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Hyatt Housekeepers: This Job Hurts! »

December 6, 2010 | Jenny Brown

Ailing housekeepers from 12 Hyatt hotels called on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to respond to an alarming pattern of injuries. Workload pressures bring lifting strains and repetitive-motion problems, but OSHA has no standards for cleaners.


Worker Centers and COSH Groups Find Ways to Work Together »

December 3, 2010 | Adam Kader

Worker centers and health and safety advocates joined forces on the national level for the first time last month. The Denver gathering brought together worker centers from the Interfaith Worker Justice national network and local coalitions for occupational safety and health (COSHs).

Watch Your Wallet: Obama’s Federal Wage Freeze Will Become Model »

December 2, 2010 | Dan La Botz

They’re calling it Obama’s PATCO—his proposal for a two-year wage freeze for two million federal workers. Just like Reagan, the president has sent a signal to employers: it's open season on unions.

Unions Have Cold Feet in Germany’s "Hot Fall" »

December 2, 2010 | Thomas Goes

Protests against the gloom of budget austerity in Europe have gripped the continent for months. But in Germany, the heart of the push for austerity in Europe, the response from unions and others has been muted. Why?

Winnipeg Wildcat: Postal Workers Refuse Unsafe Work »

December 1, 2010 | Howard Ryan

A spontaneous one-day walkout of 70 Canadian postal workers over injuries triggered by a mechanization scheme has inspired a rising tide of solidarity. It serves as a reminder of the enormous power of a simple bold act.

Call Today: Hands Off Social Security! »

November 30, 2010 | Jane Slaughter

It's not too late to call. Call today while this issue has your senators' attention.
Don’t want your mom’s Social Security benefits cut next year, or your son’s retirement age raised? Join the big call-in today, promoted by a host of organizations from unions to retiree groups to women’s...

Union Will Block Factory Auction to Save Jobs »

November 29, 2010 | Anonymous

In a move to save factory jobs that evokes shades of the ’30s, the United Electrical Workers are asking supporters to block a December 14 auction of presses and equipment from a plant south of Boston. The UE is calling for mass picketing and blockading of entrances to the 80-year-old plant if...

U.S. Steel Tries to Divide Generations as Lockout in Ontario Targets Pensions »

November 29, 2010 | Mischa Gaus

U.S. Steel is trying to drive a wedge between generations, locking out steelworkers in Hamilton, Ontario, when union negotiators would not take a deal that sold out past and future workers.

Day of Action Delivers in Canadian Auto Parts Plants »

November 26, 2010 | Howard Ryan

The Canadian Auto Workers’ Auto Parts Worker Day of Action in October promptly helped win contracts that staved off big concessions at three plants. Rather than respond plant by plant, the union wants to tackle the industry as a whole.

A Few Thanks, as We Try to Ride Out the Storm »

November 24, 2010 | Adrian Montgomery

When the House decided before Thanksgiving not to extend unemployment benefits, anxiety set upon my family. My husband will reach his 99 weeks at the end of December, with no job prospects in sight. This is brewing up to be the perfect disaster—and my family and I are trying to survive the...

Airport Screeners Caught in the Crossfire, Called “Perverts, Creeps” »

November 23, 2010 | Jenny Brown

As airline passengers revolt against new security procedures, Transportation Security Officers are bearing the brunt of the public’s reaction. “We are verbally assaulted on a daily basis by people who don’t understand,” said one officer.

New York Working Families Party Takes Its Lumps, Endorses Cuomo »

November 23, 2010 | Mischa Gaus

The largest and most prominent Working Families Party, in New York State, had a rough year. The WFP endorsed Andrew Cuomo, Democratic candidate for governor, agreeing to back his austerity agenda for public services and public workers.

In Oregon, Working Families Party Appeals to Rural Populists, Reagan Democrats »

November 23, 2010 | Barbara Dudley

In Oregon, unions and community organizations are challenging the two-party system and testing the limits of what they can do together to promote their agenda in elections without being marginalized as “spoilers.”

Toronto Assembly Ties Together Everyone Hammered by Recession »

November 20, 2010 | Herman Rosenfeld

Faced with unrelenting assaults by employers and government, Toronto activists decided they needed something new: a membership organization for everyone affected by the Great Recession.

Health Care Workers Share Tactics to End Violence in Hospitals »

November 20, 2010 | Mary Adamson

Almost everyone knows someone who has been in the hospital and cared for by nurses, aides, and other health care workers. But most people don’t know that nearly half the 1.7 million workplace assaults each year are perpetrated by patients—and that nurses and other personal care workers are 12...

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