Labor

#KeepCorbyn: Labour Civil War Reaches Fever Pitch

June 29, 2016 Staff, www.marxist.com Resist! Jeremy Corbyn, Labor, Labor Party, United Kingdom (UK)

By Staff of Socialist Appeal - All talk now of “unity” between these two camps is now a laughable joke. The only “unity” that these right-wing MPs are willing to accept is for Corbyn’s head to be paraded around on a stick. They have demonstrated that they have an utter contempt towards rank-and-file Labour members and for the basic principles of Labour Party democracy. They believe that the Labour Party is their personal property, and that the membership is merely a passive mob that must accept their condescending diktats. They would clearly rather split the party than see it dominated by Corbyn and those who support him.

Chaos Erupts In Paris As Riot Police Unleash On 50,000-Strong Labor Protest

June 15, 2016 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Resist! Labor, Paris, Protests, Reform

By Lauren McCauley for Common Dreams - French police unleashed tear gas and water cannons on demonstrators Tuesday as tens of thousands packed the streets of Paris in an outpouring of opposition to the government's anti-labor agenda. The CGT labor union, which helped organized the march, hoped Tuesday's mobilization would be the largest since protests launched over new labor standards, which allow employers to more easily fire workers and create precarious, lower paid positions in place of permanent contracts. "I’ve been to all the demos since March because I want to live in dignity, not just survive," Aurelien Boukelmoune, a 26-year-old technician, told AFP in Paris. "I want the reforms to be withdrawn, pure and simple. Only then will it stop. For the government's sake, they should withdraw the law, otherwise we'll block the economy."

At Least 40 Injured, 58 Arrested In Paris Anti-Labor Reform Protests

June 15, 2016 Staff, www.rt.com Resist! Labor, Labor protest, Paris, Protests, Workers Rights and Jobs

By Staff of RT - At least 40 people, including 29 officers, were injured as protesters against France’s highly unpopular proposed labor law clashed with police in Paris. Police made 58 arrests and deployed tear gas and water cannons against the demonstrators. Twenty-nine officers and 11 rioters have been injured during clashes in the heart of the French capital, police said.

Permanent Replacements? Not So Fast, Labor Board Says

June 10, 2016 Robert Schwartz, www.labornotes.org Resist! Labor, Strikes

By Robert Schwartz for Labor Notes - A game-changing interpretation from the Obama-appointed National Labor Relations Board has narrowed the allowable reasons why an employer may hire permanent replacements during a strike. Last week’s ruling reinterprets the 1938 Supreme Court decision Mackay Radio & Telegraph, widely reviled by labor. That case affirmed employers’ right to hire permanent replacements. Employers frequently useMackay to defeat strikes. Some unions don’t even consider hitting the bricks because they’re afraid that workers’ jobs will be taken away.

Labor Groups Drop #OurWalmart. Who Will Fund Their Fight?

June 3, 2016 Dave Jamieson, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Labor, McDonald's, Walmart

By Dave Jamieson for The Huffington Post - In 2013, Janet Sparks and five co-workers went on strike at a Walmart store in Baker, Louisiana. The group rode in a caravan to Bentonville, Arkansas, taking their grievances to the company’s shareholder meeting. The experience of walking off the job in protest was exhilarating, but also unnerving. “It’s always a scary thing for a worker to go up against the largest employer in the U.S.,” Sparks, 55, said. “There are co-workers around you who are afraid. But we believed in what we were doing.”

Strikes And Protests Mount Against French Labour Law

May 24, 2016 Kumaran Ira, www.wsws.org Resist! France, Labor, Law, Protests

By Kumaran Ira for WSWS - As strikes and protests mount across France, social opposition to the unpopular labour reform imposed last week by Socialist party government without a parliamentary vote by using article 49.3 of the French constitution last week, is escalating. The pro-business law allow unions and bosses to negotiate contracts violating France’s Labour Code, lengthen the work week, facilitate mass sackings, and undermine job security for young new hires. Denouncing the PS government’s regressive reforms and anti-democratic method, hundreds of thousands of workers and youth protested the law for the second time this week yesterday.

France Erupts In Defiance Of Employer-Friendly Labour Reforms

May 18, 2016 Duncan Cameron, www.rabble.ca Resist! France, Labor

By Duncan Cameron for Rabble - France is continuously rocked by debates around the meaning of the Enlightenment ideals of liberty, equality and solidarity that predate the French Revolution. Some important notions are widely shared. Most French citizens expect governments to meet the basic needs of all and promote individual expansion of talents and abilities. It is generally agreed France should offer educational, cultural and recreational facilities to every child.

Global Labor Orgs Strategize To Counter Right-Wing Populism

May 12, 2016 Michael J. Brewer, www.occupy.com Resist! Labor

By Michael J. Brewer for Working America - WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the first convening of its kind, global labor leaders from Europe, the U.S. and Canada met today in Washington, D.C. to discuss the international rise of right-wing populist movements and share best practices for engaging working people against the threat of an anti-worker Right agenda. Hosted by the AFL-CIO, Working America and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the day-long forum – “Labor, Politics and the Threat from the Right: A Trans-Atlantic Discussion”...

French Government Resorts To Emergency Powers To Pass Labor Law

May 11, 2016 John Lichfield, www.independent.co.uk Resist! France, Labor, Legislation

By John Lichfield for Independent - The French government has resorted to its emergency powers to impose changes in employment law which have provoked violent protest in recent days. In a stinging reverse for President François Hollande a year before elections, the government failed to persuade a blocking minority of its own Socialist deputies to support plans to simplify and loosen France’s complex rules on hiring and firing.

Precariat Trap: Why Organized Labor Is More Important Than Ever

May 9, 2016 Derek Royden, www.nationofchange.org Organize! Labor, Workers Rights and Jobs

By Derek Royden for Nation of Change - With May Day having just passed, we are reminded of the historic struggles of organized labor in North America. At the end of the 19th century, when working conditions in most places were deplorable and the hours brutally long, a movement arose to challenge the unrestrained power of capital. At its peak in the 1880s, the Knights of Labor, considered one of the most radical American labor organizations, had more than 700,000 members. Their radical plan? An end to child labor and an 8 hour workday.

Why Labor Movement Must Join Anti-Racist Struggle

April 10, 2016 Andrew Tillett-Saks, www.inthesetimes.com Strategize! Black Lives Matter (BLM), Labor, Racism, Unions

By Andrew Tillett-Saks for In These Times. American unions appear on their deathbed. The percentage of workers in unions is at its lowest point in 75 years, corporate politicians have spread union-busting right-to-work laws to more than half the states in the union and labor’s traditional strongholds (from manufacturing to the public sector) are rapidly being eroded. But an opportunity for labor to reverse its fortunes looms large in the Black Lives Matter movement, the largest wave of anti-racist struggle in recent memory. If American labor is going to reverse its declining fortunes, it must begin with attacking American racism. Racism is the lynchpin that holds corporate America together—as well as the shoals upon which American labor has sunk for centuries. Racism in America—past and present, from the colonial to the Trump era—divides workers so to prevent an effective united front.

Tech Boom Fueled By 40,000 Congolese Child Miners

April 9, 2016 Educate! Children, Congo, Exploitation, Labor, Technology

By Mnar Muhawesh for Mint Press News - MINNEAPOLIS — A recent Amnesty International report sounded the alarm on a “blood mineral” mined by Congolese children as young as seven and used in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries found in laptops, smartphones and even electric cars. The mineral is cobalt, and more than half of the world’s supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, including at least 20 percent which is mined by so-called “artisanal miners” in the southern part of the country. The report, titled “This Is What We Die For,” explains the conditions these miners work in...

French Police Assault Student Protests Against Labour Reform

April 6, 2016 Alex Lantier and Senthooran Ravee, www.wsws.org Resist! France, Labor, Student Protests

By Alex Lantier and Senthooran Ravee for WSWS - After more than a million workers and youth marched Thursday in defiance of the state of emergency to protest Socialist Party (PS) labour minister Myriam El Khomri’s law, security forces yesterday violently attacked continuing demonstrations against the reactionary labour law reform. Explosive anger is developing among broad sections of workers and youth to the El Khomri Law. It would increase the working day by up to two hours, undermine job security for young workers, and allow the trade unions and businesses to negotiate deals violating France’s Labour Code.

Thousands Take To Streets In France To Protest Labor Reform

April 4, 2016 Sylvie Corbet, www.newson6.com Resist! France, Labor, Protests, Workers Rights and Jobs

By Sylvie Corbet for Associated Press PARIS (AP) - Tens of thousands of workers and youths took to the streets of France to protest, sometimes violently, a government reform meant to make it easier to hire and fire employees and to relax the country's strict 35-hour workweek. As train drivers, teachers and others went on strike, student organizations and seven employee unions combined to condemn the Socialist government's bill, which they argue will badly erode hard-won worker protections.

«1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »

Daily movement news and resources