Troublemakers Blog
October 24, 2018 / Chris Brooks
“Put your faith in the rank and file” was the advice that famed longshore union organizer Harry Bridges used to give. But instead of turning to union members for the bold ideas we need, some labor leaders are taking cues from the corporate world.
Take the Service Employees (SEIU), which recently posted a job for an “Innovation Specialist.” »
October 22, 2018 /
Taxi drivers, nurses, construction workers, teachers, UPS workers, musicians, Verizon line workers, journalists—you name it, they were there. »
October 17, 2018 / Alexandra Bradbury
Despite heavy pressure from their employer and their own union leaders, rank-and-file Teamsters across the U.S. last week voted down the controversial tentative agreement at UPS, 54 percent no to 46 percent yes.
Even UPS indicated it was ready to return to the table. »
October 15, 2018 /
Teachers across the country this year are breathing new life into the strike—galvanizing members and winning gains. »
October 11, 2018 /
“Power concedes nothing without a demand,” abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass declared 161 years ago.
Last week saw that truth on broad display as Amazon, facing growing political and organizing pressure, announced it was setting a minimum wage of $15 an hour for its U.S. workforce and also raising wages in England. »
October 04, 2018 /
Five percent of all U.S. workers in K-12 public education walked out on strike this spring. It’s by far the biggest spike in teacher strikes in a quarter-century.
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October 02, 2018 / Barbara Madeloni
It was a decisive moment in the West Virginia teachers strike. State union leaders, presenting a deal that would leave out some public sector workers, were greeted with a chorus of “back to the table!” »
September 28, 2018 /
Union women are leading labor forward. You can see it in the flurry of teacher strikes—Los Angeles teachers were the latest to authorize one—and in the September walkout by McDonald’s workers in many major cities, an anti-sexual harassment action linked to the Fight for $15. »
September 10, 2018 /
Why have New York City public defenders been walking out of the courts in the middle of the day to hold spirited demonstrations in support of their clients?
The outcry began last November when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reported to lurk in the vicinity of the courts, targeting people as they entered or exited court proceedings. »