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Ready To Strike


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Ready To Strike
by Ray and Rachael Rodriguez,
Riley Wallace

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Liner Notes

Labor Notes Magazine, July 2009, No. 364

Web Exclusive

Viewpoint: Finally, Hospitals' Unsung Heroes Carry the Show

-- Suzanne Gordon

Since the birth of television, Hollywood has given doctors a permanent starring role in prime-time hospital dramas. But most doctor shows have relegated the nation’s largest healthcare profession - nursing - to the status of bit players. Read More

Labor Rallies for Health Care, But Keeps it Vague

-- Jane Slaughter

Union activists passionate about universal health care say the desire to be “relevant” and at the table is leaving much of official labor with little actually to say in this year’s health-care reform morass. . . . Read More

Magazine

New Health Care Union Comes Close in Homecare Vote

-- Jane Slaughter

In California, many activists cast the battle between the National Union of Healthcare Workers and SEIU International as a struggle over the soul of unionism. And it's David v. Goliath in terms of resources. Though SEIU outspent NUHW by about 50 to 1 in Fresno, the new union lost the contest for 10,000 homecare workers only narrowly . . . . Read More

SEIU Trustees Collude To Remove Stewards

-- Lisa Tomasian

We’ve gone from democracy to hypocrisy in California. Prior to February at Kaiser Santa Clara Medical Center we had labor unity. All shop stewards were elected by the rank and file. Since that time, when our local, United Healthcare Workers-West, was put under trusteeship by the Service Employees International, our 60-plus shop steward council is down to just a handful. . . . Read More

Technology Push in Hospitals Puts Stress on Workers

-- Mischa Gaus


Charleston Sanitation Workers Fight for Union Recognition

-- Kerry Taylor


LA Teacher Cuts Prompt Walkouts, Arrests, Hunger Strike

-- Joshua Cook

California's staggering budget crisis has led Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to demand $10 billion in cuts from education. Teachers in Los Angeles have fought vigorously against their school district's plans to slash 6,000 classroom positions, which threaten to explode class sizes in some schools to 40-plus students per teacher. Protests at district headquarters have seen teachers and union leaders arrested, as a hunger strike and student walk-outs have dramatized the fight. . . . Read More

Labor History: Once They Started, Sit-Downs Spread Like Wildfire

-- Dana Frank


History in the Making: Labor Party Founded in Cleveland

-- Jane Slaughter


UNITE HERE Split Gets Even Messier

-- Paul Abowd

It’s been three months since UNITE split from HERE, morphing into Workers United (WU) and affiliating with the Service Employees (SEIU). The battle primarily over money and members rages on after settlement talks fizzled in May and International President Bruce Raynor resigned from UNITE HERE. Three days later he took the top post at WU as the breakaway union fights for viability in court and in the shops. Read More

Workers Blast Wells Fargo as Roadblock to Recovery

-- Leah Fried


Hart Marx Workers To Occupy Plant To Prevent Closing

-- Paul Abowd


Viewpoint: Cut State Aid? Now’s When We Need It!

-- Amy Seidenbecker


‘Hungry for Justice’ in Illinois

-- Diane Doherty


Review: Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor Movement

-- Jennifer Berkshire


Big Turnout for Labor Notes’ Troublemakers Schools

-- Labor Notes staff


Who Gets the Green Jobs, and Are They Any Good?

-- Tiffany Ten Eyck


Steward's Corner

Bargaining in a Recession

-- Derek Blackadder

There’s no rocket science to a contract campaign during a recession. But it is different. You can even come out the other side with a stronger union. Here are a few ideas on how. . . Read More

Solidarity Network
  • Laid-off SEIU Janitors Demand Their Jobs Back

  • Compass Group Intimidating Catering Workers in Algeria