recession

  • Guess What, Fox News: Public Workers Didn’t Start this Fire

    You know what, Fox News? Public workers didn’t start this fire, but they’ll be damned if it consumes their communities and leaves generations of workers in cinders.

    I was back on the Faux network Friday to talk about the revolt surging through Wisconsin. The host kept arguing that taxpayers have been bled dry, repeating Governor Scott Walker’s talking point that the state has no alternative but to take the hatchet to teachers, nurses, lifeguards, clerks—all the many unionized public workers.

  • On MLK's Day, Unions, Conservatives Rally for Jobs, Justice—Honor?

    Forty-seven years after Martin Luther King, Jr. uttered the words “I have a dream” to an overflow crowd on the Washington Mall, August 28 still has resonance for civil rights activists, the union movement, and, now, the Tea Party.

  • Two Years After Huge Wage Cuts, Rally Kicks Off Tense Negotiations for NY Chemical Workers
    By Jon Flanders
    Jun 8 2010 - 12:26pm

    Wearing bright red shirts emblazoned with a cobra warning “Will Strike if Provoked,” chemical workers in New York came out in force to kick off negotiations.

  • Workers at NY Silicone Plant Fight Big Wage Cuts
    Jon Flanders
    Apr 30 2010 - 5:21am

    When a private equity firm took over GE’s Advanced Materials plant around Albany, New York, they played nice for a little while before slashing wages in half. The IUE-CWA local there has mobilized to fight, and is testing out a work-to-rule.

  • Hospitals Ravaged by Recession Pile More Work on Staff
    Mischa Gaus
    Feb 3 2010 - 11:38am

    Hospital work is thought to be recession-proof. No matter what the economy, people get sick and need care. The work is there, but at a cost: hospital workers and researchers say some hospitals are churning through a round of reorganization, strapping on more work, skimping on training, and trying to stuff contract concessions through.

  • Boston-area Workers to March and Rally against "Jobless Recovery"
    Rand Wilson
    Sep 26 2009 - 10:44pm

    With the Massachusetts jobless rate now at 9.1 percent and rising, workers are increasingly frustrated by employers exploiting the recession to attack them, and the failure of politicians and policy makers to address the growing jobs crisis.

  • Recession Over? Depends on Who You Ask
    Mark Brenner
    Aug 27 2009 - 8:56pm

    When the Labor Department announced that a quarter million jobs were lost in July, the news was greeted with cheers and backslapping on Wall Street. One week later the Federal Reserve declared we were on our way out of the recession.