Troublemakers Blog

July 24, 2020 /
Relief—that’s what Niki Gurgen, a personal support worker (PSW) at the Hillcrest Reactivation Centre rehabilitation hospital in Toronto felt when she heard about the $4 per hour “pandemic premium” the Ontario government was providing to health care and other essential workers. »
Herman Benson at podium in blue jacket with arm raised
July 24, 2020 /
The battle for union democracy is uphill but crucial to reviving a fighting labor movement. No person did more to advance it than Herman Benson (1915-2020), founder of the Association for Union Democracy. »
July 24, 2020 /
When your hospital’s business plan is built around making workers less safe from COVID, the path to striking during a pandemic becomes much clearer. Workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Sonoma County, California, are wrapping up a five-day strike today. It’s the largest health care worker strike during COVID and, as insane as it might sound, we’re fighting »
Group shot of LGBTQ Economic Justice summit of about 40 people
July 21, 2020 /
I felt a jolt when I heard the news of the Supreme Court’s ruling: the 1964 Civil Rights Act (which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in hiring, promoting, and firing) also protects LGBTQ workers. »
July 20, 2020 /
Detroit-area teachers mounted a five-stop car caravan today, determined to tell administrators “Safe School or No School!” »
Three people marching against police brutality and for health care in Chicago with a sign
July 20, 2020 /
Unions Need To Reckon with Their Own Histories On June 9 the General Board of the AFL-CIO adopted a “comprehensive set of recommendations ... to address America’s long history of racism and police violence against black people." »
Samantha smiling during the 2014 Labor Notes Conference
July 16, 2020 / Alexandra Bradbury
This month’s magazine is bittersweet; it’s the last one with Samantha Winslow’s name on the masthead, as she leaves the staff. »
Nurses hold picket signs that read "AMITA: Calls Us Heroes, Treats Us Like Zeroes," in front of St. Joseph Hospital.
July 15, 2020 /
“After COVID-19, they put a sign up saying ‘heroes work here,’ but they sure aren’t treating us like that in bargaining,” said Olga Deschamps, a nurse at AMITA St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Illinois. »
July 14, 2020 / Bianca Cunningham
Labor Notes is pleased to present a series of free webinars taught by veteran Boston labor lawyer Robert M. Schwartz and hosted by Labor Notes staffer Bianca Cunningham. »
July 10, 2020 /
As calls to defund the police rise across the country, many of us are taking stock of our own association with police through our common membership in unions. We’re coming to see the police as a direct threat to us as union members, and we're also frustrated with the ways that too many police exploit the strengths of collective bargaining to avoid punishment for »

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