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After Budget Standoff, Wealthy Minnesotans Escape Higher Taxes »

July 22, 2011 | Mischa Gaus

Minnesota lawmakers reached a deal this week that would restart state services after a 20-day shutdown—but only after the Democratic governor gave up his demand for higher taxes on the richest 1 percent.


Cross-Union Committee Unites Stewards »

July 22, 2011 | Bill Franks, Ron Blascoe, Barbara Smith

A seemingly minor issue sparked a mass grievance by workers at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development more than 10 years ago, in one state building in downtown Madison. The issue was resolved in months, but the cross-union stewards committee that formed out of that fight proved to...

Changing Labor’s Fortunes Will Take More than Fiddling with NLRB Rules »

July 22, 2011 | Dave Cohen

Union organizers are welcoming rule changes proposed by the Labor Department and the National Labor Relations Board. But after spending 40 years in the labor movement, I know these changes will not substantially improve the chances of workers trying to organize through the NLRB process.


Airport Screeners Built Union the Old-Fashioned Way »

July 22, 2011 | Jenny Brown

For nine years the Government Employees union campaigned for airport screeners’ loyalty by representing them on the job, unsure whether it would ever be able to offer them official representation. AFGE’s strategy—walk like a union, talk like a union—paid off June 21.

Hotel Workers Turn Up Heat on Stubborn Hyatt »

July 22, 2011 | Jenny Brown

The summer heat wave got even hotter on the picket line in front of the Chicago Park Hyatt yesterday when hotel managers turned winter heat lamps on their striking workers. They were striking for the day as part of a wave of pickets and civil disobedience hitting Hyatt hotels in nine cities....

Longshore Workers Thresh Grain Shipper, Block Train »

July 21, 2011 | Evan Rohar

Longshore workers by the hundreds blocked a mile-long train July 14 to prevent an anti-union company from moving grain through the port of Longview, Washington. Earlier, members used a pickup truck to tear down a fence and then occupied the grain terminal, blocking employees from working. About...

Elements of Victory Emerge as Uranium Lockout Nears End »

July 21, 2011 | Jerry Mead-Lucero

After more than a year, the lockout at the Honeywell uranium conversion plant in Illinois looks to end. Details are scant, but members say a corporate campaign and constant investigations have moved the company.


Film: How Miners Beat a Lockout »

July 20, 2011 | Paul Krehbiel

“Locked Out” is a fast-paced story of a workers’ victory in the face of what looked like insurmountable odds. It’s exactly the message that should be seen in union halls across the country and abroad.

FedEx Package Handlers to Vote on Teamsters »

July 19, 2011 | Patrick Ayers

If 55 package handlers at the FedEx Ground warehouse in Massachusetts win a union election August 3, it will be the first time ever for handlers at the giant non-union shipper. They’re facing a fierce anti-union campaign.


Minnesota Nurses Strike for Patient Safety »

July 15, 2011 | Mischa Gaus

Nurses in Minnesota’s Iron Range wrapped a three-day strike Thursday, pushing administrators to staff up. They say management relies on overtime to staff the hospital, which leaves nurses exhausted and unsafe.

Video: Woman Welder Sits In Atop Crane to Protest Job Cuts »

July 14, 2011 | Kap Su Seol

Nine thousand college students, labor activists, and human rights advocates from across South Korea gathered Saturday to support a woman welder who has been staging a lone sit-in since January on top of a 115-foot shipyard crane. But on Tuesday Kim Jin-suk tweeted that security guards had begun...

Will Auto’s Three-Tier Wages Be on the Table? »

July 13, 2011 | Nick Waun

As contract talks between the United Auto Workers and the Detroit Three get under way, activists say the solidarity-sapping multi-tier wage system should be on the table. Union leaders say the companies still need help.

Michigan’s ‘No Soup for You’ Kitchen Shows Price of Budget Cuts »

July 13, 2011 | Miya Williamson

A sunny day on Lansing’s Capitol lawn brought the Michigan Nurses Association out today to hold a soup kitchen serving people left in need by the state’s drastic budget cuts.

Critics of AT&T Contract Back Reform Candidate in CWA »

July 12, 2011 | Steve Early

This week in Las Vegas, the Communications Workers (CWA) experienced a rare contested race for a top officer position. For the first time in many decades, a local leader ran against the consensus candidate of the union establishment, garnering a quarter of the vote.

In Florida, An Organizing Drive that Doubled the Union »

July 11, 2011 | Paul Ortiz

Faculty members in Florida’s public institutions of higher learning have responded to the state legislature’s attack on public employee unionism by building unions in their right-to-work state at an outstanding rate.


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