Troublemakers Blog
January 15, 2010 / Jane Slaughter
Yesterday Rich Trumka announced a deal with the White House: high-cost union health care plans won’t be subject to an excise tax till 2018—five years later than almost everyone else. Trumka made clear that the intent of the changes the unions brokered is to make so many groups exempt from the tax that in practice it will almost never be applied. But why build a »
January 14, 2010 /
Chanting “Si se puede! Yes we can!,” a feet-stomping, fist-pumping crowd squeezed into St. Anne’s Church for a rally yesterday urging Congress not to waste any more time and reform the nation’s immigration laws.
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January 14, 2010 / Jane Slaughter
In 2007 Teamsters in scores of small Chicago shops, and a few big ones, capped years of organizing against corrupt leaders and stolen elections by electing a reform slate to head 11,000-member Local 743. Attendees at the 2008 Labor Notes Conference heard President Richard Berg tell the inspiring story of how persistence had enabled the slate to slash officers’ »
January 13, 2010 / Steve Early
One unique aspect of the Labor Notes Conference is the special meetings that allow far-flung activists to gather and share information on a rare cross-union basis. This year's April 23-25 conference in Detroit will feature a daylong meeting of those involved in organizing and representing home-based workers— »
January 11, 2010 / Jane Slaughter
Auto workers outshone the tea-party types as dueling demonstrations took place in the snow outside the Detroit Auto Show today. Small numbers of auto workers gathered to say government should use its role in the auto bailout to direct the factories toward job-creating green products such as high- »
January 11, 2010 /
The theory behind the so-called “Cadillac tax” on high-premium health plans is that people like Betty Diamond have too much health insurance, which causes them to get more medical care than they need. And if people like Diamond had thinner health care benefits, the theory continues, their bosses would pass the savings along in nice wage increases. But recent »
January 08, 2010 /
Auto workers, retirees, and supporters will gather in front of this year’s Detroit Auto Show on January 11 to make clear the notion of a “jobless recovery” is no recovery at all in a state with the highest unemployment in the nation (officially at 14.7 percent).
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January 06, 2010 /
Not enough steward training programs pay attention to beefing up stewards’ analytical skills. Using real-life case studies--short written scenarios--is the best way to learn how to review information, pose questions, develop concepts, see patterns, and make strategic choices.
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January 05, 2010 /
An analysis by the Labor Campaign for Single Payer
In a last-minute flurry of pork barrel deals and capitulation to powerful corporate interests, the U. S. Senate finally passed its version of health care reform on December 24. The bill was roundly condemned by nearly every labor organization »
In a last-minute flurry of pork barrel deals and capitulation to powerful corporate interests, the U. S. Senate finally passed its version of health care reform on December 24. The bill was roundly condemned by nearly every labor organization »
January 04, 2010 /
Whether at Canadian auto plants or California universities, taking the place over is an increasingly popular way to fight the dramatic »