building trades

  • A Shallow Victory on Living Wages in New York City
    Jenny Brown
    Feb 23 2012 - 9:36am

    After New York’s retail union announced a living wage deal, activists greeted the news with mixed feelings. Only a small number of workers will be affected, but activists think the campaign changed the conversation on low wages.

  • Can Labor Organize the Unemployed?
    Jenny Brown
    Feb 14 2012 - 9:20am

    Wrenching testimonies from laid-off workers are overflowing the internet, crying out from the pages of policy reports, and popping up in commercial media. But unions are still grappling with how to organize the unemployed into a political force.

  • Oil Pipeline Fight Roils Unions
    Jenny Brown
    Nov 7 2011 - 10:16am

    U.S. unions are bitterly split on whether an oil pipeline should be built between Canada and Texas. The conflict has hamstrung the Blue-Green Alliance, which unifies union and environmental efforts, as transit unions argue labor must look beyond its own interests.

  • Democrats Return to Indianapolis

    Exiled Indiana Democratic state legislators returned from Illinois March 28 and were greeted by hundreds of union well-wishers as they re-entered the Indianapolis statehouse after five weeks’ absence.

    During that time daily rallies echoed through the Capitol dome as tens of thousands of Hoosiers raised their voices in defense of their unions and their schools.

    The Democratic walk-out seems to have knocked out some of the Republican-proposed legislation, but other pieces are still moving.

  • Indiana Anti-Worker Bills Skid to a Halt
    Jenny Brown
    Mar 17 2011 - 10:45am

    Hoosier unionists—bolstered by exiled Democratic lawmakers—have brought a wagonload of anti-worker bills to a standstill. Crowds numbering from 1,000 to 10,000 have swarmed the Indianapolis statehouse every day for almost three weeks.

  • Wisconsin Spirit Sweeps Across the Midwest
    Jenny Brown, Dan La Botz
    Feb 23 2011 - 3:14pm

    The spirit of Wisconsin is inspiring union members in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan to jam capitol buildings by the tens of thousands to fight a raft of union-busting bills in their states.

  • Shock and Law: Politicians Push Anti-Worker Bills
    Mark Brenner
    Feb 22 2011 - 4:41pm

    Labor’s 2011 political battles don’t end at the Beltway. Anti-union forces are pushing bills and ballot measures to limit workers’ rights and curb union power from Maine to Hawaii. A special Labor Notes map keeps track.

  • Indiana Unionists Face Down Attacks
    Jenny Brown
    Feb 21 2011 - 5:30pm

    Five thousand workers converged on Indiana’s statehouse Monday, in what participants said was the start of a Wisconsin-style week of protests against a range of anti-worker bills before the legislature.

  • Strong Words against Wal-Mart at New York Rally

    Retail worker unions gathered with an association of small supermarkets and city officials Thursday to denounce Wal-Mart as a “job killer” for New York. “For every two jobs, three jobs lost!” was the chant at the City Hall rally.

  • Public Sector, Public Good
    Mark Brenner
    Dec 27 2010 - 11:02am

    Dumping on public workers is so “common sense” these days that even a few fellow unionists are piling on. The head of the New York City building trades council joined a business-backed group formed to attack public unions.