Article

  • How to Bargain Concessions (If You Must)
    Richard de Vries
    May 15 2012 - 4:10pm

    Can concessions save jobs? Almost always they cannot, and certainly not in the big picture. Concessions can’t fix a collapsed market or stop offshoring, nor the 1%’s relentless assault on the working class. But concessions may save jobs in the short term if the union bargains hard in areas not traditional to our thinking and gets specific, concrete guarantees.

  • Oregon Activists Look to Grassroots Approach to Win Universal Health Care
    Peter Shapiro
    May 14 2012 - 1:16pm

    Oregon activists are responding to escalating health care costs by rejuvenating a grassroots campaign to win a system that covers everyone—and pays for it by cutting out the insurance companies.

  • The Troublemakers Union Gathers, Stronger than Ever
    Labor Notes Staff
    May 10 2012 - 4:37pm

    Even a group of a dozen had a hard time keeping up with everything 1,500 union activists and troublemakers of all stripes—from all over the world—were up to at the weekend's Labor Notes Conference.

  • Live from the Labor Notes Conference
    Mischa Gaus
    May 4 2012 - 8:40pm

    Records are being broken all over the place as 1,500 union activists, worker center members, and workplace troublemakers are gathering in Chicago for the biggest Labor Notes conference yet.

  • Celebrating May Day, in New and Old Ways
    Andrew Sernatinger
    May 2 2012 - 5:23pm

    Given the attack on the Occupy camps last fall, the assault on labor, and the spread of Arizona-style anti-immigrant laws, what would happen this May Day was an open question. Would it see the revival of the Occupy movement, allied with labor and immigrants?

  • Steelworkers at Oil Refiner Tesoro Ready for Strike
    Patrick Young
    Apr 30 2012 - 10:49am

    The oil refiner Tesoro took a $40 million loss after an explosion last year that claimed seven lives. Management is trying to recoup the money by forcing workers to pay for its mistakes, leading Steelworkers to prepare for a strike.

  • The Vision Thing: Keeping Union Reform on Track
    Jane Slaughter
    Apr 27 2012 - 4:17pm

    When reformers take over at the union hall, they can make remarkable changes, transforming dormant locals into ones with proud members who put management on notice. But some stumble. What happens?

  • Tax-Dodging GE Takes Union Fire
    Jim West
    Apr 25 2012 - 4:04pm

    At least 2,000 people assembled in downtown Detroit this morning outside the General Electric shareholders meeting to demand that the giant multinational pay its fair share of taxes. Signs read, "We pay taxes, why don't you?"

  • Union, Riders Chase a Better Bus System
    Matthew Cunningham-Cook
    Apr 24 2012 - 4:25pm

    Despite the fact that 2011 saw the highest transit ridership in a half century, many regional and municipal transit authorities are facing huge budget cuts and steep service reductions. But several local coalitions are working to expand transit options.

  • Michigan Amendment Would Block Anti-Union Legislation
    Theresa Moran
    Apr 23 2012 - 3:30pm

    Rather than waiting for a right-to-work law to pass, Michigan unions are mounting a petition drive to make anti-union bills unconstitutional. They need 322,609 signatures to get on the November ballot .