Illegal People: A Review

By Duane Campbell On May 16, 2008, Maria Isabel Vasquez Jiminez, 17 years old and pregnant, another undocumented worker in the U.S., died of heat stroke. Maria and her husband were working in the fields near Stockton, California when she collapsed in the 105 degree heat. She was one of at least six workers to [...]

Labour Photo of the Year Contest

by Derek Blackadder 2008 marks the first (of many we hope) LabourStart Labour Photo of the Year Contest. The worldwide popularity of the Trade Unions group on Flickr.com suggests that there are a lot of talented picket line and workplace photographers out there.  LabourStart would like to both encourage and recognize those talents. First prize [...]

Obama and Community Organizing

by  Duane Campbell I found a recent essay by John Judis (“What Barack Obama won’t tell you about his community organizing past”) to be  very useful and well written.  Judis, now at the New Republic, was once at In These Times and in Chicago. What he has to say about community organizing has strong resonance [...]

Labor Day in Pullman

Monday, September 1, 2 PM, at Hotel Florence / Pullman Arcade Park at 111th and Cottage Grove Av in Chicago: join Historic Pullman Foundation, Pullman Civic Organization, Illinois Labor History Society, Bronzeville/Chicago Black History Society, Illinois AFL-CIO, Calumet Heritage Partnership, Chicago Metro History Project, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, State of Illinois Historic Site [...]

Reports Document Seven Years of Bush’s Failed Economic Policies

Frank Llewellyn DSA National Director The Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in America on Tuesday .  While on the surface the data indicate a slight improvement in wages and the number of Americans with health insurance coverage, the reality is very different. Adjusted for inflation, the median income for all households rose [...]

A Conversation with Chinese Labor

By Carl Finamore The recently-concluded summer Olympics introduced China as a major player on the world stage in spectacular fashion. No doubt about it, the country made a superbly dramatic entrance. But there still is the lingering criticism that the Chinese government’s track record on human rights won’t win it any medals. This was the [...]

An Economic Justice Agenda

Corporate Power Corrupts the Culture Turn Fragmented Protest Groups into a Unified Progressive Movement Five Pillars of an Economic Justice Agenda: Progressive taxation and major cuts in wasteful military spending to provide necessary public revenue; Universal social insurance programs and high-quality public goods; including quality public schools for all; Powerful democratic labor and social movements [...]

Coachella Valley Farm Worker Latest Victim to Succumb to Probable Heat-Related Causes

BAKERSFIELD–Maria de Jesus Alvarez, 63, has become the latest farm worker victim of this scorching summer. Alvarez had been picking table grapes for Anthony Vineyards and was employed through farm labor contractor Manuel Torres during the afternoon of July 15. She began feeling ill and went home. According to witnesses, she was working in a [...]

DSA-PAC Statement on 2008 Elections

there are
major differences between the commitments of both candidates and their respective parties that
need to be aired and understood, even if these differences are not as great as the democratic Left might like.

Why the Left Needs an Economic Justice Agenda Now

By Michael Hirsch Addressing a rally at the old Madison Square Garden at the tail end of his first presidential re-election campaign, Franklin Roosevelt caught the ethic of what I’ll call the enlightened wing of the ruling class — even if that wing was just Franklin and Eleanor. Standing in front of 18,000 screaming supporters, [...]