Sometimes the fate of a single battle foretells the outcome of a war, long before it’s over. The end of the San Francisco hotel lockout promises to be this kind of watershed moment . . . .

"When I stand in the hallway, I should be able to hear all fourth grade teachers saying the same thing. Do not deviate from the scripted program and do not fall behind in the pacing plan.” The “program” this principal was referring to was Open Court, Los Angeles’s mandated reading curriculum. . . .

Of the unions involved in the New Unity Partnership, only one—the Carpenters—has an active rank-and-file reform movement. However, each of the other unions has rank-and-file leaders on the local level who are working to promote member control . . . .

About three dozen workers at a Ford truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan walked off the assembly line after eight hours of work December 1. Production halted immediately. The previous day management had violated a contractual rule about notice of overtime, so the workers on trim and chassis lines walked after eight hours instead of the ten Ford wanted . . . .

This fall, hundreds of University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) students were taught by faculty who never received the raise or the bonus mandated by the legislature last summer. While most UTK employees received at least a three percent increase in their base pay and a special bonus ranging from $210 to $1,750, a category of faculty known to the administration as “term employees” proved to be the exception . . . .

Outsourcing has become a mantra for managers. If the union is strong enough and the economic conditions sufficiently favorable, the union can prevent outsourcing simply by making clear that it will not tolerate loss of jobs and that it is up to management to figure out ways to do the jobs efficiently . . . .