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masked worker in front of mcdonald's holds big orange sign: "MCDONALD'S CLOSED, COVID HEALTH HAZARD, COMMUNITY SUPPORTS WORKERS STRIKE FOR HEALTH, SAFETY AND DIGNITY"

Striking McDonald’s Workers Block Entrance, Shut Store »

June 15, 2020 | Kaela Sanborn-Hum

A strike by 33 workers at a McDonald’s in North Oakland has shut down the store since May 26. Twelve workers there have tested positive for COVID-19, and so have eight of their family members, including a 10-month-old baby.

Why a Local Labor Council Just Expelled the Seattle Police Guild »

June 12, 2020 | Alexandra Bradbury

Update, June 18: Last night in a roll call vote, the Martin Luther King County Labor Council expelled the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

Teachers Must Set the Terms for How and When Schools Reopen »

June 12, 2020 | Barbara Madeloni

In a matter of days in mid-March, educators were expected to move classes online, work from home, and manage their own fear and uncertainty—all while worried for students whom they suddenly couldn’t see, talk to, or reassure.

black silhouette cutouts representing workers on trike in front of mcdonald's

Corporations Now Love 'Black Lives'—But What About Their Own Black Workers? »

June 12, 2020 | Toni Gilpin

Never underestimate the American business community's capacity for hypocrisy.

West Coast Dockers Stop Work to Honor George Floyd »

June 11, 2020 | Joe DeManuelle-Hall

At 9 a.m. on Tuesday, ports across the U.S. West Coast ground to a halt as longshore workers stopped work to mourn the death of George Floyd.
Three men (two Black, one white) hold a sign: "ATU-1005 in solidarity w/ #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter." Taco truck in background.

Interview: “We Are Fighting for Our Lives Against People with Money and Power” »

June 11, 2020 | Bianca Cunningham and Doni Jones

Since the video was released of Officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on the neck of George Floyd for almost nine minutes as Floyd said his last words, “I can’t breathe,” protests have exploded in eighteen countries and all fifty states.

Sending Love: A Letter to Black Workers, Organizers, and Labor Leaders »

June 11, 2020 | Cherika Carter, Sybill Hyppolite

As the world and the United States navigate the coronavirus pandemic, there’s a common refrain that we’re living in unprecedented times, with mass unemployment, unsafe working conditions for those still working, lack of access to health care, and food scarcity.

In Mexican Border Town, Prominent Independent Labor Lawyer Arrested »

June 10, 2020 | Judy Ancel

Labor lawyer Susana Prieto Terrazas was arrested on Monday in the Mexican border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where she was attempting to aid factory workers to recover wages owed to them during a two-month coronavirus shutdown.

'You Can Rebuild a Post Office, But Not a Life': Minneapolis Postal Workers March from Burned Post Office in Solidarity with Protests »

June 10, 2020 | Tyler Vasseur

On Sunday postal workers in Minneapolis organized a display of solidarity with the Black freedom movement that is emerging after the brutal police murder of George Floyd.
Scene from 1940 adaptation of Grapes of Wrath picturing family assembled

Review: The Grapes of Wrath »

June 8, 2020 | Toni Gilpin

With unemployment now reaching levels not seen since the 1930s, should you really want to spend a few hours immersed in the hardships endured by working people during the first Great Depression? Yes.

How E-ZPass Workers on Staten Island Are Building Power During the Pandemic »

June 5, 2020 | Steve Lawton

Trauma would be the best way to describe the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the working class. Suddenly workers found ourselves in a situation beyond our control. But it’s also a moment of opportunity to actually take more control over our work lives and push for a more democratic society....

With a Little Help from My Friends: How Taco Bell Workers and Many More Are Self-Organizing in the Pandemic »

June 5, 2020 | Emily Lemmerman, Colette Perold

At a Taco Bell in Washington Township, Michigan, the action began when Jonathon Foster, a shift leader, approached the district manager about paid sick leave during the pandemic. She flat-out refused, despite pledges from Taco Bell’s CEO.
Marchers with signs including "IBEW Against Oppression" and "No KKKops"

It’s (Way Past) Time to Redistribute Obscene Police Budgets to Schools, Hospitals, and Buses »

June 4, 2020 | Samantha Winslow | Alexandra Bradbury

The marches are sweeping every state. Hundreds of thousands of people have braved the pandemic to protest the murder of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by Minneapolis police.

Labor Fights for George Floyd in Twin Cities »

June 3, 2020 | Cherrene Horazuk

I watched with horror the video of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis Police, so bravely captured by a 17-year-old African American woman. Seared in my brain is Officer Derek Chauvin’s smirk as he knelt on Mr.

Review: Seattle’s General Strike 100 Years Ago Shows Us Hope for Today »

June 2, 2020 | Jeff Johnson

For five days in 1919, union members took control of the city of Seattle. They arguably ran it better, and certainly more justly, than it had ever been run before.

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