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Kaiser HMO Workers Strike for Safe Staffing »

April 30, 2000 | by Martha Gruelle

After a three week strike, health care workers in Denver have won an important part of their demand for adequate staffing. The 1,200 workers at Kaiser Permanente won the right to go directly to federal court to enforce language calling for safe staffing levels. "Ask any health care worker...

AFL-CIO, in Dramatic Turnaround, Endorses Amnesty for Undocumented Immigrants »

April 1, 2000 | by Teófilo Reyes

In a dramatic reversal of its past policy, the AFL-CIO on February 16 forcefully called for an immediate amnesty for undocumented immigrants, and an end to sanctions on employers who hire them. "Sanctions...[have] failed and must be eliminated," the federation said.

Carpenters Launch International Organization for Democratic Reform »

April 1, 2000 | Matt Noyes

On March 4 in Boston, 100 rank and file carpenters from across the country formed the Carpenters for a Democratic Union International. It is the first national rank and file reform organization in the history of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.


The group's founding conference was...

Unions Must Inform Members of Their Democratic Rights »

March 1, 2000 | by Carl Biers

In a landmark decision, a federal appeals court has ruled that labor unions have an ongoing responsibility to inform their members of their rights under the federal Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959. The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel for the Fourth Circuit in...

Union Leaders Suspended for Being Part of Reform Caucus »

March 1, 2000 | by Leah Samuel

The top elected officers of a major section of the California State Employees Association/SEIU Local 1000 have been suspended from membership. CSEA President Perry Kenny suspended the leaders of CSEA's Civil Service Division, charging them with creating a competing union. Those suspended are...

In Showcase of Labor-Management Teamwork, Workers Choose the Old Way »

February 1, 2000 | by Tom Hopp

Last year was a very good year for the 7,200 workers, members of UAW Local 1853, at Saturn's Spring Hill, Tennessee manufacturing complex. A string of victories was capped by the late December ratification of a new contract. This contract closely mirrors the master agreement in place at every...

What to Know About the WTO: A Union Activist's Guide »

February 1, 2000 | Kim Moody

Diverse Coalition Shuts Down WTO »

January 1, 2000 | by Teofilo Reyes

For seven days, a motley coalition of locked-out steelworkers, tree-hugging environmentalists dressed as sea turtles, black-clad anarchists, Tibetan monks, Catholic nuns, crusty punks, and wave upon wave of working-class students and youth were in the streets of Seattle to fight the World Trade...

In The Midst of Tear Gas History is Made »

January 1, 2000 | by David Bacon

Those who marched or stood or sat in the streets of Seattle made history, and they knew it. And like the great marches against the Vietnam war, or the first sit-ins in the South in the late 50s, it was not always easy to see just what history was being made, especially for those closest to the...

'The Kids Are All Right'...and other thoughts from IUE visitors to Seattle »

January 1, 2000 | by Jeffy Crosby, President IUE Local 201

I went to Seattle with 15 members of the North Shore (Massachusetts) Labor Council. Eleven were from IUE Local 201 at the GE plant in Lynn and Ametek Aerospace in Wilmington. Contrary to the musings of Robert Reich and others that the primary loss of jobs in the United States through "free...

Injunction Halts Shutdown of Honolulu's Only Afternoon Paper »

December 2, 1999 | John Witeck

Labor pains come in many forms and formats, some pre-packaged. People in Honolulu, especially newspaper employees, got a heavy dose of pre-packaged pain and insecurity with the announcement in September that one of Honolulu's two dailies would close. Over 140 full-time and part-time employees...

Sweeney Signs On To A Bad Deal At WTO »

December 2, 1999 | Kim Moody

Just a month before the big November 30 demonstration in Seattle against the World Trade Organization, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney joined a group of business leaders in signing a letter endorsing the Clinton Administration’s trade agenda for the WTO negotiations. To some, it was a surprising...

March Demands Amnesty for Undocumented Immigrants »

November 3, 1999 | Teófilo Reyes

Fifteen thousand undocumented workers and supporters marched on Washington, D.C. October 16 to demand a general amnesty for undocumented workers.


The march was organized by the National Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty; it was the first national activity in the campaign for a new...

North Carolina Activists Apply Labor Solidarity to Flood Relief »

November 3, 1999 | Jane Slaughter

"We give solidarity during a strike; a disaster is also that time," says Ajamu Dillahunt of Black Workers For Justice (BWFJ), a workers' center based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. "We wanted to demonstrate solidarity between workers."


Dillahunt's union, the Raleigh local of the...

Low-Paid Truckers Get Longshore Support in Strikes at Pacific Northwest Ports »

October 3, 1999 | Paul Bigman

Owner-operator truck drivers at Pacific Northwest ports--many of them Indian, Russian, and African immigrants--staged work stoppages in July and August with long-term implications for drivers throughout North America. Drivers in Vancouver, British Columbia won hourly pay rates, replacing per-...

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