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What Does the AFL-CIO Split Mean? »

August 31, 2005 | Chris Kutalik

To get to this year’s heated AFL-CIO convention in Chicago, you had to walk the length of the newly remodeled Navy Pier, past a funhouse complete with a massive maze of mirrors. Watching people lost in confusion inside the maze, it was hard not to think about the tangled mess that was unfolding...

Northwest Mechanics Strike Against Deep Pay Cuts, Outsourcing »

August 31, 2005 | Chris Kutalik and William Johnson

Airline unions have made wave after wave of wage, benefit, and pension concessions since September 2001—often under the gun of bankruptcy threats. Now Northwest Airlines is upping the ante, pushing for a business model that copies non-union airlines like JetBlue and demanding to lay off more...

Behind The Split »

August 31, 2005 | Chris Kutalik

Behind the war of personalities and the big ideas of the dueling AFL-CIO and Change to Win (CTW) leaders, a story emerges that portrays the split as a play for power as much as it was about differences between the two camps . . . .


Labor History Re-examined: Is Change to Win A New CIO? »

August 31, 2005 | Bob Master and Hetty Rosenstein

Many have been quick to compare the Change to Win Coalition’s split from the AFL-CIO to the split of the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO) from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1935. Shortly after SEIU and the Teamsters left the AFL-CIO, labor journalist Harold Meyerson wrote...

NEA Convention »

August 31, 2005 | Bill Balderston

Though most folks wouldn’t know it, the July AFL-CIO convention wasn’t that month’s only national union convention. More than 9000 delegates of the National Education Association (NEA) — the largest union in the U.S. — met in Los Angeles from July 2 through 6 for their annual Representative...

Feds File Racketeering Lawsuit Against Longshore Union »

July 31, 2005 | Staff

Federal prosecutors filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit against the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) July 6, alleging widespread corruption and ties between the union’s leadership and organized crime. The government is seeking to appoint a trustee...

Tour of Iraqi Labor Leaders Gives American Workers a Closer Look »

July 31, 2005 | Nancy Romer and Michael Zweig

For two weeks in June, six Iraqi union leaders from three major labor federations toured the US sponsored by U.S. Labor Against the War. USLAW, a coalition of over 100 labor organizations ranging from state federations to locals and regional groups, organized events in 26 cities . . . .


Debate over Future of Fed Produces More Heat than Light »

July 31, 2005 | Bill Fletcher Jr.

>A debate over the future of the AFL-CIO has been under way for some months and, for the life of me, while the debate becomes more intense, the differences seem to blur. Yet the feeling that one gets is that we are headed for a train wreck . . . .


Reflections on the Birth of the Canadian Auto Workers »

July 31, 2005 | Herman Rosenfeld

This July marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Canadian Auto Workers. The CAW was created out of a split from the U.S.-based United Auto Workers, at the beginning of a difficult era that is still with us . . . .


Subway Automation Threatens Jobs and Safety »

July 31, 2005 | William Johnson

Automation is transforming working conditions for the thousands of union members who keep the New York subways running. On June 19, the system’s “L” line between Brooklyn and Manhattan began running trains without conductors, leaving train operators as the only crew on board . . . .


Canadian Unions Fight For Same Sex Marriage »

July 31, 2005 | Alan Sears

The Canadian House of Commons approved historic legislation recognizing the right of lesbian and gay couples to marry on June 28. Canada joins the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain in full granting full legal equality to lesbians and gay men by eliminating discriminatory restrictions on marriage...

Feds File Racketeering Lawsuit Against Longshore Union »

July 31, 2005 |

Federal prosecutors filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) lawsuit against the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) July 6, alleging widespread corruption and ties between the union’s leadership and organized crime. The government is seeking to appoint a trustee...

Northwest Mechanics Strike Against Deep Pay/Benefit Cuts, Layoffs, Outsourcing »

July 31, 2005 | Chris Kutalik and William Johnson

Close to 4,400 mechanics, cleaners, and maintenance workers at Northwest Airlines (NWA) walked off the job August 20. The strike, called by the independent Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), is the first major airline strike since Northwest pilots struck in 1998.

A ‘Truth Commission’ for AFL’s Foreign Policy »

June 30, 2005 | Jeff Crosby

Conflicting resolutions on the AFL-CIO’s relations with unions in other countries may spark real debate at the federation’s upcoming convention in Chicago. While overshadowed by other internal fireworks this summer, an open discussion on international affairs would mark a challenge to the AFL-...

Black Unionists Need Independent Voice in Debate »

June 30, 2005 | Lester Muata Greene

The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) convention in Phoenix, Arizona threw me back to a different year . . . .


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