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The young woman before me was supposedly one of the lucky ones in Vietnam, because she works in a foreign-investment factory. We’ll call her Tuyet. Why then did she break down in tears when the talk turned to wages?

On the heels of a public fight over the Service Employees (SEIU) International’s move toward labor-management partnership deals and hyper-centralization, members are joining a newly founded national reform group. . . .

The ongoing debate about the Canadian Auto Workers in these pages isn’t about particular tactics, it isn’t about whether or not to consider new and creative approaches (who could oppose that?), and it isn’t about underestimating the very real challenges that Canada’s largest private sector...

Author(s):
Chris Kutalik

Excerpt:

Your mother might have been right about that old “try-and-try-until- you-succeed” saw. That is certainly the case for the victory of Teamsters (IBT) reformers at Local 743 in Chicago. . . .

Body:
Members of the 12,000-member...

Labor activism has never been limited to a single tactic or channel. It is this point that Herman Rosenfeld fails to recognize in his Viewpoint criticizing the recent direction of the Canadian Auto Workers union (see Labor Notes February 2008). . . .

Is it illegal for an activist group or union to criticize a company’s business practices? Is it a “conspiracy” if advocates call for boycotts, organize rallies, or press for resolutions from elected bodies? Smithfield Foods, the largest producer of pork products in the world, is hoping so,...