Just two blocks away from the birthplace of one of baseball’s legendary heroes, Babe Ruth, lies Camden Yards. It’s also home to some of Baltimore’s most impoverished workers who, through the organization United Workers, are fighting back for a living wage and dignity on the job. . . .

A coalition of health care unions in British Columbia scored a groundbreaking victory on June 8 when the Supreme Court of Canada struck down key provisions of the province’s Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act. Overturning two lower court decisions and a number of its own decisions dating back to the 1980s, the country’s top court ruled that collective bargaining is constitutionally protected as part of the guarantee of freedom of association in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. . . .

What do you get when you mix almost 8,000 striking forestry workers and 5,300 striking municipal workers with a scattering of strikes throughout British Columbia (B.C.) and Alberta? You get a hot summer in Western Canada with 15,000 workers walking picket lines in one province alone. . . .

A rising chorus of business gurus is singing the praises of a new solution to the U.S. auto industry’s ongoing crisis: one big health care trust for all the Big 3’s workers. According to the proposal’s cheerleaders, by making giant one-time pay-ins the Big 3 auto makers can slice off an estimated $116 billion worth of retiree health obligations from their balance sheets in one swoop and restore profitability. . . .

You probably already know that immigrant workers want pretty much the same things any unionized worker wants. A decent job. A living wage. Respect and trust. Some measure of control over their lives.

The other thing you should know is. . . .

Editor’s Note: As debates around immigration policy continue throughout the U.S., immigrant workers play increasingly important roles in the labor movement. Despite their growing numbers and their willingness to fight for respect and power on the job and in their communities, immigrants are not always welcomed by unions. Even when unions try to reach out to immigrants, cultural barriers of many sorts can stand in the way. This excerpt from A Troublemaker’s Handbook 2 provides some basic advice for union officers and activists who are new to working with immigrant members.

Garment workers at the Vaqueros Navarra factory in Tehuacan, Puebla, Mexico have faced firings, verbal harassment, and pressures to quit as a response to organizing efforts. The workers are active in a grassroots movement to organize an independent union.

Vaqueros Navarra, which manufactures blue jeans, is one of the largest garment factories owned by Grupo Navarro in the state of Puebla. The factory produces more than 30 brands that are exported to the U.S. market. In response to the company’s imposition of an “official union,” workers at Vaqueros Navarra formed the September 19 Union, which is affiliated with the Authentic Labor Front (FAT.) Supporters of the September 19 Union filed a petition on July 10 with the Local Conciliation and Arbitration Board (JCLA) to replace the company-run union.

More than 260 workers in hearing aid manufacturer Cochlear’s plant in Sydney, Australia have launched an international campaign to defend their contract.

Cochlear, which manufactures hearing aids for 80,000 people across the world, recently tried to terminate its collective bargaining agreement and impose “individual common law contracts.” When workers voted down the company’s proposed system, Cochlear demanded a second vote, in which the overwhelming majority of the workers again voted “no” on June 29.

Meanwhile, the workers voted twice by secret ballot to be represented by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), but the company claimed that under recently passed federal industrial relations laws it does not have to respect the workers’ decision. “Work Choice Laws,” which were implemented last year by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, allow employers coerce workers into signing “Australian Work Agreements” (AWA’s). AWA’s are individual contracts between employers and workers that override any pre-existing collective bargaining agreement. This allows employers to essentially gut union compensation and working conditions at their whim.