Troublemakers Blog

September 01, 2011 /
When I first heard about the new movie “The Help,” I was eager to see how domestic workers would be portrayed. I have never seen a movie, especially not one made in Hollywood, with domestic workers as lead characters. »
August 31, 2011 /
The brave Walmart workers who belong to OUR Walmart say fear is the main thing stopping their fellow retail workers from organizing. As an assistant store manager at Walmart, I saw how managers were trained to put that fear into hourly workers’ heads. »
August 19, 2011 /
Locked-out sugar beet workers, their families, and supporters turned out in big numbers August 11 to say they want to work—but not on the terms offered by American Crystal Sugar. ACS locked out more than 1,300 members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco & Grain Millers August 1, two days after they rejected deep concessions by 97 percent. »
August 15, 2011 /
The right-wing Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik is not a “lone madman." He can only be understood in his political context—which includes a union movement that substituted national competition for international solidarity. »
August 12, 2011 /
In a refreshingly straightforward style, Joe Burns argues persuasively that the cause of union decline is our inability to wage a successful strike. That is, one which shuts down production and compels the employer to accede to union demands. »
August 10, 2011 /
What is it like to work in an auto plant these days? The company mantra is to do more work with fewer people and less money. My co-workers are less than optimistic about winning back the concessions we all made to keep Chrysler in business. »
August 09, 2011 /
At times a P.T. Barnum-like spectacle conducted under the thumb of staff, the assembly representing the National Education Association is also an impressive demonstration of a democratic decision-making body. »
August 05, 2011 /
In a narrow vote on Tuesday, locked-out Steelworkers at the Metropolis, Illinois, uranium conversion plant accepted a contract containing a host of concessions sought by their employer for more than 13 months. »
August 03, 2011 /
About 15,000 rallied in the South Korean port city of Busan last weekend to support a woman welder whose lone sit-in atop a shipyard crane has lasted 208 days. »
August 02, 2011 / Mark Brenner
The Senate handed Republicans a complete victory this afternoon, in a crisis they manufactured, then exploited, to wring $2.1 trillion in cuts from the federal budget over the next decade. »

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