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grad students blocking traffic in the street with signs that read "The Pay Is Too Damn Low"

Graduate Student Workers: UC Must Pay! »

March 25, 2020 | Yulia Gilich

University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) graduate student workers have been on a wildcat strike for a raise since December 2019. Since February, nearly 80 strikers have been fired, while the strike has spread to other UC campuses.

Newswatch: Labor Notes #493 »

March 25, 2020 | Labor Notes

It took the coronavirus to get a nurse in every New York City school, something teachers and parents have long demanded. The chancellor made the announcement March 5. But by then it was time for more serious measures.

Housing rights protesters protesting with signs.

Longshore Young Workers Come to the Aid of Tenants Facing Eviction »

March 24, 2020 | Zack Pattin and Brian Skiffington

When a powerful developer came to Tacoma, Washington, and evicted an entire building of poor, disabled, and retired working people, members of our Longshore (ILWU) union local’s Young Workers Committee leapt into the struggle.

The Danger We're Facing: A Grocery Worker Speaks Out »

March 23, 2020 | Chris Brooks

The coronavirus crisis is spurring record-breaking sales for grocery store chains, straining supply chains and exhausting employees.

Workers at Cambodia’s Biggest Casino Strike and Win Higher Wages and Reinstatement of Union President »

March 23, 2020 | Andrew Tillett-Saks

Sithar Chhim had checked every potential meeting room in downtown Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. Nobody would rent the president of the NagaWorld Casino Workers Union the room her union desperately needed to hold their strike vote with their 4,000 members.

Workers in Italy sitting outside a warehouse on strike in orange vests.

Italian Warehouse Workers Say: Stop All Non-Essential Activity to Stop the Virus »

March 20, 2020 | S.I. Cobas

S.I. Cobas, or in Italian the Sindicati Interaziendali Comitati di Base (Cross-firm Base Committees) have done extensive work organizing in the logistics sector, principally in northern Italy.

VIDEO: Organizing in the Face of the Coronavirus »

March 20, 2020 | Barbara Madeloni | Joe DeManuelle-Hall

In the light of this pandemic, it is imperative that we protect workers immediately, prevent the exploitation of this crisis by management, and consider how to use this moment to advance demands that last far beyond the coronavirus.

Nurses performing drive-thru tests for COVID-19 at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Organize or Die »

March 20, 2020 | Sam Lewis

The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest workplace issue of our lives. Across the country, it is throwing into relief the cold capitalist logic of American workplaces, where the health and safety of workers, their families, and the public is subordinate to the employers' need for profit.

Dispatch from Italy: Class Struggle in the Time of Coronavirus »

March 20, 2020 | Leopoldo Tartaglia

This is an edited version of a piece by Leopoldo Tartaglia of the international department of the CGIL, Italy’s largest union federation. Read further down to see how Italian workers have fought for their health with widespread strikes. Thanks to Peter Olney for translation.

Strike First, Then Bargain »

March 19, 2020 | Joe DeManuelle-Hall | Jane Slaughter

Direct action gets the goods. If your employer is still not acting like workers’ lives matter, take a page from union members who are putting muscle behind their bargaining—they're shutting the place down first.

A striking worker holds a sign saying "CWA and IBEW Demand Good Jobs at Verizon" during the 2016 Verizon strike.

Verizon Unions Win Model Paid Leave Policy for Coronavirus—Will Other Unions Demand the Same? »

March 18, 2020 | Labor Notes

The unions representing 34,000 workers at Verizon have negotiated paid leave for union members who can’t work during the COVID-19 outbreak. Will other unions fight for these benefits to protect members?