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Workers and Homebuyers Pummel Pulte »

December 16, 2009 | Evan Enku

Bloomfield Hills is a Detroit suburb dotted with sprawling corporate office compounds, columned mansions, and stores like Saks Fifth Avenue—a haven for members of the managing class, insulated from the blight and devastation they helped create that surrounds them in Southeast Michigan.


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Colorado Grocery Workers Split on Swallowing Big Concessions »

December 16, 2009 | by Amy Rosner and Ric Urrutia

A Colorado grocery chain received an early holiday present this year: a concession-filled contract, rammed through by UFCW International over local objections.

Finally, NUHW Squares Off Against SEIU in Two Hospital Elections »

December 16, 2009 | Mark Brenner

Nearly eleven months of courtroom stalling has slowed the upstart NUHW but a break in the legal logjam may be coming—finally giving California’s health care workers the ability to choose their union.

U.S., Canadian Delegation Supports Embattled Mexican Electrical Workers »

December 14, 2009 | Dan La Botz

A delegation of U.S. and Canadian labor leaders visited Mexico November 29-December 3 in solidarity with fired electrical workers of the former Light and Power Company. On October 11 President Felipe Calderón sent police to occupy the facilities of the government-owned company and fired its 44...

YRC Teamsters in Chicago Vote Down Wage Cuts a Third Time »

December 9, 2009 | by Jane Slaughter

Despite pressure from Teamsters officials and YRC management, Chicago dock workers rejected a $1.16 per hour wage cut for a third time yesterday. City drivers voted no for the second time.


Nurses from 10 States Embrace National Union »

December 9, 2009 | Sandy Eaton

Registered nurses from across the U.S. gathered this week for the founding convention of the National Nurses United, destined to be the largest RN union in the country's history. After months of a contentious, litigation-filled atmosphere, the new union's creation was met with a outpouring of...

'Take Back Our Union' Slate Wins New York Bus & Subway Local »

December 9, 2009 | Steve Downs

Chalk up another win for union reformers in New York. After victories by reform slates in two Teamster locals, 814 (movers and auction houses) and 804 (UPS), reformers in the Take Back Our Union slate won control of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union on December 7. TWU 100 represents 38,...

"Why Are We in Afghanistan?" Debuts at US Labor Against the War Conference »

December 8, 2009 | John Braxton

I just returned from the US Labor Against the War Assembly in Chicago, December 4-6. There were lots of high points, including the fact that oil workers from the U.S. got together with the heads of the oil unions in Iraq and Venezuela.


Sweatshop-coddling, on Steroids »

December 8, 2009 | Mischa Gaus

Labor activist Jeff Ballinger follows on his insightful piece on the ILO's Better Work program in the latest issue of Labor Notes magazine with an in-depth interview on WBEZ's "Worldview" program. "I'm very leery of this Better Work idea taking over the role of trade unions or hemming them in...

Vermont, North Carolina Schools Bracing Experiences for Labor Activists »

December 7, 2009 | Ellen David Friedman

A daylong school held Saturday by the Vermont Workers Center and Labor Notes drew more than 200 participants, while at the same time 800 miles south 60 workplace activists from across the South were gathering. Their frankness about the weaknesses of our movement vs. the challenges capitalism...

Nurses Move Toward a 'Superunion' »

December 4, 2009 | Mischa Gaus

A national “superunion” of 150,000 bedside nurses kicked off its founding convention Monday. Fights inside two of the three unions coming together make it clear: How unions make major decisions matters as much as the end product.

Teamsters Reformers Win Big at New York UPS Local »

December 3, 2009 | Mark Brenner

UPS Teamsters in New York City voted in a reform slate by to a 2-to-1 margin Thursday. It’s the second win in as many months for Teamsters reformers in the city, and it comes after a tireless yearlong campaign in a local with a long tradition of troublemaking.

Putting Wage Theft on the Map (Literally) »

December 3, 2009 | Adam Kader

To combat a wave of staggering illegality in low-wage and poorly regulated industries, a Chicago worker center has collaborated with a local university to create a map of law-breaking employers against which they have organized, giving workers and activists a powerful visual tool to bring to...

Tell Detroit Restaurant Chain You're Fed Up With Wage Theft »

December 3, 2009 | Labor Notes

The Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan (ROC), one of eight regional affiliates of the national workers center, is upping the pressure on a metro Detroit fine dining chain this week. Restaurant workers are fighting Andiamo Italia over a raft of claims, including wage theft and racial...

Escalating the War in Afghanistan Is Wrong »

December 2, 2009 | Jim Cavanaugh

President Obama’s decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan is wrong for many reasons. At its October 15 meeting, the Executive Board of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO adopted a simple statement that sums up many of those reasons: “We need to stop the war in Afghanistan and focus the nation’s...

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