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Chicago Teachers Win Relief in Longer Day Battle, but War Not Over »

July 25, 2012 | Theresa Moran

The Chicago Teachers Union won a major victory yesterday when the city halted its plans to increase teacher work hours.


Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago school board announced in April that they were unilaterally increasing the school day by 20 percent in the fall—without increasing...

Hotel Workers Tell Hyatt to Feel Their Pain as Boycott Grows »

July 24, 2012 | Jenny Brown

Hotel workers in 20 cities are planning pickets, civil disobedience, and other actions this week to protest relentless efforts by Hyatt to drive workers harder and replace permanent jobs with temporary, lower-paid ones.

Supreme Court Opens Door to ‘Open Shop’ »

July 23, 2012 | Mark Brenner

In an ominous late June ruling, the Supreme Court paved the way for rewriting the rules on how public sector unions collect dues. The result could curtail those unions’ spending on political action.

Whose Jobs Are We Bringing Home? »

July 19, 2012 | Ruth Needleman

The approach of U.S. unions to global trade has often been contradictory, caught between the impulse for international solidarity and the urgent desire to save jobs at home.

Power Company’s Lockout Risks New York City Blackout »

July 19, 2012 | Samantha Winslow

Picket lines around New York City were dotted with umbrellas as utility workers sought shade from 97-degree temperatures as they marched, chanted, and cheered into their third week of a lockout.


Con Edison, the company that provides electricity for the city, locked workers out July 1 in...

No Rest for Wisconsin as Pizza Factory Strike Rises »

July 19, 2012 | Dawn Tefft

When the eight-year-old daughter of a striking Palermo’s Pizza factory worker tried to deliver a petition with 15,000 signatures pledging to boycott the Milwaukee-based frozen pizza company, she was turned away by police.

Corporations Sell Longer Day, Chicago Teachers Aren’t Buying »

July 19, 2012 | Howard Ryan

Teachers and labor activists nationally are watching high drama unfold in Chicago, where teachers have challenged “Mayor 1%” Rahm Emanuel with a stunning 90 percent vote to authorize a strike.

Saying It’s Not about the Money, Chicago Teachers Inch Closer to Strike »

July 18, 2012 | Theresa Moran

The Chicago Teachers Union stepped closer to a strike as it voted today to reject an arbitrator’s recommendations in the contract dispute with “Mayor 1%” Rahm Emanuel.

Politics Done Differently »

July 17, 2012 | Mike Parker

The focus of political organizing has to be identifying, reducing, and then eliminating corporate control and power. But if national unions can’t be counted on to be the solid center of an anti-corporate movement, how do we get there?

SEIU 1199 Nursing Home Workers Strike against Givebacks »

July 16, 2012 | Olivia Rosane

Service Employees 1199 New England is striking five Connecticut nursing homes to defend contracts against sweeping concessions.

Hotel Employers Conspire to Deny Permanent Jobs »

July 13, 2012 | Jenny Brown

In Indianapolis, hotel workers hired through a temp agency are denouncing a blacklist that prevents them from getting jobs directly with city hotels. Organizing with UNITE HERE, they've filed suit.

Boycott Palermo’s, Say Milwaukee Pizza Factory Strikers »

July 12, 2012 | Dawn Tefft

Wisconsin unions were denied a lengthy mourning of last month's recall results when immigrant workers at Palermo’s Pizza factory walked out to demand recognition. Their strike is galvanizing the Milwaukee labor community.

The Labor Law Reform We Need »

July 11, 2012 | Rand Wilson

When the next opportunity for labor law reform arrives, union membership will be smaller and our political clout even more diminished. If we are to succeed, future reform proposals must be wrapped in a broader mantle that will appeal to all workers.

NUHW-Machinists Alliance: What’s the Game Plan? »

July 10, 2012 | Carl Finamore

It surprised many when the National Union of Healthcare Workers—a quintessential service sector union—announced in February its intent to affiliate with the Machinists, which has an extensive industrial union history. An interview with three principal players delves into the thinking behind the...

New York’s Locked-Out Utility Workers Try to Beat the Heat »

July 9, 2012 | Samantha Winslow

New York City's utility company locked out 8,500 workers in a summer heat wave, attacking pensions and health care. Members chanted and cheered on pickets as the union questioned replacements' safety training.

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