Teamster reformers have beaten back a campaign by Tyson Foods to decertify the union representing 1,500 meatpackers at its Pasco, Washington plant. In balloting conducted by the NLRB on April 8 and 9, members voted 708 to 657 to keep Teamsters Local 556 as their bargaining agent.

In case you hadn't heard, things are looking up. After a brief recession, corporate profits are again rising, and productivity is increasing. The economic recovery is in full swing.

But unemployment is still high. The growth of new jobs (most of which are in the low-paying service sector) lags far behind the loss of existing jobs, especially the relatively well-paying jobs in manufacturing.

What accounts for this “jobless recovery”? Why isn’t economic growth lifting all boats?

Our convoy of vans maneuvered through the roads of Northern West Bengal in the northeast of India, past vast stretches of tea gardens (plantations) in varying shades of green. We were close to the Himalayas, in an area called Duars, adjacent to Darjeeling, a name that has become synonymous with the most refined tea.

Recent elections in New York’s United Federation of Teachers -- the nation’s largest teachers union local -- marked a sea change in the union’s internal politics.

In the short term, no serious challenge is posed to the Unity caucus, an efficient monolith which has dominated the UFT for decades and rewards members with jobs outside the classroom. But in the long term, these elections may signal a revitalization of opposition to Unity within the UFT.

In the wake of the southern California strike, clerks in eight United Food and Commercial Workers locals in northern California face a day of reckoning September 11, the day their contracts expire.

Weirton Steel's 20-year experiment in worker-ownership ended in bankruptcy May 2003 leaving thousands of workers with worthless stock. Pension promises have since been broken and health benefits terminated. Moreover, under the best case scenario, in which "vulture" investment financier Wilber L. Ross purchases Weirton for a fire-sale price, the mill will provide employment for possibly only 2,000 of its original 8,000 workers.

Unions often ask politicians to come speak at a union rally. But AFSCME Local 3299 in California has found it more useful to have the politician visit the workplace. . . .