Troublemakers Blog
July 03, 2019 /
Note: The U.S. Department of Labor authorizes certain employers to pay people with disabilities a fraction of the minimum wage in what are called “sheltered workshops.” At last report there were 1,769 of these employers and 124,066 people getting the subminimum wage. Some workers are paid just a few cents an hour. »
June 24, 2019 /
UPDATE, June 27: Kim was released on 100 million won ($86,421) bail today, following a court ruling that his release would not constitute “a risk of evidence destruction.”—Eds.
The South Korean government has arrested the leader of the country’s largest independent union organization in a stunning break from its pro-labor rhetoric. »
June 21, 2019 / Samantha Winslow
The sad outcome of the United Auto Workers campaign at Volkswagen reminded me of when I entered the labor movement 15 years ago.
Back then the national leaders of the Service Employees (SEIU) had diagnosed labor’s big problem: we weren’t organizing fast enough. As the percentage of unionized workers in the U.S. slipped, so did unions’ influence. »
June 12, 2019 / Chris Brooks
A top employee representative in Volkswagen’s Global Works Council was denied entry into the company’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory today as the union election began.
The plant’s 1,700 eligible hourly employees began voting this morning on whether to form a union with the United Auto Workers. The results will be announced Friday night. »
June 11, 2019 /
On-the-job injuries are rampant in auto factories, where many dangerous tasks are still done by hand and in a hurry. It’s one of the main reasons why workers are organizing a union at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The vote »
June 05, 2019 / Barbara Madeloni
You’re at a union meeting, brainstorming for a campaign, when a hand shoots up. “What we need is better messaging. Can we get a billboard? Maybe we could make a meme.”
We’ve all been there. Maybe you’ve said it yourself. It seems like common sense that if we can just find the right words and the correct medium, we’ll win over our fellow workers, or the community »
May 24, 2019 / Dan DiMaggio
Members of Electrical Workers (UE) Locals 506 and 618 rallied with supporters May 17 in Pittsburgh outside the Wabtec shareholders’ meeting. Wabtec, which completed its acquisition of GE Transportation in February, is still demanding a two-tier contract that would slash the average wage by $12 an hour. »
May 20, 2019 /
Originally published at rankandfile.ca.
On Tuesday, May 14, the majority of Winnipeg Transit drivers, members of Transit (ATU) Local 1505, did not enforce payment from transit riders. This “fare strike” is the first time the ATU has done this type of action in North »
May 17, 2019 /
Larry Hanley spent 40 years in the Amalgamated Transit Union, and he died at his post on May 7 after serving almost nine years as the international president. »
May 10, 2019 / Jane Slaughter
Being on strike is “kinda scary,” said one picketing nurse in Toledo, Ohio—but “kinda empowering,” broke in another. “We’re doing this for nurses across the board.” »