weeks about a general strike. The Wisconsin South Central Labor Federation even voted to authorize one. But now that the moment of truth has arrived, the union bureaucrats have gotten cold feet. They are doing everything to prevent strike action and instead to divert anger at this vicious law into a drive to recall Republican senators, to be replaced by Democrats, whose “alternative” budget bill would also have drastically slashed wages and benefits. There should be no delay: this is the hour for powerful labor action. A general strike is needed to shut down Wisconsin now!
Promises, Promises: Obama Rebuffs Invites to Stand with [Wisconsin] Workers (tags)
Send Obama and the Democrats a message and change your voter registration status to "Green Party" or "Peace & Freedom"! (Last years' Prop. 14 eliminated partisan primary elections, so there's really isn't any reason left to be a registered Democrat). Postage-paid voter registration cards are available at most libraries and post offices -- fill out one today!
BTL:Union Solidarity Mobilization in Madison May Signal Political Realignment in Wisconsin (tags)
BETWEEN THE LINES - A four-time winner of the Connecticut Associated Press Broadcast Award for Best Feature in the non-commercial category, this syndicated, half-hour program provides a platform for individuals and spokespersons from progressive organizations generally ignored or marginalized by the mainstream media. Between the Lines covers a wide range of political, economic and social topics.
THEY CORRUPTED & COLLUDED WITH THESE U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE$ LIKE CLARENCE THOMA$.... (tags)
UNTIL CLARENCE THOMAS RESIGNS FROM THE PEOPLES U.S. SUPREME COURT,LAWYERS FOR POOR AMERICANS WILL BE FORCED 2 CONTINUE ASKING FOR A FULL U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT & U.S.CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION INTO THIS OBVIOUS FRONTING OF CORPORATE AMERICA & ELSEWHERE TO GAIN POLITICAL VOTES WITH CERTAIN U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICES INVOLVED WITH LAST JANUARYS LEGAL DECISION CONCERNING ALLOWING INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL CORPORATE UNLIMITED SECRET POLITICAL 501C4 SLU$H TO INFLUENCE OUR FUTURE USA ELECTIVE PROCE$$.
Why All Workers Should Support Unions (tags)
It's official: Republicans have declared war on organized labor. Unclear to millions of unorganized workers is whether or not they should care. Thanks to years of right wing propaganda -- and labor union inertia -- millions of Americans are "union skeptics," unsure as to the nature of the union animal. These fence-straddlers have no direct experience with organized labor, but they will be absolutely crucial participants in this war of corporate power versus working people.
Over 1,000 Turn Out in San Diego to Support Wisconsin Workers (tags)
Over 1,000 people turned out for a rally outside the San Diego County Administrative Center February 26 at noon to support Wisconsin's unionized public workers against the threat by Governor Scott Walker and the Republican majority in the state legislature to pass a bill essentially eliminating the right of the state's public employees to unionize and bargain collectively. A wide range of speakers, including union activists, community leaders and elected officials, said that if Walker's bill and similar ones in other states pass, it will essentially mark the end of the American middle class. The rally was part of a nationwide mobilization, and many of those who braved the cold and the rain to attend mentioned that the protesters in Wisconsin itself are sleeping out in the cold and snow in weather far worse than that in San Diego.
Wisconsin: Ground Zero to Save Public Worker Rights (tags)
worker struggles
Wisconsin governor raises stakes in union fight with threat of job losses (tags)
Republican Scott Walker warns Wisconsin he will fire state workers if his union-busting bill does not pass
Wisconsin Labor Leads 2d American Revolution (tags)
One year ago, on March 4, California students and teachers had a one-day strike for education, but nothing has improved because we did not have a general strike. Today, Wisconsin workers are striking and protesting the planned Democrat-Republican attack on the workingclass so as to maximize the profits of the capitalist class. The whole country should join this 2d American Revolution with all deliberate speed.
Egypt's Spirit Lands in Wisconsin (tags)
protest
The Two Roads Out of Recession (tags)
Recent events in Washington, D.C. should provoke fear and outrage in the average American worker. As the jobs recession staggers on, politicians and labor leaders alike seem bizarrely distanced from reality, unable to advance any ideas that remotely correspond to the basic demands of those tens of millions of unemployed, under-employed, or poorly paid workers. Instead, what we get is President Obama's recent groveling to the corporate-dominated Chamber of Commerce, pleading with them to hire workers. The President's recent speech to the Chamber implied many dangers, which neither labor federation-- AFL-CIO and Change to Win -- bothered to point out. In fact, the AFL-CIO applauded sections of the speech, rather than condemning its sinister motives. If labor unions align themselves with the President's and the Chamber's pro-corporate path out of the recession, a workers’ road to recovery will be bypassed.
BTL:Coordinated Attacks Target Public Employees Unions Across the U.S. (tags)
BETWEEN THE LINES - A four-time winner of the Connecticut Associated Press Broadcast Award for Best Feature in the non-commercial category, this syndicated, half-hour program provides a platform for individuals and spokespersons from progressive organizations generally ignored or marginalized by the mainstream media. Between the Lines covers a wide range of political, economic and social topics.
Waging War on American Workers (tags)
targeting the middle class
Labor's Last Stand in 2011? (tags)
The stage is set, and the main actors in Congress and in the corporate establishment are ready to perform, having rehearsed behind closed doors for the coming assault on organized labor's most powerful sector, public workers. The final preparations were smoothed out in Obama's tax "compromise" with the Republicans, which gave details of the drama's first act. The tax plan purposely did not include a critical element for state funding, called the Build America Bonds program (BAB), which allows recession-sunk states to easily borrow money from the federal government. In the face of enormous deficits, the states would be left to drown. Reuters blogger James Pethokoukis explains:
The neoliberal growth strategy ofr reducing the price of labor led to a system change from Keynesianism to neoliberal capitalism. Neoliberals never sought full employment. Rather their policy aimed at the permanent division of society.
Labor Wars in NY, Gov Workers in CA Better Prepare (tags)
The NY State budget is a mess, and the construction unions have joined up with Gov. Cuomo to attack public sector workers.
Seven Reasons Why the Economy Can't Recover (tags)
As the recession grinds on, politicians in most industrial countries have an incentive to make exaggerated claims about the supposed coming economic recovery. Some say the recession is over. Obama is in the group that claims we're on "the road to recovery,” while other nations can only spot recovery "on the horizon.” Below are seven important social phenomena that point to a more realistic economic and political outlook. 1) Central Banks are Dumbfounded. The usual tricks that U.S. and European central banks use to avoid recessions are long-exhausted. Interest rates cannot get any lower. And because cheap money wasn't working, the printing press was turned up a notch, into what the U.S. federal reserve calls quantitative easing -- injecting hundreds of billions of dollars into the world economy, escalating an emerging trade war.
UAW: Reform or rebellion? (tags)
"History shows that every gain won by American workers was the result of militant struggles in opposition to the corporate establishment and both big business parties. The very right to have a union, as well as the eight-hour day, child labor laws, overtime pay, health benefits, etc. was won in often bloody struggles against the violent resistance of the employers and the government. Whenever the Democrats, under the threat of revolution, conceded concessions to workers’ demands, they did so to smother the social movement so they could claw back the workers’ gains at a later point."
France: More strikes, opposition to social austerity (tags)
"At Université Lyon-2, students gathered to vote on future action and protest the detention of demonstrators at Corbas prison, according to an account in Lyon-Capitale. They criticized the unions and also bourgeois “left” parties such as the Socialist Party (PS) and its presumed 2012 presidential candidate, Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Strauss-Kahn is currently the head of the International Monetary Fund, where he pressed for massive austerity policies and wage cuts to be imposed on Greek workers in exchange for an IMF bailout, during this spring’s Greek debt crisis. One Lyon student said: “We’re in the street because we have had enough of Sarkozy. We had had enough of [ex- President Jacques] Chirac before and we will have had enough of Strauss-Kahn.... What we do not want anymore is Sarkozy, capitalism, and globalization.”
French Lessons for U.S. Workers (tags)
The world watches as France once again erupts in protests, demonstrations, and strikes. So much is at stake. If France's corporate-dominated government is able to increase the retirement age, other governments will be empowered to follow through with their plans to do the same. If labor, student, and community groups succeed in stopping the pension reform -- or toppling the government -- workers in other countries will likewise be inspired to fight back and organize in the French fashion.
The Struggle for a Workers' Recovery (tags)
Stocks are booming; the Dow Jones soared past 11,000; the very wealthy are bursting from their financial seams. Meanwhile, mass unemployment continues, with 95,000 more jobs -- mostly teachers -- lost in September. As millions of Americans sink into desperation, President Obama continues to preach the good word of optimism, based on the gospel of "private sector job growth."
The Bi-Partisan Attack on Public Workers (tags)
States everywhere across the United States are facing the common enemy of extreme budget deficits. Many states have deficits in the multi-billion dollar realm, as the budget crises dominate the debates for the upcoming gubernatorial elections. In these debates, Republican and Democratic candidates are finding it difficult to disagree on the most essential issues around the budget crises. The most crucial question for any incoming governor must be: how will you resolve the state’s budget crisis? The answer from both parties is a resounding: “Public workers and those who depend on their services will pay for the crisis”!
After October 2, What Next? (tags)
The October 2nd demonstration in Washington, D.C., is a great step forward. We are now beginning to take matters into our own hands, relying on ourselves, and acting collectively.
Jerry Brown Widens the Chasm Between Labor and the Democratic Party (tags)
With the November elections rapidly approaching, most Americans are unimpressed and uninvolved, having concluded that elections have changed little in their struggling lives, despite all the promises of politicians.
We Can’t Defeat the Capitalist Offensive Without Changing Our Unions (tags)
The struggle against the concessionary policies of the Union hierarchy is harder than fighting the boss but we can’t defeat the boss without changing our Unions
Teachers and Democrats Head for Divorce (tags)
It’s best to quickly recognize the red flags in any failing relationship. This way, ties can be severed instead of allowing things to linger forever in dysfunction. For Democrats and teachers’ unions, the writing is on the wall. The two are simply going in opposite directions. The Democrats continue on the road to corporate-inspired charter schools, using the tried and true method of “stronger teacher evaluations” to undermine “underperforming” schools and teachers — thus opening the door wide to private charter schools with their non-union workforce.
Employers and Labor Leaders Pressure Muni Drivers to Reverse Vote (tags)
The collaboration between employers and the heads of organized Labor is forced more in to the open as the polarization between the classes grows. There is no room for pretense anymore.
Labor Under the Democrats #1 (tags)
Labor article 1
The Rift between Teachers and Democrats Widens (tags)
The corporate media is brutally honest on rare occasions. Take for example a recent article in The New York Times Magazine, titled The Teachers’ Union’s Last Stand (05-23-10). The title itself is surprisingly sincere, since it admits that the nation’s teachers are being targeted for attack by the Obama Administration, through his “Race to the Top” education reform. And although the article has an inherently corporate bias, it contains many revelations that have been otherwise ignored in the mainstream media.
Labor Day statements from the Philippines (tags)
LABOR URGED TO USE LABOR VOTE TO ADVANCE LABOR AGENDA . May 1 protest demands a stop to layoffs and contractualization.
Privatization of Courthouse Security Awarded to G4S Wackenhut Draws Criticism (tags)
Guy James, President of the Federal Contract Guards of America FCGOA said " the privatization of courthouse security awarded to G4S Wackenhut shows how the county can save money, however the need for tougher background checks of all private contract guards needs to be addressed at both the federal, state and county levels to ensure the safety of all who may enter these buildings are protected".
Dueling Strategies in the Defense of Public Education, Part I (tags)
The massive turnout across the state of California on March 4 in defense of public education provides indisputable evidence that this movement is just at the beginning stage. And much credit is due to the countless number of students, staff, and teachers who committed many, many hours of their time, tirelessly organizing for March 4; without this dedication, the event would have sputtered to a stop.
Why Teachers Unions Matter (tags)
Nowadays a newspaper cannot be opened — or a TV turned on — without one being subjected to anti-teacher misinformation. The anti-teacher hysteria looks diverse on the surface, but underneath, this public controversy seeks to dislodge teachers unions: the right-wing trashes teachers’ unions outright, while the “liberal” media takes a more subtle, sophisticated approach, blaming the state of public education on “bad teachers” who must be fired and replaced. Both styles are the same in essence.
The Democrats are Coming After Social Security (tags)
It’s official: the Democrats are coming after Social Security and Medicare. How refreshing that all the backroom scheming and political conspiring is finally out in the open. Before, the corporate elite had been having this conversation in private, via right-wing think tanks and business journals. Now, mainstream media is promoting these ideas, including the Democrat’s media mouthpiece — The New York Times. In a three-page editorial, entitled The Truth about the Deficit, The New York Times gives its solution to the country’s debt problems. The main idea is summed up here:
How Liberals Strengthen the Right Wing (tags)
The Democrats look around, blindly, after losing their long-held Senate seat in Massachusetts, and with it their Senate super-majority. They wrongly blame the voters, or their “populist” opponent, but rarely themselves. The Democrats’ claim to be “shocked,” but this scenario is now too familiar in the U.S. two-party system — that corporate-owned game of political musical chairs. Just when it seemed that the Democrats could finally “do something” — since they had a year of super-majority status in the Senate — a wrench was somehow thrown in the machinery.
Fighting Company Union Ideology (tags)
The evolution of the company union in the U.S. is a history of both labor’s progress and its missteps. It is a story that, at bottom, speaks to the battle of workers to find an independent, powerful presence on the job — and to push this clout into the community to help shape the broader public realm. Unions came into existence organically wherever capitalism developed. As soon as workers were brought together by a small number of employers and compelled to make profits for them, the employees naturally sought to defend themselves. A living wage and decent working conditions failed to emerge through the good will of the employers, unfortunately, so workers took matters into their own hands.
Labor for Palestine: Open Letter to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Boycott Apartheid Is (tags)
In the 1980s, as president of the United Mine Workers, you rightly argued that, "economic pressure and political isolation of the South African government can hasten the day when justice and freedom reign in that troubled land." Two decades later, the cause of "justice and freedom" for Palestinians requires no less of you as president of the AFL-CIO.
The war on public-sector unions (tags)
The biggest headlines have come out of California, where 193,000 state workers have suffered pay cuts of at least 14 percent because of "furlough" days, while thousands more have endured layoffs.
AFL-CIO’s Dull, Narrowly-Based Culture Has No Appeal to Young Working People (tags)
Harry's over 90 years old, but he's nailed one of the big problems of the AFL-CIO's labor movement - it has no appeal to young working people. It's a bunch of old people - grandparents and great-grandparents.
The Bosses Have the Public Sector in Their Sights. (tags)
Years of collaboration and concessions by the heads of organized Labor have paved the way for the aggressive attacks and confidence the employers are displaying now. These concessionary policies have been a catastrophe for workers leading to much unnecessary suffering.
Its Time for A Change at UGSOA. Hough For UGSOA President 2010 (tags)
Its Time The UGSOA Executive Board is Fairly Represented by People of Color!
Facts for Working People (tags)
Facts for Working People on Education * Capitalism Loves Education...to death! * Charter Schools- a move to privitize education * Teachers- Why you shouldn't work "off the clock" * Teaching " to the test" Poor Children Left Behind * Bailout vs Public Education * Detroit Education Strike
Furlough? Hell No! Cutback? Fight back! UCR Walkout (tags)
In one of the largest campus-based demonstrations in recent memory, UCR students, faculty, and staff joined together to protest tuition hikes and the budget cuts that are prompting furloughs and bad-faith bargaining with UC workers' unions.
Obama's Empty Labor Day Speech (tags)
President Obama is a friend of the working people…one day a year. The rest of the year he is rewarding banks with bailouts and war contractors with more war. On Labor Day, workers were offered nothing of substance, just kind words. Obama began his speech by spending an excessive amount of time exaggerating the leadership abilities of both AFL-CIO officials and Ohio’s Democratic representatives. The motive was simple: the “partnership” between organized labor and the Democratic Party is central to the languishing existence of the two-party system, while helping to keep the labor movement in an equal state of decline and decay.
Betrayals Continue as Trumka Takes the Helm at the AFL-CIO (tags)
The partnership between the heads of organized Labor and the employers strengthens as Trumka dumps EFCA after spending millions of dollars of member's hard earned dues money getting our enemies elected in to office.
With Amanda Villatoro, of CSA: CRF must be recognized as an occupational illness (tags)
http://www.rel-uita.org/agricultura/agrotoxicos/irc/2009/con_amanda_villatoro-eng.htm
The Democrats vs. Public Education (tags)
Public education in the United States is under heavy attack. And because a so-called “progressive” President is leading the charge, many education activists have been lulled to sleep while on lookout duty. Obama recently announced his “race to the top” program to “reform” education. Much like Bush’s No Child Left Behind, Obama’s plan represents progress for education in name only.
BOYCOTT FLOR DE CAÑA: WORKERS PROTEST CKF (IRC / CKD) CAMPAIGN AGAINST GRUPO PELLAS (tags)
Informative article on the march of Ingenio San Antonio and Compañía Licorera workers and main union leaders to reject discrediting campaign against Grupo Pellas and Flor de Cana Boycott initiated by ANAIRC and UITA.
The San Francisco Strike of 1934: It’s Lessons Today (tags)
The progressive sector of the US labor movement marked July 5, 1934 - a day striking labor unions called "Bloody Thursday" - a turning point in the history of working people on the West Coast. On that day, strikes, riots, tear gas and armed troops on the San Francisco waterfront 1934 strike still had an impact that is still felt to this day. "I think it is still relevant to the Bay Area," said Kevin Starr, the pre-eminent historian of California who wrote about the strike in "Endangered Dreams," a history of California in the Great Depression.
Democrats and Republicans Join Hands Over Immigration (tags)
Even the most optimistic Obama supporter should cringe in response to the White House’s recent “bi-partisan immigration talks.” What could Democrats and Republicans possibly have in common over immigration? Quite a lot it turns out. An enormous sell-out is being prepared for the U.S. immigrant population and Latinos especially — who came out in record numbers in many swing states to vote for Obama last year. Attached to these votes are huge expectations.
The Great Divide-Iran and Leftists (tags)
A discussion of the great divergence of opinion among leftists about the situation in Iran
Labor Leaders Put All “Our” Eggs in the NLRB and EFCA Baskets (tags)
Worker’s relying on our own strength and not the courts will drive back the capitalist’s offensive.
Labour for Palestine: Second Issue of Jafa Now Available! (tags)
Labour for Palestine is pleased to announce the second issue of Jafa - Labour Bulletin in Solidarity with Palestine.
Bailout Jobs, Not Banks! (tags)
The real state of German public finance is kept secret from the public although the public should pay the bill. Union leaders parrot the fairy-tale of the evil bankers who alone caused the whole debacle. Automakers produce for the storage yard
Unions and Patients Demonstrate Photo Addendum (tags)
Additional photography from the May 22, 2009 Los Angeles Care Giver and Patient protest
How New York Fought the Budget Defecit and Won (tags)
While nearly every state is facing severe budget deficits, New York State showed how to balance the budget without completely destroying the social safety net. New York took a few progressive steps forward in balancing the budget and painted a more sensible picture of “shared sacrifice” than what the average politician has proposed. Instead of sacrificing social programs and increasing taxes that affect primarily workers, two new tax brackets were created for New York’s wealthier citizens, generating 4 billion dollars in state revenue. Prior to the new budget, New York’s highest tax rate was 6.85 percent, for anyone making $20,000 or more. The additional tax brackets are 7.85% and 8.97% for those whose income is more than $300,000 and $500,000. These new rates are temporary and set to expire in 3 years. According to the Times-Union, "In broad strokes, the agreement closes the state's estimated $16.2 billion budget deficit through $6 billion in federal stimulus dollars, $6 billion in cuts to an array of programs, and $4 billion in new revenue through an increase in the personal income tax on affluent New Yorkers." The grassroots movement that pushed this “wealthy tax” forward not only asked that new tax brackets remain permanent but also asked for a third tax bracket on New Yorkers earning $1 million or more annually, which would have raised an additional billion dollars.
Open Letter to the Labor Research Association: Don’t Honor Israeli Apartheid (tags)
As head of the Jewish Labor Committee (JLC), Stuart Appelbaum leads the witch-hunt against labor bodies in South Africa and around the world that support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid.
Carwash Campaign Highlights Success of Community-Labor Teamwork (tags)
by James Parks, copied from the AFL-CIO Blog.
A Union for the Jobless (tags)
With unemployment in LA over 10%, and probably closer to 20% in our working class communities, the time has come for an organization for the unemployed. Harry Kelber is a writer whose been in the labor movement since the 1930s, a real veteran.
BTL:Iraqi Unions Form New Labor Confederation (tags)
BETWEEN THE LINES Syndicated Radio Newsmagazine
The Fight Continues For The Employee Free Choice Act EFCA and The Truth! (tags)
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) today repeated his intent on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to block a Senate vote on the Employee Free Choice Act, despite his past support of the bill. The bill hasn’t changed—so why has Specter flipped?
targeting labor rights
Adam Turl reports on the bosses' backlash against the Employee Free Choice Act--and analyzes the shortcomings of organized labor's strategy.
EFCA Civil Rights Leaders Urge Passage of Employee Free Choice (tags)
EFCA: Today, on the eve of the anniversary of King’s assassination, national civil rights leaders called for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act
Employee Free Choice Act: Union Organizer Dir. Available For Comment or Debate on the EFCA (tags)
Union Organizer Director / Union Busting Expert with over 30 Years Experience is Available to Comment or Debate opposing opposition on the merits, Facts and Truth of WHY we need the Employee Free Choice Act
The Emerging Healthcare Sell-out (tags)
As the animal kingdom proves daily, it’s extremely difficult to build consensus between predator and prey. The national debate over healthcare contains a similarly unbridgeable gap, this time along class lines. One example of this is the recent departure of labor unions AFSCME and SEIU from the coalition Healthcare Reform Dialogue. This group is dominated by the very people who want to change nothing about the U.S. healthcare system: insurance companies, drug companies, and various mega-corporations.
Employee Free Choice Act: The Enemies of Unions and The Lies They Tell (tags)
Corporate leaders see the proposed Employee Free Choice Act as a grave threat--and they'll say and do just about anything to prevent its passage.
Can we rebuild the labor movement with the Employee Free Choice Act? (tags)
Much has been said in the United States labor movement around the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a bill many mainstream leaders tout as the solution to the decline of unions. With the recent election of Barrack Obama and the Democratic Party holding the majority of seats in both houses of the US Congress, these same leaders have their hearts set that their millions of dollars in campaign contributions will pay off with the passage of the bill.
Hundreds March for Employee Free Chocie (tags)
This SEIU focused video shows some of the march. Please note that some 40 unions marched to raise awareness of Employee Free Choice.
How to Start a Union in Ten Steps (tags)
(below are the lessons taken from a successful organizing drive in 1997) 1) Be the best worker at your workplace If you are to influence your co-workers to join a union, you’d better already have their respect at work. This doesn’t mean that you must be the absolute best, but that you are a leader and rank among one of the best. This first step is the all-important foundation for your effort, directly or indirectly affecting EVERY other step toward forming a union. It helps also to be the best liked co-worker. Not that you need to be prom-king/queen popular, but that you are easily approachable, social, and generally kind. In being so, you’ll make your job of talking with your co-workers about a union – which constitutes 95% of the work of organizing — MUCH easier. If your trust is earned as a good worker and friend, you can better expect that your ideas will be not only better received, but kept away from management during the initial stage of secrecy.
For Media, ‘Employee Free Choice Act' Promise Is One to Break (tags)
Corporate outlets suddenly discover ‘workers rights’ If corporate media really cared about workers rights, there probably would have been more than zero stories on those rights on the nightly broadcast news in the last year.And labor representatives would likely have provided more than the not quite 0.2 percent of nightly news sources found in a recent survey (Extra!, 5–6/02). Yet we are to believe that concern for workers rights drives some elite media to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).
Unions grew under card check, and shrank under secret ballots.
Watch out for employers' attorneys writing as guest columnists on the Employee Free Choice (tags)
January 14, 2009 By Stephanie Kraft There's no law to keep newspapers from grabbing whatever comes across an editor's desk and cramming it into a column with the discreet disclaimer "Viewpoint."
Myth vs. Reality: The REALITY is the Employee Free Choice Act Helps American Workers (tags)
As more and more working Americans struggle to make ends meet, the ability to form a union is key to the economic stability, health, and well-being of American families. Union workers’ median weekly earnings are 30 percent higher than those of non-union workers, union workers are 63 percent more likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance, and union workers are 77 percent more likely to have short-term disability benefits. According to a recent poll, nearly 60 percent of Americans would join a union if they could. (AFL-CIO, “The Union Difference: Union Advantage by the Numbers.”)
Workers Understand Democracy, Say Pass Employee Free Choice Act (tags)
Almost eight in 10 Americans support legislation that would make it easier for workers to join or organize labor unions, according to a new national survey from Peter D. Hart and Associates released this week.
Gov. Schwarzenneger declares war on California workers (tags)
California's Gov. Schwarzenegger has launched a full-scale attack on state workers. Two public employee unions are suing California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to stop a scheme imposing two unpaid days off per month as a cost-cutting measure. (Associated Press, Dec. 22, 2008) The state government is slashing health services and education programs. Under Schwarzenegger’s plan, University of California, California State University and state community colleges will be forced to lay off workers and make other employees accept unpaid furlough days. (Los Angeles Times, Dec. 20, 2008)
Venezuela: Trade unionism between the servile bureaucracy and the hired killers (tags)
* In the difficult times being experienced by the Venezuelan labour movement, perhaps the most dramatic issue have been the criminal acts that kills tens of trade unionists to the passivity of the pseudo-revolutionary government and the silence of his admirers from outside the country. It speaks about it this text of El Libertario # 55, January-February 2009.
Venezuela: Trade unionism between the servile bureaucracy and the hired killers (tags)
* In the difficult times being experienced by the Venezuelan labour movement, perhaps the most dramatic issue have been the criminal acts that kills tens of trade unionists to the passivity of the pseudo-revolutionary government and the silence of his admirers from outside the country. It speaks about it this text of El Libertario # 55, January-February 2009.
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) NOW (tags)
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is legislation in the United States which aims to "amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during organizing efforts, and for other purposes.
RIght Wingers Attacking Right to Organize (tags)
Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake writes that the right wing echo chamber is working hard to derail the Employee Free Choice Act, that will help workers join unions easier, and cheaper, than ever before.
Filipino Workers hold March to protest against the GFMD (tags)
As the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) opened today in Manila, at least 5000 workers from the Philippines and other countries in every region of the world came together in one of the broadest labor mobilizations ever organized in the entire history of the global trade union movement.
The Concept of Work for Less (tags)
Work For Less laws (otherwise known as "Right To Work") are on the march, with backers attempting to add Colorado as their twenty-third state. Coalitions of labor, business, and religious organizations are fighting the onslaught, but they could use some help.
Underground workers movement vs. DCWD, Franklin Baker (tags)
Revolutionary Justice for the Filipino Working Class Victims of Big Capitalists! (tags)
The Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions (RCTU) in Southern Mindanao, an underground group of revolutionary unions and an allied organization of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) expresses its strongest indignation of the systematic attack perpetrated by foreign and local comprador-capitalists against the Filipino working class.
KPFK Continues to Ignore AFTRA and SAG Labor Disputes (tags)
Despite being in the middle of Hollywood and the entertainment industry war on workers, they find no voice on "Revolutionary Radio " KPFK.
May Day becomes an annual tradition for immigrant and workers' rights (tags)
In San José and all across the United States, marches for immigrant and workers' rights are reviving the long-dormant American tradition of May Day. While legislation for comprehensive immigration reform has stalled in Congress, demonstrators are poised to take the struggle to the next level.
The Healthcare Union War (tags)
Tensions between the California Nurses Association and SEIU escalate at the Labor Notes conference.
Puerto Rico: All Out to Defend the Teachers’ Struggle! (tags)
We are on the threshold of a major class battle in Puerto Rico. Every day new preparations are announced for the coming strike of the Puerto Rican Teachers Federation (FMPR). With 42,000 members, a majority of them women, the FMPR represents almost all of Puerto Rico’s teachers and is by far the largest union on the island. The Shock Force of the Puerto Rican Police and National Guard are being readied to go after the strikers. The struggle of the Puerto Rican teachers affects everybody. The working class as a whole, students and parents, teachers and defenders of workers’ rights around the world must come out in defense of the FMPR! If there are mass arrests, the response must be massive blockades and spreading the struggle to the point of shutting the island down. In order to win this strike, it is necessary to prepare for a struggle not only of the teachers but within the whole workers movement against the pro-capitalist labor bureaucracy that sabotages the workers’ struggle. Above all, it is necessary to fight against illusions in and ties with bourgeois parties and politicians. It’s high time to begin building a revolutionary internationalist workers party.
San Diego's Controversial City Attorney 'Speaks (tags)
To his supporters, San Diego city attorney Mike Aguirre is an activist and truth-teller who'sone of the few local elected officials dealing seriously with the city's budget crises. To his opponents, ranging from the Right-wing San Diego Union-Tribune to the city employee unions, he's a loud-mouthed obstructionist who's dividing the city and costing it money. The controversy was on display January 24, when Aguirre and two of his election oppoennts debated at the predominantly Queer San Diego Democratic Club.
Railroad workers unite ! (tags)
Organized labor in the U.S. is fast approaching a crossroads. The enormous successes of the past are under attack, putting the unions in a defensive position. Battling not only the companies but their own bureaucracy, the rank and file of various powerful unions find themselves facing extraordinary sell-out contracts approved by their “leadership,” but benefiting only the company. The struggle to defeat these sell-out contracts may well be the opening clashes of a revival of the U.S. labor movement, which has lain dormant for decades, but which by its very nature may lead to larger conflict. It is in this context that Amtrak workers have dealt a temporary blow to the trend of concession and showcased their growing political consciousness when, after bargaining for 8 years, a coalition of 10 Amtrak unions either rejected revolting tentative agreements that their union “leaders” had brokered with Amtrak, or refused to continue the seemingly now-pointless process of bargaining. This has put Amtrak workers on a collision course with management, i.e., the federal government. The creation of an “illegal” coalition of Amtrak unions to bargain – “illegal” because it violates the Railway Labor Act – was the first progressive step in increasing the power of the workers. Now nine unions are poised to strike Amtrak, and if it weren’t for a “Presidential Emergency Board” (PEB) that intervened, they’d be picketing already. The PEB – consisting of all Bush appointees – must now decide if every avenue of arbitration has been tried, when everyone already knows that it already has. The PEB was officially established on Dec. 1st, and in 60 days, if no agreement is reached, the parties will be free to act themselves. For the workers this will mean striking. For the bosses, this will mean imposing their terms of employment and destroying the gains of the past.
What Works and What Doesn't In Building A New Workers’ Movement (tags)
There are thousands of activists of one type or another who want to change society and recognize that we need a movement to do that. many of these people are in organizations and groupings, many are in Unions. What is causing the delay in the building of a new movement to throw back the present capitalist offensive. One major factor is the heads of Organized Labor, but they are not the only factor.
"Solidarity Works!" Purple and Red Join Forces in Writers' Guild March (tags)
On Tuesday, November 20, the Writers Guild of America held a march on Hollywood Boulevard in which they invited their brothers and sisters in the labor movement to come out in support of their strike, now in its third week.
Building Bridges Radio:9/11 Health Reports Attacked; Unions Demand 911 Health Care Funds (tags)
WBAI's Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report presents this 29 minute radio program. TO LISTEN CLICK ON WEB LINK BELOW
The War on Working Americans - Part I (tags)
Working Americans are losing out in the war waged against them.
L.A. gang members go union (tags)
'They take that street toughness that puts them into Corcoran or Pelican Bay [state prisons] and put it into this.... What we require is no fear. They're perfect for us.' Robbie Hunter, president of the Ironworkers Union
The Mexican Revolution Surges Forward (tags)
Millions of workers and students on strike: report of the first 12 hours of the May 2 strike Just six months after Calderon assumed the presidency and the anti-fraud movement and the APPO were defeated, the situation in Mexico is heating up again. The previous showdown over the elections and the revolutionary struggle in Oaxaca solved nothing. The bourgeois, foolishly, perhaps believed that the working class was finished, and that the struggle was over. They will not be able to maintain that opinion any longer. Carrying on from the magnificent struggles in March against the attacks of the weak Calderón government, a general strike was called earlier this week on May 2 - the first general strike in Mexico since 1916.
New, improved unions
Labor Union Resources and Labor News (tags)
Labor Union Resources is designed to provide help to U.S. Workers in their efforts at organizing themselves and their co-workers into labor unions. It is also a resource for Union Leaders to assist in their operations, organizing, and bargaining efforts.
Guinea: the Unions Bosses liquidate the General Strike (tags)
At the end of discussions with the authorities, religious leaders and a delegation of the CDEAO (economic community of the States of the area) directed by the former President-general of Nigeria, the gangster Babangida, the trade-union leaders decreed the "suspension" of the general strike which had lasted for 2 weeks, as of Sunday midnight. For his part, President Lansana Conté promised to name a new Prime Minister from a list of 5 names indicated by the trade unions and the opposition parties. The trade-union leaders speak about a great victory (while evoking a possible resumption of the strike), but it looks more like a capitulation!
Long Live the Struggle of the Workers of Guinea! (tags)
Guinea-Conakry is a small West African country of 10 million inhabitants, one of the poorest countries on the planet, in spite of the richness of its mining industry: diamonds, gold, iron, uranium and especially bauxite of which it is the 2nd largest producer in the world. Although the majority of the population of Guinea lives in misery, local and foreign bourgeois and the multinationals grow rich, protected by the regime of General Lansana Conté (who seized power after a coup in 1984) against rising dissatisfaction.
Long live the struggle of the proletarians and Masses of Guinea! (tags)
Guinea-Conakry is a small West African country of 10 million inhabitants, one of the poorest countries on the planet, in spite of the richness of its mining industry: diamonds, gold, iron, uranium and especially bauxite of which it is the 2nd largest producer in the world. Although the majority of the population of Guinea lives in misery, local and foreign bourgeois and the multinationals grow rich, protected by the regime of General Lansana Conté (who seized power after a coup in 1984) against rising dissatisfaction.
Gays demonstrate at Vatican for civil unions - Sat Jan 13 (tags)
Members of gay and lesbian associations hold flowers as they demonstrate on St. Peter's square at the Vatican January 13, 2007 in Rome. The groups, which converged on the square in memory of an activist who killed himself there nine years ago, demonstrated against Pope Benedict XVI's latest speech on PACS, Italy's proposed social agreement for unmarried couples.
Mexican state of Coahuila to allow gay marriages (tags)
Mexican state of Coahuila to allow gay marriages (Coahuila is along the Texas border between the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Nuevo Leon)
N.J. lawmakers approve bill to legalize civil unions (tags)
The Legislature voted Thursday to make New Jersey the third state to allow civil unions. Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine said he would sign the measure.
Capital Fears: US Corporations Threaten Investment Restrictions (tags)
Qualitative growth is an alternative to quantita-tive growth. Our culture rich in things is poor in soul. Instead of welcoming criticism, we make competition and inequality into dogmas, normalize war and militarize foreign policy.
About Labor Union News-Labor unions have benefited greatly from the communications capabilities provided by the Internet: thousands of sites overflow with a wealth of information regarding news, issues and policies of labor unions both regional and global. I've collected some of these resources here, to serve as a starting point for those doing research on labor unions, looking for a specific group, or simply wanting to learn more about the state of unions today.
Labor Union Resources is designed to provide help to U.S. Workers in their efforts at organizing themselves and their co-workers into labor unions. It is also a resource for Union Leaders to assist in their operations, organizing, and bargaining efforts.
FILIPINO WORKERS IN THE U.S. FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHTS (tags)
Thousands of FIlipino workers in the hospitals, hotels and ships all over the United States went on strike to fight for their rights. Thousands of them in the different unions are poised to fight for their rights until next year
Warning to the Teachers of Oaxaca, Beware the US Trojan Horse (tags)
Oaxaca teachers are taking the lead in the struggle against injustice, but a Trojan Horse is headed their way.
Mexico: Mobilise the masses and call a general strike to stop the electoral fraud (tags)
Despite the fact that the majority of the exit polls gave the victory to Lopez Obrador the IFE (Federal Electoral Institute) and Fox are refusing to recognise the results of the elections and are manoeuvring by delaying their official publication, declaring on the Programa de Resultados Electorales Preliminares (PREP) that they could not define a clear outcome given the supposed narrowness of the results. Parametria gave Obrador a 3.5% lead over Calderon; Telesur gave 42 points to Lopez Obrador and 38 to Calderon; Covarrubias put the PRD, Party of the Democratic Revolution, at 37% and the PAN, National Action Party, at 34%. According to the website “Casa del Plan de los 3 Puntos”, Harvard University gave the victory to Obrador by 7 points. A closed poll by the newspaper Milenio gave Obrador 37% and Calderon 36%.
¡Somos Milliones! We are millions! (tags)
The May Day outpouring, which was called the “Gran Paro Americano / Great American Strike” or “Un Día Sin Inmigrantes / A Day Without Immigrants” was, though in a partial form due to the minimal organized participation of most trade unions, a general strike: by all measures a momentous political advance for the working class.
Precarious of the World! (tags)
May Day is a response to the crisis of traditional union representation. The loss in influence and fighting strength of the unions has its cause in the changed working conditions in so-called post-Fordism. The eight-hour day is increasingly replaced.
The state has a social nature and isn't only a security and power state. If the state is reduced to a trough or waterboy for capital, the class compromise is dissolved and justice becomes an abstraction. Neoliberal myths legitimate the growing precariousness
French government withdraws “First Job Contract,” enlists unions in assault on job securit (tags)
President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced yesterday that new legislation will be drawn up to replace the “First Job Contract” (CPE), which sparked a massive wave of protests and strikes in recent weeks. Leaders of the trade unions, some student unions and “left” political parties immediately declared the shift marked a decisive victory for the anti-CPE movement and signalled their intention to halt further mass mobilisations against the government.
French unions hold talks with government in move to end “First Job Contract” strikes (tags)
France’s major trade unions and student unions, a total of twelve organizations operating under the umbrella of the Intersyndicale, held a joint meeting in Paris Wednesday morning to coordinate negotiations with the Gaullist government over the “First Job Contract” (CPE). Five trade unions—CGT (General Confederation of Labour), CFDT (French Democratic Confederation of Labour), FO (Workers Power) and two management unions, the CFTC and the CFE-CGC—later held separate discussions with deputies from the ruling Union for a Popular Majority (UMP) party. Other unions will meet with the government in the coming days.
France: As millions protest government attacks, unions signal retreat on “First Job Contra (tags)
An estimated 2 to 3 million striking workers and students demonstrated throughout France yesterday against the Gaullist government’s “First Job Contract” (CPE) legislation, matching the turnout at a similar day of action on March 28. Tuesday’s strikes and protests followed President Jacques Chirac’s announcement last Friday that he had officially ratified the CPE, which permits employers to dismiss young workers without cause during their first two years of employment.
A socialist strategy for workers’ power: the only answer to France’s “First Job Contract” (tags)
The month-long struggle against the Gaullist government’s “First Job Contract” has brought to the fore the fundamental class and political issues facing workers and young people not only in France, but across Europe and internationally. The needs of youth and workers—decent-paying and secure jobs, education, health care, a future without war or repression—are in irreconcilable conflict with the interests of a financial elite who represent a failed political and economic system. This oligarchy of wealth and power is determined to make the working class pay for the crisis of the capitalist system.
PFP VOICE UNION CONCERNS (tags)
The Democratic leadership in Sacramento and Washington has become silent on issues in government that will protect the working class and organized labor; and now to have a voice in government, working people must look beyond the emerging one party system for political leadership.
Haiti: $100,000 NED Grant to Batay Ouvriye- Anti-Aristide "leftists" (tags)
Recently declassified National Endowment for Democracy (NED) documents reveal that a "leftist" workers' organization, Batay Ouvriye (BO), which promoted and called for the overthrow of the constitutionally elected government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was the targeted beneficiary of a US $99,965 NED grant routed through the AFL-CIO's American Center for International Solidarity (ACILS). Listed in NED's "Summary of Projects Approved in FY 2005" for Haiti, the grant states, "ACILS will work with the May 1st Union Federation- Batay Ouvriye [ESPM-BO] to train workers to organize and educate fellow workers."
Another Opportunity To Halt The Employers’ Offensive Arises (tags)
New York Transit workers take a step in the right direction but must broaden their demands and link with wider sections of the working class
How the support of other unions will help the CPMC strikers win. (tags)
Solidarity between Bay Area unions is beating Sutter Hospitals.
SCAF with IWW and the Harbor Truckers March on Labor Day (tags)
Families with happy faces are bathing in a sea of american flags, proudly holding their union's banner and some signs, most of them telling us "Teachers are the real action heroes" and "Nurses are the real action heroes" (we loved these signs!).
Is Change to Win enough? (tags)
Changes are afoot in the mainstream labor movement. Are they enough?
Clash of Cultures: Wal-Mart in Flagstaff (tags)
"A scandal occurred at the flashpoint of the campaign. Wal-Mart placed an advertisement that showed the 1933 book burning at the Berlin opera plaza. Whoever prohibits Wal-Mart prohibits freedom of thought. Wal-Mart apologized for its bad taste.."
Iraqi Union Leaders Speak (tags)
US Labor Against the War includes affiliates from Nat'L labor organizations, Central Labor Councils, Regional Labor Organizations, Large Locals, (10,000 + members), Small Locals(10,000 - members), Allied Labor Organizations, Labor Anti-war groups, and other Labor Organizations.
CAFTA: privatization at gunpoint (tags)
ACAJUTLA, El Salvador — Long before the current debate over the Central America Free Trade Agreement, workers throughout the region were under attack from economic reforms that have broken unions, privatized workplaces and lowered wages. One reason unions throughout Central America oppose the agreement so strongly is that CAFTA cements that reform policy into place. The treaty would require dismantling the public sector to encourage private, especially foreign, investment, regardless of cost.
Industry without Happiness: On the Guaranteed Minimum Income (tags)
A basic income could heal our fragmented society caught in work fanaticism and work fetishism while work disappears..A basic income could change social attitudes and goals and give real meaning to the human rights to life and participation.
Labor can't win in a house divided (tags)
Like no other time in the last 50 years, a united labor movement is critical to defending the working class and the American people. It is decisive to any hope for a progressive agenda for the whole nation, not just for union members.
The So. Cal. Grocery Strike: A Years Perspective (tags)
Its been a year since the end of the longest grocery srike in US history. Where do we stand now, and what really was at issue? Was anything really resolved? (orginally posted at :www.worldsocialism.org/usa/blog)
Open Letter to President Bush from IAEFF (tags)
IAEFF wants Bush to extend freedom medal to AFL-CIO leaders
Workers witness Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution (tags)
In late November, Chicagoans Beatrice Lumpkin and her husband Frank, a retired steelworker leader, traveled to Venezuela.
Building Bridges Radio- Bangladeshi Worker's Dream & SEIU: Labor Must Organize or Die (tags)
Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report brings you this 28 minute radio program. TO LISTEN CLICK ON INTERNET WEB ADDRESS LINK
Building Bridges Radio- Bangladeshi Worker's Dream & SEIU: Labor Must Organize or Die (tags)
Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report brings you this 28 minute radio program. TO LISTEN CLICK ON INTERNET WEB ADDRESS LINK
San Francisco Union Leaders Plead With Corporate Politicians to Help Them Win Hotel Strike (tags)
Let's be honest. The hotel workers strike will not be successful unless the Union leaders change course.
Building Bridges Radio - The Other Iraq and Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor? (tags)
Building Bridges presents this 29 minute radio show. TO LISTEN CLICK ON WEB LINK BELOW
AFL-CIO Leadership are Responsible for Defeats (tags)
With no serious alternative to Schwarzenegger, and with their support of the Team Concept, California's labor leaders have nothing to say to their members as usual.
Building Bridges Radio - The Other Iraq and Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor? (tags)
Building Bridges presents this 29 minute radio show. TO LISTEN CLICK ON WEB LINK BELOW
Call for Anarchist Contingent at Million Worker March (tags)
Washington DC, October 17th, 11:00 AM
The High Priests of Economic Nonsense (tags)
"The rules of social state restraint of wild capitalism are ignored. The class struggle from above has long been a fact since the coalition of capital with the government is fairly stable and the media play along. Resistance is inevitable.."
S. KOREAN's AGAINST THE CONSTRUCTION MAFIA (tags)
Today (KST) during a struggle propaganda tour it cames to clashes between from the construction mafia hired gangsters and protesters.
Wild Oats goes bananas over union organizer (tags)
The Wild Oats natural food chain claims to be progressive, enlightened, worker- and environment-friendly. The truth is, Wild Oats is anti-union.
Building Bridges Radio-Ehrenreich-The Working Poor plus Unions Say-Withdraw from Iraq Now (tags)
Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report presents this 28 minute Radio Program. TO LISTEN CLICK ON LA INDYMEDIA LINK BELOW
Unions UNITE HERE for greater power (tags)
CHICAGO – Two of the nation’s most active unions formalized their merger here July 8-10.
Andy Stern and SEIU Offer the Same Worn-Out Policies (tags)
To Many young activists, SEIU is considered the progressive Union. But, in the last analysis, the policies of SEIU's leadership are no different from those of any other AFL-CIO Union. They fail to take on the employers in a serious way and refuse to break politically with the Democratic Party.
Endorse July 25 Protest at Democratic Convention (tags)
Bring the troops home now! Sun. July 25 12 Noon, Boston Common
Unions slam war, call for Bush ouster (tags)
SAN FRANCISCO – Delegates to conventions of two of the nation’s largest unions last week cheered as their leaders blasted George W. Bush for lying to justify war on Iraq and for torture of Iraqi detainees. Both unions called for Bush’s ouster in the Nov. 2 election and urged a fight to end the Republican majority grip on the House and Senate.
US Labor Against War - David Bacon (tags)
The occupation regime's war against Iraq's labour unions is yet another debunking of 'liberation' under US/UK invasion, going so far as to enforce a 1987 law of Saddam Hussein's to ban unions in state-owned plants.
Building Bridges Radio - Unemployment and Contract Workers in Iraq, Israel and Palestine (tags)
BUILDING BRIDGES; YOUR COMMUNITY AND LABOR REPORT PRESENTS THIS 28 MINUTES RADIO PROGRAM. TO LISTEN CLICK ON LA INDYMEDIA AUDIO LINK
A Message to Young People Who Are Considering Taking a Job as a Union Staffer
Iraqi Trade Union Movement Growing (tags)
This was copied from an email from Australia. Iraqi trade unionists are looking for support from the west. The GFTU is a large bottom-up union competing with a Baathist union, and a top-down old-guard union.
The Los Angeles Supermarket Strike of 2003-2004 (tags)
Media coverage was eclipsed by Hollywood’s Academy Awards, but on Sunday, Feb. 29, Southern California supermarket workers voted 86% to end their five-month old strike, accepting a contract that amounts to a serious, if not total, victory for a determined employer offensive with national implications.Thus one of the most important strikes in the U.S. in years has ended in defeat.
AFL-CIO Leadership Give the Employers Another Victory (tags)
Defeat in southern California confirms the need for regime change atop the AFL-CIO
"Apology" from a striker (tags)
below is the text of a message a UFCW striker left on the phone of a supporter. He has nothing to apologize for; it's the union leadership who should be apologizing!
Building Bridges Radio-The Fight for Labor Rights From Iraq to the U.S. (tags)
Building Bridges Radio presents this 27 minute radio program. TO LISTEN CLICK ON INDYMEDIA LINK
Solidarity with Striking and Locked-Out Grocery Workers- For a Class Union (tags)
Solidarity with Striking and Locked-Out Grocery Workers- For a Class Union February 2004
[gangbox] THE JAVITS CENTER SHUFFLE (tags)
THE JAVITS CENTER SHUFFLE...discrimination, unequal distribution of work and the pitfalls of seeking workplace justice in the court system at New York City's convention center
Ritt Goldstein: A Police State Rising? (tags)
Investigative journalist Ritt Goldstein's chronicle on the rise and ramifications of police power...from both journalistic and deeply personal perspectives.
U.S. military attacks Iraqi trade unions (tags)
A U.S. occupation force involving 10 armored vehicles and dozens of soldiers attacked the headquarters of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions in Baghdad, Dec. 6.
[gangbox] LIFE IS CHEAP..BUT CONSTRUCTION DELAYS ARE EXPENSIVE (tags)
LIFE IS CHEAP...BUT CONSTRUCTION DELAYS ARE EXPENSIVE..or, why construction continues to be such a hazardous industry to work in..
Iranian Workers Solidarity Network (tags)
Iran
Grocery strike impressions (tags)
Grocery strike shows So Calif has not moved to the right.
[gangbox] LA NUEVA CARA DE CONSTRUCCION (tags)
LA NUEVA CARA DE CONSTRUCCION...how mass immigration has changed the American building trades
The Principles of Control (tags)
The first principle of people control is not to let them know you are controlling them. If people knew, this knowledge will breed resentment and possibly rebellion, which would then require brute force and terror, and old fashioned, expensive and not 100 % certain method of control.
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
As Governor, I promise to be a good little puppet for the "powerful interests" (tags)
Once I'm elected Governor, I promise to be a good little puppet for the "powerful interests" who have funneled millions of dollars into my campaign coffers.
Interview with Key Leader of Venezuelan Workers Movement Pedro Eusse (tags)
Pedro Eusse is the Secretary General of the Food and Beverage Union, and the Secretary General of the United Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CUTV). The United Confederation of Venezuelan Workers is currently the country’s main trade union federation and plays an important role in defending the patriotic, national democratic government headed by Hugo Chavez.
Labor and Patriot Acts I and II: (tags)
A case for political action President George W. Bush heads the most viciously anti-worker, anti-labor administration we have seen in a long time. He and his corporate backers are hell-bent on blocking any new advances for labor and on rolling back existing labor rights.
The "special interests" behind Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign (tags)
While Schwarzenegger has criticized Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante for taking money from unions and Indian tribes, the Republican candidate has collected at least $2.5 million from individual donors, attorneys, business interests, venture capitalists and California companies. Some of them employ full-time lobbyists in Sacramento.
Chile-First General Strike in 13 Years (tags)
Chile
California Governor Election and PFP/Labor Events (tags)
California Governor Election and PFP/Labor Events:
Building Bridges Radio-Venezuelan Unions In Reshuffle (tags)
WBAI's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report presents this 27 min radio program-To Listen click on indymedia link
SPFPA LEADS BATTLE TO PROTECT SECURITY UNIONS and MEMBERS (tags)
SEIU IS NOW RAIDING SECURITY UNIONS ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
SPFPA LEADS BATTLE TO PROTECT SECURITY UNIONS AND ITS MEMBERS (tags)
SEIU IS NOW RAIDING SECURITY UNIONS ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
SEIU IS NOW RAIDING SECURITY UNIONS ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES (tags)
SPFPA LEADS BATTLE TO PROTECT SECURITY UNIONS and MEMBERS!
The Death of Dr.Kelly-Britain rocked by Political crisis (tags)
Irag-Blair
NO TO BUSH - NO TO THE DEMOCRATS (tags)
the elections
Workers Struggle's In Costa Rica (tags)
Costa Rica
Whole Food's Vote to Unionize Upsets Libertarian Founder (tags)
Whole Foods union problems erupted in 1990, when they took over a failed co-op in Berkeley, CA. Founder John Mackey believed that union demands sunk the co-op, so he refused to hire its employees -- an unpopular move in leftist Berkeley.
British Unions shift to the Left (tags)
Labor on the March to the Left
Unions Say No to Police Violence (tags)
Unions Say No to Police Violence in Oakland
Italy, 200.000 peasants rally in Roma this friday morning (tags)
this friday morning in Roma 200.000 peasants rallied under the flags of corporate unions
British labor unions threaten Tony Blair with "regime change" (tags)
Union leaders yesterday warned Tony Blair that he will be deserted by the labour movement if he goes ahead with a war in Iraq without a second security council resolution.
The Bush Outrage(s) of the Month list (tags)
(see related story below) As part of its campaign to put a four-year limit on George W. Bush’s tenure at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the AFL-CIO has drawn up what might be called the “Outrage of the Month” list of attacks against working people by the Bush administration since taking office in January 2001.
Workers Action Says: DEFEND IRAQ! DEFEAT IMPERIALISM! (tags)
Workers Action Says: No to Layoffs at Home, Bombs and Sanctions Abroad! Not A Penny, Not A Person To The Military! DEFEND IRAQ! DEFEAT IMPERIALISM! Two Years of Bush: Two Wars and Two Coup Attempts! Is the U.S. Planning Permanent War?
Building Bridges Radio: U.S. Labor Against the War (tags)
Building Bridges presents an interview with two key organizers of the recently held meeting founding US Labor Against the War TO LISTEN TO THIS 27 MINUTES RADIO PROGRAM CLICK ON INDYMEDIA LINK
Job Posting: AFL-CIO Media Outreach Internship (tags)
AFL-CIO Media Outreach Internship
Surprise! The major source of funding for the left is the 1% of richest Americans. They give more to the Democrats than to the Republicans.
Join The Localization Lobby (tags)
Localization as the only means to take back our economy and our democracy.
A Left Wing New Years Resolution: Localization vs. Globalization (tags)
This is why it is good to get some union activist experience. You'll soon discover that people are mainly interested in how to improve their lives and the lives of their families first and foremost.
National security, or war on workers? (tags)
OAKLAND, Calif. – Like many Filipinos living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Erlinda Valencia found a job at the airport, screening carry-on bags for passengers. She worked for Argenbright Security for 14 years, most of that time at a minimum-wage job, barely able to support her family.
LESSONS FOR ANARCHISM COMING FROM ARGENTINA (tags)
It is remind that if the state and the institutions are denouncing situation for now in Argentina as anarchy, it is not anarchy in the country ! What is happening is a step toward the decay of power. In fact the chaos in argentina is caused by the state and capitalism, not by anarchists ideals.
Voices of Anarchist Union Organizers (tags)
I asked a few folks to tell me a little about themselves and their views on organizing for unions. These six people identify as either an anarchist (with or without adjectives) or as an anti-authoritarian (an anarchist that doesn't know it yet!). They all work as union organizers or have worked as union organizers.
Callout for Anarchist Contingent at Labor Day March! (tags)
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SPFPA Leads Battle to Protect Security Officers! (tags)
SPFPA forms National Alliance of Police, Security and Corrections Organizations (NAPSCO) to protect and advance security unions nationwide.
Anarchism and the Labor Movement (tags)
The differences between Labor and anrachists need to be understood in order for any successful revolution is to take place
Networked Web/Microradio Broadcast of Major Portworkers Rally (tags)
The Portworkers Rally at the Port of Oakland at 11:00 am on June 27, 2002 will be broadcast over a web/microradio network along the West Coast. A live microradio broadcast from the Port of Oakland will be received by the SF IMC and web cast to other IMC's, where the streams will be picked up and broadcast via the Internet and microradio, such as on www.killradio.org.
news from Madrid
The Corporatization of Unions (tags)
Nearly every poll shows that workers favor having a union by a large majority. Yet, unions continue to stagnate or lose membership and also lose elections at an alarming rate. Can this be attributed solely to employer resistance?
Long Beach Anarchists Announce The Launching Of Peoples Council Of Long Beach (tags)
Anarchists in LBC plan to replace the institutions set up by the city with a new community controlled programs, and councils
Enough is Never Enough When It Comes to Profits (tags)
Next up slavery...
Conservative lawmakers seek to divorce themselves from gay-marriage legislation (tags)
Legislation that would create a parallel system of marriage for gay couples in California is raising a political fury between Democratic lawmakers and conservative voices who say marriage should only exist between a man and a woman.
Wanted: Unions With Balls (tags)
Wanted: Unions With Balls
Countervailing Tariffs -- A Fair Trade Remedy for Runaway Jobs (tags)
A description of the "countervailing tarrif proposal to be made by the Film and Telivision Action Committee to Washington in their attempts to counter the 1,000,000 subsidies given to Studios by Canada to lure film business north
Burma: Unions post online 'hall of shame'; more ... (tags)
This week's Labour Website of the Week goes to a new section of the Global Unions website -- this time a database of some 250 companies which do business with the Burmese military dictatorship.
Building Bridges Internet Radio present International Labor & the War (tags)
Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report in Exile presents a 57 min. internet Radio program on International Labor & the War in Afghanistan with participants from Pakistan, the U.K., the U.S. & South Africa. Building Bridges can be heard over the internet on WBAI In Exile on Tuesdays from 8-9PM at www.wbix.org
In Tragedy's Wake, Give the Unions Their Dues (tags)
Collective activity was the only way to help in the wake of September 11 and America's media was forced to focus for once on unions, the best at working together.
Labor Day Events in Los Angeles (tags)
Labor Day Events in Los Angeles. (See also pictures posted by Slobodan Dimitrov)
Dan La Botz Teaches About Mexican Maquiladoras (tags)
G
Women's Workers/Janitors' Unions, FTAA Demo, Larsen Park, San Diego 21 Apr 01 (tags)
Women's Workers/Janitors' Unions, FTAA Demo, Larsen Park, San Diego 21 Apr 01
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers Endorse Nader (tags)
Under federal election law — and given our union's policies and structure — we have no way of letting you know when our national union, or an autonomous UE local union, has taken democratic action to endorse a candidate for federal office on our website.
8/31 Letter to UTU leadership from the Bus Riders Union (tags)
While the corporate media try to pit the MTA's striking drivers against bus passengers, this pre-strike letter of support for the strike from the Bus Rider's union provides a needed dose of reality about the actual issues--and villians--involved.
L.A. Times' Coverage of the MTA strike (tags)
A letter adressing the LA times' one-sided coverage of the current MTA strike.
Britain: Fuel Tax Protest fades away (tags)
Self employed farmers and hauliers can only come to a radical perspective if thay are able to see that their concerns are being addressed by the left. It hasnt happened in this case.
Organized Labor to Take Part in Democratic Convention Protests (tags)
Organized labor has announced plans to take part in the D2K protests.