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Reformers Take Over CWA Local 1400 »

April 5, 2011 | Aaron Brenner

Don Trementozzi had 25 years of experience in the labor movement as a rank-and-file activist and union official when he got a job at a Verizon call center in Worcester, Massachusetts and became a member of CWA Local 1400. The local has nearly 2,000 members working at 12 call centers in four New...

Hoffa Must Pay to Publicize Bribe Attempts »

April 5, 2011 | Jenny Brown

After six months of investigation, court-appointed election overseers have ordered Teamster President James Hoffa to acknowledge that he attempted to buy election support by offering jobs and pensions.

Wave of Actions Proclaims ‘We Are One’ »

April 4, 2011 | Bill Balderston and Chris Garlock

Chanting “we are one!” thousands of activists across the nation marched on Monday—the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Longshore workers in the ILWU shut down the Port of Oakland in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the public sector, and students...

Unions Say ‘Strip the Scripts’ in Rite Aid Disputes »

April 4, 2011 | Jenny Brown

With Rite Aid workers striking six stores in Cleveland, longshore workers 2,300 miles away in California showed support by pulling prescriptions from its stores, part of a cross-union effort to defend health care and union rights.

Georgia: The New 'Show Me Your Papers' State »

April 1, 2011 | Mischa Gaus

Thousands rallied at the Georgia state Capitol last week, protesting anti-immigrant legislation. While Arizona-like bills are advancing in other Southern states, Georgia was the first to have a big show of opposition. Adelina Nicholls, executive director of Georgia Latino Alliance for Human...

Ohioans Can Overturn Anti-Labor Bill through Referendum—Again »

March 31, 2011 | Jerry Gordon

Ohio legislators have passed their bill destroying public sector bargaining rights. But the fight’s not over. Unions will take a referendum to voters, a tactic they've used to beat similar attacks before.

Hands in the Till Prompt Oversight of Big Verizon Local »

March 30, 2011 | Mischa Gaus

A New York City telephone workers local will be overseen by a monitor, after a union investigation revealed top leaders engaged in “a number of highly questionable practices involving compensation.”

What Happens If We Lose Dues Check-Off? Hand-Collecting and Thriving »

March 30, 2011 | David Cohen

When Kennametal Corp.'s contract with United Electrical Workers Local 274 expired, the company announced it would not abide by the dues check-off clause. Collecting dues by hand showed the strength of the union as an institution in the workplace. Members were united in keeping the union...

What Happens If We Lose Dues Check-Off? Check-Off by Other Means »

March 29, 2011 | Tom Smith

As public workers from Wisconsin to Idaho face legislative efforts to eliminate dues check-off rights, how we fund and sustain our organizations has become a central question. Here in the right to work South, where public employees have never had the right to bargain collectively, we struggle...

Democrats Return to Indianapolis »

March 29, 2011 | Jenny Brown

Exiled Indiana Democratic state legislators returned from Illinois March 28 and were greeted by hundreds of union well-wishers as they re-entered the Indianapolis statehouse after five weeks’ absence.


During that time daily rallies echoed through the Capitol dome as tens of thousands of...

On Its Own, Obama's OSHA Falling Short »

March 28, 2011 | Jenny Brown

OSHA's head comes from a union background, as does his right-hand man. The Labor Department's Hilda Solis was hailed as the “next Frances Perkins.” How can so many good appointees apparently display so little power over worker health and safety?

From Triangle to Today, Big Business Is the Same »

March 25, 2011 | Jake Blumgart

Industry’s persistent efforts to stem the wave of reform following the Triangle fire should sound awfully familiar to modern ears.

Triangle’s Fire Still Burns »

March 24, 2011 | Andy Griggs

As workers were preparing to go home late in the afternoon of March 25, 1911, fire struck the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. A hundred years later, an eerily similar fire killed garment workers in Bangladesh.

Union Blows Whistle, Honeywell Fined $12 Million »

March 24, 2011 | Mischa Gaus

Honeywell International pleaded guilty in federal court March 11 to knowingly storing hazardous waste without a permit at its southern Illinois facility, a felony. For locked-out Steelworkers at the plant, the episode reinforced their belief that the best defense they and their communities have...

In Michigan’s Attack on Democracy, Where’s the Wisconsin Spirit? »

March 23, 2011 | Nina Chacker | Evan Rohar

Up to 8,000 Michiganders turned out last week to emphatically protest the signing of a bill that would give emergency managers appointed by the governor power to oversee towns or school districts. But no union was prepared to mobilize members to stop it. In choosing to fight many long and slow...

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