Labor Notes Magazine, April 2008, No. 349

Auto Parts Workers Battle Demand to Cut Wages in Half

-- Wendy Thompson

Picketers at American Axle talk about the need to draw a line in the sand—or snow—against spiraling concessions on wages, health care benefits, and pensions. . . . Read More

Members Decry Loyalty Oaths, Cozy Deals: Reform Movement Forms in SEIU

-- Paul Krehbiel

On the heels of a public fight over the Service Employees (SEIU) International’s move toward labor-management partnership deals and hyper-centralization, members are joining a newly founded national reform group. . . . Read More

Quiet Deal Leads to Bitter Fight in Ohio Hospitals

-- Mischa Gaus

Accusations of sweetheart deal-making and union busting flew thick and fast in mid-March as the Service Employees and the California Nurses Association fought over SEIU’s bid to quietly gain wall-to-wall representation at nine Ohio hospitals. . . . Read More

Things Aren’t Always What They Appear to Be

-- Herman Rosenfeld

The ongoing debate about the Canadian Auto Workers in these pages isn’t about particular tactics, it isn’t about whether or not to consider new and creative approaches (who could oppose that?), and it isn’t about underestimating the very real challenges that Canada’s largest private sector union (and all unions) face today. . . . Read More

Teachers Strike Stops Classes in Puerto Rico

-- José A. Laguarta Ramírez

Striking members of Puerto Rico’s teachers union, the Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (FMPR) voted to end their strike March 5. Lasting two weeks, the teachers’ strike paralyzed classes at most of the island’s 1,500 public schools, thanks in large part to the hundreds of thousands of parents who kept their children home from school. . . . Read More

Promised Permanent Residency: Guest Workers Brought to Mississippi Shipyard Face Deportation for Organizing

-- Michael Merriweather

Next Stop on Corporate Low Road: Vietnam

-- Jeff Ballinger

Jason and Me: Worker Fired at Seatbelt Maker Hunts for CEO

-- Julio Guerrero

Big Ticket Merger, Decert Battle Latest Round of Mechanic Union Troubles at United Airlines

-- Malik Miah, Terry O’Rourke

Viewpoint: Guild Election Looms as Papers Shrink

-- Randy Furst, Steve Early

Portland Solidarity Group Organizes for Conference

-- Eric Fanning

Employees Turned Into ‘Independent Contractors’: Saving Unions and Union Members In Colombia

-- Larry Cohen

Support for Freightliner Five on West Coast

-- Mike Parker

Laying the Groundwork Before You Run

-- Chris Kutalik

Your mother might have been right about that old “try-and-try-until- you-succeed” saw. That is certainly the case for the victory of Teamsters (IBT) reformers at Local 743 in Chicago. . . . Read More