Troublemakers Blog
August 04, 2020 /
All of us in the labor movement are—hopefully—scrambling to figure out how to construct defenses and get positioned to deal with the rapidly deteriorating bargaining climate. Every employer is either on the attack or soon will be. »
August 03, 2020 /
Shop stewards at the Strand, a prominent New York City bookstore, are denouncing owner Nancy Bass-Wyden for accepting federal loans but failing to keep workers on the payroll. »
July 29, 2020 /
The ask was clear and self-explanatory: a starting salary of $25,000 and permanent status after four years.
Somerville’s paraprofessional educators made this demand over and over during the course of protracted and contentious negotiations over a contract that expired August 31, 2019. We made the demand on social media, at community meetings and rallies, and in »
July 29, 2020 /
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. »
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 »
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!” »
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." »