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Railroads’ Demands Bring Unions Closer Together »

April 1, 2006 | Ron Kaminkow

In a remarkable about-face, the leadership of the United Transportation Union (UTU) and the Teamster-affiliated Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) issued a public statement in early February, proclaiming solidarity with one another and calling off--at least for the moment--...

The Teamsters Today: An Interview with Ron Carey »

March 1, 2006 | Chris Kutalik

In the first-ever direct election for Teamsters General President in 1991, reform candidate Ron Carey won a surprising upset victory over the incumbent old guard. Carey was removed from office in 1998 by the federal government’s Independent Review Board. He was later acquitted of all criminal...

Nationwide Wildcat Miners’ Strike In Mexico »

March 1, 2006 | Dan La Botz

More than 250,000 miners and steelworkers from central to northern Mexico walked off the job March 1-3 in wildcat strikes at 70 companies that virtually paralyzed the mining industry. While the strike has ended, this may be the only first act in an unfolding drama that could challenge Mexican...

Chicago Immigrant Workers Are Organizing at Low-Wage Plants »

March 1, 2006 | Mark Meinster

Fresh from organizing and first- contract battles in largely-immigrant shops, rank-and-file United Electrical Workers (UE) leaders from Chicago will be attending this year’s Labor Notes Conference eager to learn new skills and share experiences...

Grocery Workers United Fights for Democracy and Better Leadership »

March 1, 2006 | Scott Schroeder

The group Grocery Workers United for a Democratic Union was formed in 2003 by two members of UFCW Local 588, a 23,000-member local in north and central California. Both members were long-time friends and ex-shop stewards concerned about the future of their union. Two years later, the GWU has...

Reforming the Teamsters: An Interview with Tom Leedham »

March 1, 2006 | Chris Kutalik

Tom Leedham, principal officer of Teamsters Local 206 in Oregon, is challenging IBT President James Hoffa on a reform slate in this year’s Teamster elections. Leedham’s Strong Contracts/Good Pensions slate — and its rank-and-file supporters — won a big victory when their campaign was accredited...

Mexican Garment Workers Poised to Win an Independent Union »

March 1, 2006 | Judith Ancel

In the face of dismal working conditions and company and government repression, workers in a key Mexican clothing factory successfully organized an independent union over the past year, winning official labor board registration on February 10. The mostly women workers at Manufacturas Lajat (...

Katrina’s Aftermath Transforms Work in the Gulf Region »

March 1, 2006 | Mark Brenner

Six months after Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf Coast struggles with a new challenge—who will do the rebuilding? The region is awash in clean-up and reconstruction projects, but with more than 1.5 million people displaced by the hurricane, ready hands are in short supply...

After Shutting Down the Big Apple New York Transit Workers Reject Proposed Contract »

February 19, 2006 | Steve Downs

New York City's bus and subway workers have sent shock waves through the labor movement and beyond as they demand that their employer and their union--Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100--give them a fair contract...

California Nurses Lead the Fight against Arnold Schwarzenegger's Anti-Union Ballot Measures »

February 18, 2006 | Mark Brenner

When George Bush was re-elected in November 2004 Arnold Schwarzenegger celebrated Hollywood style, with an extreme political makeover. With his poll numbers in the clouds and state Democrats in no mood to fight, Arnold veered to the right...

A Transit Worker's Perspective on the Strike and the "No" Vote »

February 17, 2006 | Eileen Sutton

"Strikes change people, change their consciousness- even a short, practice strike like the one we just had," says Tim Schermerhorn, a former Local 100 vice-president. He suggests that the strike could potentially give birth to a new generation of more militant workers...

UAW Members Take Protest to the Auto Show »

February 1, 2006 | Dean Braid

Meetings of the rank-and-file auto worker coalition called Soldiers of Solidarity (SOS) escalated January 8 with a protest at the North American Auto Show in Detroit. The purpose of the rally was to let nearly 7,000 media in attendance from around the world know that Delphi workers--along with...

Facing Movement for Democracy, SEIU Gives Massachusetts Members to Teachers Union »

February 1, 2006 | Ferd Wulkan

More than 2,000 SEIU members who work for the University of Massachusetts (UMass) left SEIU in late 2005, just as SEIU was leaving the AFL-CIO. What's most surprising is that SEIU preferred to lose these workers, rather than let them have a democratic local...

Even Without a Union, Florida Wal-Mart Workers Use Collective Action to Enforce Rights »

January 15, 2006 | Nick Robinson

Workers at Wal-Mart and other big-box retail chains--like workers in any mostly nonunion industry with low pay and tense, dreary working conditions--are generally a disgruntled lot. In central Florida, Wal-Mart workers are fighting and sometimes winning campaigns using collective action to...

Auto Workers Plan Public and In-Plant Resistance to Wage Cuts »

January 11, 2006 | Tiffany Ten Eyck

Rank-and-file United Auto Workers members stepped up their organizing efforts in December, forming a group called Soldiers of Solidarity (SOS) and planning actions to confront concessions.

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