Troublemakers Blog
November 02, 2009 /
Editor’s note: Ford workers rejected a proposed concessions package last week that included a six-year wage freeze for new hires (who make half of current workers’ pay), combining of skilled trades, and giving up the right to strike for contract improvements. Ford had made some weak assurances of continued work and offered a $1,000 bonus.
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October 30, 2009 / Jane Slaughter
“It’s time to close the concessions stand," said the New Directions Slate, and members of Teamsters Local 814 in New York City agreed—they’ve just voted 406-154 for a reform slate headed by Jason Ide and Richie Johnson.
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October 29, 2009 / Jane Slaughter
Despite heavy pressure from United Auto Workers officials, Ford workers are voting against concessions this week. The two largest ‘no’ votes came from assembly plants in Kansas City and Walton Hills, Ohio: 92 and 88 percent.
Bloomberg News reported today that thus far four plants with 6,100 UAW members have voted yes and seven plants with 11,400 members have »
October 29, 2009 /
When members of the “lean community” (their actual phrase) took issue with my recent claim that big hotel chains' embrace of lean management techniques are a contributing trend to high injury rates for housekeepers, it's hard not to say the debate is on, brothers and sisters.
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October 29, 2009 /
The past two years have seen serious discussion among progressives about the way to restore retirement security in the face of disappearing defined-benefit pensions and private savings.
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October 28, 2009 /
Bill Fletcher and Fernando Gapasin argue convincingly that the union framework is broken and a complete overhaul is needed so that the labor movement can be the engine of a movement for broader social change.
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October 24, 2009 /
It started with a simple question, “Can you hear me?” United Auto Workers International Vice President Bob King was inside Ford’s Dearborn Truck Plant, near Detroit, ready to tell a crowd of rank-and-file members why they should vote for more concessions to the profitable automaker.
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October 22, 2009 /
This skit was written by a postal worker. It asks the question: What would mail service be like in the U.S. if it was run by health insurance companies, with all their restrictions, extra fees, and bureaucracy?
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September 15, 2009 / Jane Slaughter
Stewart Acuff, coordinator of the AFL-CIO's Employee Free Choice Act campaign, told Labor Notes that a deal on EFCA has been made: it’s the same three provisions as the original bill except that we’ll get expedited elections—seven days—instead of card check. (The other two are heavier penalties for labor law violations during organizing drives and some »