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‘Hands Up, Don’t Ship!’ Minneapolis UPS Workers Protest Shipments to Missouri Police »

August 26, 2014 | Flintheart Glomgold and Launchpad McQuack

A dozen part-time UPS workers took protest action after discovering ties between Missouri law enforcement and a company whose shipments they handle each day.

Six Hundred Cleaning Ladies Re-Invigorating Greek Movement »

August 25, 2014 | Sonia Mitralia, English translation by Isidoros Diakides

Fired janitors have been occupying the entrance of Greece's Ministry of Economic Development, among other creative tactics. Their fighting spirit is infectious.

Market Basket Strike Looks Like a Strike Should »

August 22, 2014 | Peter Olney

Striking Market Basket employees are waging a colorful and creative, community-based struggle to keep their CEO, Arthur T. Demoulas.

‘Mike Brown Is Our Son’ »

August 20, 2014 | Jane Slaughter

“My first reaction was ‘oh no, not again,’” said Mark Esters, an organizer for the Communications Workers in the St. Louis area. “And trying to take it all in. And then, what should our response be? The answer was collective action."

Ferguson: A String of Betrayals »

August 20, 2014 | Peter Downs

The conflict in Ferguson, Missouri, is about policing—but it is also about much more. To understand what's happened there, you also have to understand the outsourcing of industry, the housing bubble, and education reform.

Kellogg’s Employees Back to Work »

August 19, 2014 | Steve Payne

The strategy of relying on a judge to get members back to work worked—but only after they faced 10 months without pay on a picket line.

McDonald’s Can’t Hide Behind Franchise System »

August 18, 2014 | Julia Kann

McDonald’s workers demanding “$15 and a union” have reason to cheer. A move by the National Labor Relations Board throws a big wrench in the corporation’s franchise system and could open the door to more worker organizing.

‘Flexibility’ Hits University of Wisconsin Custodians »

August 14, 2014 | Jason Lee

The fate of 26 custodians on a small University of Wisconsin campus isn’t isolated. It’s part of a trend: applying a market-based, private model to public higher education.

In North Carolina, Fast Food and Moral Mondays Movements Build Ties »

August 13, 2014 | Kerry Taylor

It was the rare meeting of Southern workers that struck a note of optimism. Fast food strikers, union members, and Moral Mondays arrestees have been turning out regularly for each other's fights.

NYU Grad Union Needs a Contract Campaign, Not Just a Contract »

August 11, 2014 | Natasha Raheja

Grad student workers at New York University are poised to regain a union contract, making them unique in the private sector. But will their new union be as democratic and social-justice-minded as its counterparts at public universities in California and Massachusetts?

Viewpoint: California Job Safety Weakened By ‘Friends of Labor’ Politicians »

August 8, 2014 | Garrett Brown

For their own protection, California workers and their unions had better start raising hell about the erosion of job safety protections since Democrat Jerry Brown became governor four years ago with strong labor backing.

Review: Private Equity Pillages the Economy »

August 6, 2014 | Eric Blair

According to the informative new book Private Equity at Work: When Wall Street Manages Main Street, private equity ownership of companies has led to fewer jobs, lower wages, weaker pensions, and rising inequality.

Don’t Leave Chants to Chance »

August 5, 2014 | Paul McKenna

Good chants matter. They’re sound bites, which is what the media seeks, so they can really get your message across. And when chants work, they express and embody collective power—so they help make your action work, too.

Illinois Workers Stop Moving »

August 4, 2014 | Jane Slaughter

Managers at Golan’s Moving & Storage in Skokie, Illinois, thought they had a surefire strategy to beat the Teamsters in negotiations for a first contract. But the plan backfired.

How to ‘Act Like a Union’ on a Labor-Management Committee »

August 1, 2014 | Charley Richardson

The union should approach every meeting of a Labor-Management Committee with the same mindset that it would bring to contract bargaining, never forgetting that management’s goals and the union’s are distinct.

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