The world’s largest meatpacker, Tyson Foods, narrowly defeated Teamsters Local 556 in a decertification election on February 11—in a bitter setback for supporters of workers’ and immigrants’ rights. The 1,500 workers at Tyson Foods in Pasco, Washington had long been the activist base of Local 556—a militant and progressive Teamsters local led by Maria Martinez, a co-chair of Teamsters for a Democratic Union . . . .

An AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting doesn’t normally make very exciting news, but the council’s next meeting — scheduled for March 1-3 — is shaping up to be a free-for-all . . . .

On Wednesday, January 26, Myles Meyers, a 54-year-old second-shift worker at DaimlerChrysler's Jeep plant in Toledo, was four hours late for work. When he clocked in at 8:33 pm, Myles had a twenty-gauge double-barrel shotgun under his long black coat . . . .

Editor's Note: Dave Brown has been a setup operator and machinist in Greenville, North Carolina, for over 18 years. He works for Bosch (formerly known as Vermont American), one the world's biggest tool manufacturer. Together with about 200 co-workers he produces standard precision tools, such as drill bits, router bits and so forth . . . .