Troublemakers Blog

October 27, 2010 /
Public employees are the “welfare queens” of the 2010s--the ones supposedly feeding at the public trough, at our expense. This video argues that public employees aren’t living that high off the hog. »
October 26, 2010 / Mark Brenner
With the midterm elections a week out, the headlines are all about money in politics. But the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal can't agree on who deserves more scrutiny—business or labor. »
October 25, 2010 / Dan DiMaggio
The unemployment crisis in this country coincides with a decades-long growth in employment by temp agencies, making millions of Americans’ search for secure, decent-paying jobs even more difficult. The bizarre experience I had last week along with more than 500 other Twin Cities job-seekers sheds some light on what “flexibility” means in today’s labor market. »
October 20, 2010 /
In a time when politicians are wringing their hands over “out-of-control” spending, Pennsylvania’s Office of Homeland Security has contracted the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, a private company, to assess terrorist threats--like Jobs with Justice. »
October 13, 2010 / Mischa Gaus
The farmworker group Coalition of Immokalee Workers announced today it has reached a landmark deal with a Florida tomato grower to govern conditions in the fields. »
October 13, 2010 /
Striking musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra received an additional bravo after their successful self-produced concert October 10. As they left the stage they learned that their campaign to get internationally acclaimed violin soloist Sarah Chang to cancel management's replacement concert had succeeded. »
October 12, 2010 /
What are workers to do when, after they file a petition for a union election, the employer declares the entire workforce no longer employed? That’s what happened early this summer to adjunct faculty trying to organize at East-West University in Chicago. »
October 08, 2010 /
[This article was written for the newsletter of the American Postal Workers Union Greater Seattle Area Local, where David Yao is vice president.] The following is my own transcribed version of the notorious September 16 episode of a Fox Business Network show that insulted postal workers, called for postal privatization, and said that much of the American »
October 07, 2010 / Jane Slaughter
The United Auto Workers have signed an agreement to let General Motors pay half wages to 40 percent of its employees at a suburban Detroit assembly plant. The “Tier 2” workers would make roughly $14 working alongside so-called “legacy” or Tier 1 workers making the current production wage, about $28. »
October 05, 2010 / Mark Brenner
Saturday’s One Nation rally on the Mall in Washington, D.C. proved one important point: unions can still turn out. The big question is whether it will be the launching pad for a more challenging relationship with labor's “friends in Washington.” »

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