race

  • Bringing Up the Next Generation Right

    A new how-to handbook makes the case that women and people of color can benefit from formal mentoring programs that encourage their development as union leaders. The programs are most effective when paired with a broader education program, but they need to express a shared commitment to democracy—or they could simply recreate a new group of business unionists.

  • Can Labor Out-Organize the Tea Party?
    Jane Slaughter & Mark Brenner
    Sep 30 2010 - 12:17pm

    As tens of thousands of activists rally in D.C. October 2, not all union members will be on the same page. A minority are open to the Tea Party's message of government-bashing and fear of foreigners.

  • Restaurant Workers Launch Multi-City Campaign to Transform Low-Wage Industry
    Paul Abowd
    Feb 4 2010 - 11:26am

    The Restaurant Opportunities Center has launched workplace justice campaigns in four cities aimed at flipping the low-wage, high-discrimination industry.

  • 'Constituency' Caucuses Can Be Out Front
    Guillermo Perez
    Aug 27 2009 - 7:14pm

    When New York state made national news two years ago with a flap about driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, the state AFL-CIO supported the immigrants but wasn't out in front. Neither was another supporter, the Catholic Church.

    But as chair of the Albany/Capital District chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), I was getting media calls every other day. We were it.

  • Viewpoint: Don’t Stop Union Conversations on Race

    Jeff Crosby

    Expectations for President Obama are high. A friend told me of a sick relative in a small Midwestern industrial town. The relative’s specialist was at a conference, and the only possible replacement in town did not have privileges at this particular hospital. The ER nurse told the patient, “Obama’s going to change all that.” . . .


    Yes
  • Unions Talk Race as Election Nears

    Jane Slaughter

    Labor leaders who want desperately to chase the Republicans from the White House are confronting a hurdle in their outreach to members: the question of race. Obama’s record on economic issues, they say, should put him way ahead of John McCain with working-class voters. But will the facts be enough to overcome some members’ deep-seated prejudice?


    Yes
  • Two Years after Katrina Workers Center Organizes Day Laborers in New Orleans

    Matt Olson

    In a modest office in the central business district of New Orleans, two years after Hurricane Katrina, the Workers Center for Racial Justice organizes the city’s guest workers and day laborers. . . .


    Yes
  • Politically-Connected Businessman Profits from ‘Guest Worker’ Program Braceros in Detroit?

    Elena Herrada

    We should never be surprised by what campaign contributions and political connections can accomplish. In Detroit, they allowed a company to fire union workers and replace them with immigrants brought into this country under false pretenses-and then subject the new workers to horrible living conditions...

    Yes
  • NAFTA Labor Black Hole Lessons for the Fast Track Debate

    by Sarah Anderson

    Five years ago, Mexican workers at two factories in Tamaulipas state owned by U.S.-based Breed Technologies initiated a work stoppage to protest unsafe working conditions. Workers in these two plants, called Customtrim and Autotrim, glue and sew leather around automobile steering wheels and gear shifts. As a result of poor ventilation and the fast pace of work, illnesses and injuries are extremely common. Plant managers, however, tell disabled employees, known as "jonkeados" (junked workers), that their problems are merely psychological...

    Yes
  • Steward's Corner: How Our Local Bonded With The Community

    by Ken Riley; President ILA Local 1422, Charleston, South Carolina

    For a long time our local union was a sleeping giant in the community. Other groups solicited us only for our funds and not for our involvement. We were also losing ground in contract negotiations: Charleston is a major port, and we weren't taking advantage of that fact to address issues that were particular to Charleston.


    Yes