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Just over 20 years ago America was in the midst of a big change. During the second half of the 1970s, "stagflation" hit the U.S. economy, the employers got aggressive, and politics veered to the right. The bitter 110-day strike by the United Mine Workers and the concessions made during the...

In 1997, a group of union musicians formed a task force to analyze the structure of the American Federation of Musicians. They were looking for ways the AFM could better serve its membership. The task force presented its proposals for change at the AFM convention last August--but the AFM...

When Enriqueta Bazaldua walked into UAW Local 599's November membership meeting in Flint, Michigan, she heard an angry young part-timer complaining about GM's two-tier wage system. The system denies him union representation and keeps him as a dues payer on a lower wage scale. "The old-timers...

When health care workers employed by Cartie's Health Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island, struck July 1, no one, least of all the workers themselves, imagined that they were embarking on the longest nursing home strike in state history.

One of the most surprising strikes in New England in the last ten years ended September 17, when Connecticut telephone workers voted 3-1 to ratify a 32-month agreement. The 6,300 workers struck Southern New England Telephone (SNET) on August 23 after a previous contract settlement fell short of...

Could "Neutron Jack" Welch be labor's partner? John Sweeney sees the CEO of General Electric, famed for cutting jobs and amassing profits, that way. Labor Notes has learned that Sweeney is quietly discussing with Welch the founding of a national "Economic Leadership Dialogue on Citizenship"...

In Flint, Michigan they're calling the 54-day strike against General Motors' Metal Fab Center and Delphi East plants "The Big One." It was the longest strike at GM since the 1970 national dispute. It cost the company almost $3 billion in lost profits and $12 billion in sales. It closed 27 of GM...