Labor Movement

UE Demand For Ceasefire Built On Decades Of Education And Debate

March 24, 2024 Carl Rosen, Labor Notes. Organize! Ceasefire, Gaza, Labor Movement, Palestine, Solidarity, UE Union, Worker Rights

Unions representing more than half of the U.S. labor movement have now called for a ceasefire in Gaza, as has the AFL-CIO and some 70 city councils—the result of actions by many local and international unions and rank-and-file activists. Our union, the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), was able to mobilize quickly on this critical issue because we have a strong tradition of international solidarity and taking a critical view of U.S. foreign policy. When Israel launched its brutal assault on the people of Palestine in the wake of the unconscionable Hamas attack of October 7, the UE leadership recognized that this was an issue that the labor movement had to take action on.

Across Industries, Workers Are Harnessing Their Collective Power

March 24, 2024 Amie Stager, In These Times. Strategize! Labor Movement, Minnesota, Solidarity, Worker's Rights

Minneapolis - Collective power is rising in Minnesota. Thousands of union members and a broad coalition of community groups banded together to demand better contracts, quality schools, housing and a livable planet. Unions in Minnesota have been aligning with community groups for more than a decade, participating in actions to build solidarity and worker power. On Tuesday, March 5, around 1,000 nursing home workers filled the Minnesota Capitol grounds to picket for better wages and working conditions in what was the industry’s largest strike in the history of the state.

Mineworkers Union Joins Fight Against Landfill

March 22, 2024 Shawn Street, United Mineworkers of America. Resist! Environment, Labor Movement, Landfill, Mineworkers

In recent months opponents of a proposed privately owned landfill have appeared at various government meetings wearing camouflage shirts. The shirts are designed similarly to those worn by union coal miners and their supporters during the 1989 strike against Pittston Coal Company. Last week the symbolic link between the two efforts became literal as the United Mine Workers of America announced their opposition to Russell County Reclamation’s proposed landfill that would be placed at the old Moss 3 site.

It’s Not Apathy; You’re Not Listening

March 21, 2024 Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III, Popular Resistance. Educate! Black America, Elections, Finance and the Economy, Joe Biden, Labor Movement

One of the popular narratives that was disseminated in mainstream America media to explain Hilary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign loss to Donald Trump was post-Obama voter apathy in the African American community. According to the Washington Post, “In 2016, a seven-point drop in black voter turnout was perceived to have cost Clinton the election. Political commentators often cite black voters’ “enthusiasm gap” as the primary reason for low turnout. This short-sighted perspective fails to consider that Mrs. Clinton ran a terrible campaign. She took the African American vote for granted and failed to craft a message that spoke to the needs and interests of the Community.

Number Of Victims And Illegal Profits From Forced Labor Has Increased

March 21, 2024 People's Dispatch. Educate! Forced Labor, Human Trafficking, Labor Movement, Worker Rights and Jobs

A new study conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) claims that both the number of people engaged in some kind of forced labor and illegal profits incurred from that have increased dramatically in the last decade. ILO claims that forced labor in the private economy generates over $236 billion annually in illegal profits which is USD 64 billion (37%) more than USD 172 billion a decade ago. Forced labor is defined as all kinds of “work that is both involuntary and under penalty or menace of penalty (coercion)” extracted by an individual, private player or a state. It is also closely linked to human trafficking across international borders and is called “modern day slavery” by the ILO.

Steward’s Corner: ‘There Aren’t Enough Of Us’

March 21, 2024 Ellen David Friedman, Labor Notes. Organize! Labor Movement, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

It’s a common situation: there’s too much union work to do, and not enough people doing it. And the ill effects are serious. Carrying too much work puts a lot of pressure on you, and you’re liable to burn out. You may find yourself overwhelmed with tasks, unable to prioritize, dissatisfied with the results—and possibly making poor decisions, because you’re too busy to solicit and include ideas from others. Most important, this arrangement squanders the intelligence, creativity, and energy that your fellow members could bring. Unfortunately, the most common “solutions” rarely work.

Long Beach Hotel Workers To Earn Highest Minimum Wage

March 20, 2024 Mark Kreidler, Portside. Organize! California, Hotel workers, Labor Movement, Strikes, Wages, Worker Rights and Jobs

Part of the Los Angeles region’s “hot labor summer” of 2023 was a growing recognition that the runaway cost of living was squeezing workers and families. It was perhaps the primary driver of the rolling strikes by unionized workers at 60 area hotels during contract negotiations, with many of those negotiations ongoing. But bargaining-table pressure and picket lines are not the only mechanisms for addressing this issue. And voters in Long Beach have likely just approved another path. Measure RW, on which Long Beach residents voted during last week’s primary, significantly raises the minimum wage for workers at Long Beach hotels with more than 100 rooms.

Teaching Each Other To Strike

March 17, 2024 Barbara Madeloni, Labor Notes. Organize! Education, Labor Movement, Massachusetts, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

Recently I heard members of the Newton Teachers Association recount the path to their 11-day January strike. The audience at the Massachusetts Teachers Association winter skills conference gave them a standing ovation. In the past 20 months, seven MTA locals have voted to strike and six have walked out. They’ve won significant raises for the lowest-paid workers, paid family and medical leave, more social workers, and educator control over planning time. All the strikes were illegal, and the courts issued fines in most cases. Newton teachers were fined $625,000, for example.

Dan Osborn Challenges Nebraska’s Political Establishment

March 16, 2024 Steve Early, Barn Raiser Media. Organize! Elections, Labor Movement, Nebraska, Working Class

Recent studies of lawmakers in the United States have found that less than 2% of those serving on Capitol Hill held blue-collar jobs before they were elected. That percentage drops even further among the nearly 7,300 state legislators across all 50 states, according to researchers at Duke University and Loyola University Chicago, who found that only 81 of those legislators were previously employed in working-class jobs. Dan Osborn, a 48-year-old building trades worker, is a rare example of a candidate working to increase those numbers.

Union Members Step Up And Dig In For Palestine Solidarity

March 6, 2024 Bahaar Tadjbakhsh, Labor Notes. Strategize! Ceasefire, Labor Movement, Palestine, San Francisco

When street protests seem ignored by the war machine, what are union members to do? In the San Francisco Bay Area, unions and rank-and-file networks are using direct action and endorsement-revoking campaigns to target the politicians who are still shipping weapons to Israel for its scorched-earth campaign. Meanwhile we’ve held a teach-in and launched campaigns to boycott Israeli goods and divest our pensions from the occupation. Nearly six months in, Israel’s invasion of Gaza is responsible for 30,000 Palestinian deaths and counting. Across the U.S., more than 100 union locals, six internationals, and the AFL-CIO have called for a ceasefire.

The Most Important Labor Story Right Now Is In Minnesota

March 4, 2024 Sarah Jaffe, In These Times. Strategize! Labor Movement, Minnesota, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Andrea Villanueva was in bargaining five days ago, negotiating a new contract for herself and 500 other retail janitors who clean some of the Twin Cities’ most recognizable stores. A group of building security workers, also members of Villanueva’s union SEIU Local 26, were also in negotiations in the same building. The workers bumped into one another in the hallways as the day went on — stopping to cheer each other on and express their solidarity. Local 26 is just one of a major network of unions and community groups in Minneapolis and St. Paul that lined up bargaining processes for new contracts — and in some cases, strike votes — around a March 2 deadline

Major Strike Activity Increased By 280% In 2023

March 4, 2024 Margaret Poydock and Jennifer Sherer, Economic Policy Institute. Resist! Labor Movement, Strikes, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Last year saw a resurgence in collective action among workers. More than 16.2 million workers were represented by unions in 2023, an increase of 191,000 from 2022. Workers filed petitions for union elections in record numbers and captured significant wage gains through work stoppages and contract negotiations. Further, organizing efforts continued in a variety of sectors—including health care, nonprofits, higher education, museums, retail, and manufacturing (Shierholz et al. 2024). Strikes were among the more prominent forms of collective action in 2023. A strike is when workers withhold their labor from their employer during a labor dispute.

What was the CIO?

February 26, 2024 Andrew Elrod, n+1. Strategize! CIO, Democrats, History, Labor Movement, Worker Rights and Jobs

After decades of defeat, workers are on the move again. Many of those interested today in a revived labor movement know that unions once exercised real sway over the national economy and politics in the US. And the distant memory of how the labor movement was built holds great symbolic power: as thousands of union organizers have asked in meetings, how did they do it in the 1930s? The United Auto Workers named and conceptualized their recent, triumphant “Stand-Up Strike” in explicit homage to their union’s breakthrough sitdown strikes of 1936–1937.

The 2023 UAW Strike: A Turning Point In Labor History?

February 23, 2024 Nelson Lichtenstein, New Labor Forum. Strategize! History, Labor Movement, Strikes, Unions, United Auto Workers (UAW), Worker Rights and Jobs, Working Class

How transformative was the strike that the United Auto Workers concluded in November 2023, when it shut down factories at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, which now incorporates Chrysler? The UAW has been in existence for nearly 90 years, during which three contests with capital have defined the character of the union and–because of its vanguard role–the expectations and standards for millions of other workers. Should we add last Fall’s brilliantly led and highly successful “stand-up” strike to that list? The great sit-down strikes of 1937 founded the UAW and ensured that, for more than a decade, shop militancy and leftwing politics would define a union representing upwards of a million workers in America’s most important industry.

New National Labor Network Formed To Expand Support For A Ceasefire

February 18, 2024 United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America. Organize! Anti-War, Ceasefire, Israel, Labor Movement, National Labor Network for Ceasefire (NLNC), Palestine

Seven national unions and over two hundred local unions today announce the formation of the National Labor Network for Ceasefire (NLNC) to “end the death and devastation” in the Middle East, and to expand support for the ceasefire among unions nationally. Together, unions calling for a ceasefire represent over 9 million union members – more than half the labor movement in the United States. The NLNC launch comes on the heels of a statement calling for a ceasefire released by the AFL-CIO last week - the largest federation of unions in the United States. The NLNC is launching their website (laborforceasefire.org) with a call for unions and union members to sign the ceasefire letter to continue expanding labor’s ceasefire movement.

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