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Auto Worker Strikes in China: What Did They Win? »

December 23, 2010 | Boy Lüthje

Last summer’s spontaneous auto worker strikes in China reverberated throughout the country and overseas. Will they rejuvenate Chinese unions?

Billionaires Target Teachers—and Take the Gloves Off in Illinois »

December 21, 2010 | Howard Ryan

A billionaire gang headed by Bill Gates and Eli Broad wants to convert America’s public schools, with its $600 billion in annual public expenditures according to the Department of Education, into a corporate-owned test-score factory. Their plan faces teacher resistance, and nowhere more so than...

Public Employees: Myths and Realities »

December 20, 2010 | Mark Brenner

With all the venom directed at public employees these days, it’s hard to separate the facts from the attacks. Here’s a guide to common claims made about government spending, taxes, and public employees.

Honda Workers in Mexico Face Repression, Firings »

December 20, 2010 | Huberto Juárez Núñez

Honda workers at a Mexican factory felt compelled to wear bags over their faces to ward off reprisals from management as they announced their new union. But today management fired the new union's leader. Help is requested.

New York Wage Theft Law Raises the Bar »

December 17, 2010 | Jenny Brown

In what advocates called “a stunning win” for workers across New York state, outgoing Governor David Paterson has signed a law that escalates penalties against thieving employers and protects workers who stand up against wage theft at their jobs.

Pope Campaign Submits 50,000 Signatures for Teamster Election »

December 17, 2010 | Nick Perry

Sandy Pope is running for president of the Teamsters against James Hoffa. She needed 34,000 members to sign petitions to make her an accredited candidate and get access to the membership list and the Teamster magazine.

Plant Auction Blocked by Mass Picket Threat »

December 17, 2010 | Jane Slaughter

In a move to save factory jobs that evokes shades of the ’30s, the United Electrical Workers planned mass picketing this month to blockade the doors of a shuttered factory to stop the auction of its machines.

Incoming Governors Spurn Federal Money For Rail Jobs »

December 17, 2010 | Jenny Brown

Passenger rail projects in Wisconsin and Ohio are dead, and Florida’s is on the chopping block, as incoming Republican governors turn away hundreds of millions of dollars of federal money—and the jobs they would generate.

With UAW’s King for Cover, Obama Backhands Labor in Korea Trade Deal »

December 17, 2010 | Mischa Gaus

President Obama finalized the largest trade deal since NAFTA on December 3. It looks like he cut and pasted the same corporate-friendly script he inherited from previous administrations, Democrat and Republican alike.

Obama’s Federal Wage Freeze Will Become Model »

December 16, 2010 | Dan La Botz

They’re calling it Obama’s PATCO—his proposal for a two-year wage freeze for two million federal workers. When Ronald Reagan fired 13,000 striking PATCO members, the air traffic controllers, in August 1981, he sent a signal to other employers that it was open season on unions—and the era of...

Rite Aid Unions Unite Against Concessions »

December 16, 2010 | Jenny Brown

The drugstore chain Rite Aid is in financial straits and has escalated its assaults on unionized employees, demanding dramatic health care cost increases. In response, workers from California to New York raised protests at 40 stores on December 15.

Defending Workers Against Discipline »

December 15, 2010 | Robert Schwartz

Stewards encounter a raft of tricky situations when defending workers against discipline. What counts as disparate treatment? Are anonymous complaints grounds for discipline? Do "zero tolerance" policies trump the contract? Here are some crystal-clear guidelines, excerpted from a forthcoming...

Working Under a Teamster Contract, For Less Than Minimum Wage »

December 14, 2010 | Jane Slaughter

Teamster bus attendants in NY have a contract that pays new hires less than minimum wage. Through group grievances, leafleting, and legal action, they’re demanding their rights from the boss—and the union.

Project Labor Agreements under Attack as Non-Union Contractors Try to Pick Off Public Jobs »

December 13, 2010 | Jenny Brown

Idled by the housing bust, non-union contractors are attacking agreements that building trades unions have used to defend their work for the last two decades.

Unions Lead General Strike against Austerity in Portugal »

December 10, 2010 | Steve Downs and Frank Goldsmith

Threatened with pay cuts, tax increases, and a higher retirement age, unions in Portugal called a 24-hour general strike. Two transit workers from New York were there to see the shutdown.

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