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Pressing Grocery Chains, Florida Tomato Pickers Start to Feel Gains »

March 22, 2012 | Eduardo Soriano-Castillo

As Florida's tomato pickers turn their attention to grocery chains, they're training farmworkers to form committees and stand up for themselves on the job—and reporting notable success.

How Bogus Ratings Make Good Teachers Do Bad Things »

March 21, 2012 | Sarah Levine

I’m an elementary school teacher with a crummy evaluation. It’s a testament to the families at my school that I didn't spend my February vacation responding to angry or terrified emails from my students’ parents.



Bogus Ratings: Another Tool in the School Wars »

March 20, 2012 | Theresa Moran

New York City teachers decried the release of test-based evaluations they say seek to discredit them and get rid of as many as possible. The flawed data wouldn't have been gathered, some noted, without their union's initial approval.

What Wisconsin Will Recall »

March 19, 2012 | Eleni Schirmer

In the year since Wisconsin's uprising, outrage compressed into a single word: recall. But some are discussing what next, if the recalls are successful. One union is debating whether to endorse Democrats who won't reverse cuts to public services and workers.


Not Just a Cheaper Pair of Hands »

March 16, 2012 | Jenny Brown

Women workers are attacking low pay and bias from many angles, assailing wage laws that exclude them, suing over outright discrimination, and trying to organize unions. And they’ve been confronting the disrespect that accompanies smaller paychecks.

California Unions Compromise on Millionaires Tax »

March 15, 2012 | Mischa Gaus

A California teachers union struck a deal with Governor Jerry Brown that would combine a millionaires tax with a sales tax boost. Union activists split on the move, saying it contains key flaws, but shows how the debate on taxes has shifted.

Struggling to Organize, Adjuncts Succeed at American University »

March 14, 2012 | Ethan Miller

Adjunct professors at American University in Washington, D.C., won a union last month, but not before two years of organizing made it possible.
Image of the blue book cover of Collision Course, superimposed over a close-up of part of the book cover: a black-and-white photo of striking air traffic controllers, wearing "PATCO ON STRIKE" sandwich-board signs, marching. One carries a U.S. flag on a pole.

Review: Pulling Clues From the Wreckage of PATCO »

March 14, 2012 | Alexandra Bradbury

The meteoric rise and fall of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers’ Organization (PATCO) would be a fascinating case study for anyone interested in organizing strategy, even if the union’s spectacular destruction had not become a significant and devastating event for the U.S. labor movement...

Domestic Workers Look to Extend Gains »

March 13, 2012 | Matthew Cunningham-Cook

For 76 years domestic workers have been excluded from federal labor law, denied basic protections in addition to collective bargaining rights. But in the last two years, domestic workers have racked up important victories, and are looking for more.

Workerless Docks? Automation Threatens Union Power »

March 9, 2012 | Mark Brenner

Arrests and train blockades may have grabbed the headlines, but automation was at the heart of the year-long conflict between the West Coast Longshore Union (ILWU) and grain terminal operator EGT.

When Your Boss Doesn’t ‘Like’ You: Surviving in Social Media »

March 8, 2012 | Mischa Gaus

Social media are presenting new challenges for unions as employers develop policies and discipline employees for online behavior. But whether workers are talking to each other in the lunch room or on Facebook, labor law still provides protections for private-sector workers.

In Red Cross Strike, Management Squeezes the Last Drop of Blood »

March 7, 2012 | Tammy Lettieri

Red Cross workers in northeast Ohio remain on strike, with no negotiations in sight. The 200 blood collection technicians and other workers are frustrated because management refuses to come to the table. Working without a contract since May 2011, the Teamsters Local 507 members went on strike...

Labor Overlooks Bipartisan Attack on Federal Workers »

March 6, 2012 | Warren Davis

It’s a strange disconnect: what union leaders expect from their political allies and what they actually get. The latest example comes from the largest federal workers union, which Democrats just forced to take a pension hit estimated to cost workers $15 billion.

Bankruptcy Returns as a Tool to Crack Unions »

March 5, 2012 | Mischa Gaus

With $4 billion cash in hand, why did American Airlines declare bankruptcy? Corporations are turning to bankruptcy courts not necessarily because they can’t pay their bills—but because they can negotiate with a hammer.

Ah-Choo! Movement for Paid Sick Leave Spreads »

March 2, 2012 | Matthew Cunningham-Cook

With more than 44 million Americans lacking access to paid sick leave, coalitions to win time off have emerged in half a dozen cities and several states. Enforcing the laws once they're won has proved challenging.

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