Chicago Unions Seek Better Ties After Clash Over Immigrants

Tiffany Ten Eyck Labor Notes http://labornotes.org/node/1978 Leaders of Chicago’s worker centers and unions have been meeting to soothe conflicts over the defense of unionized immigrant workers. Tensions developed this summer after union members approached a worker center for help with no-match letters from the Social Security Administration. The letters tell employers which employees’ social security [...]

People’s Bailout: National Week of Action Dec 7-13

Call to Action: People’s Bailout Now!! National Week of Action December 7-13 Visit www.jwj.org/bailout for more information. As many predicted, the Wall Street Bailout has proven to be the gross give-away to the same financial bigwigs that have been pocketing millions while wrecking the real economy. Little or no benefit has gone to the working [...]

Urgent Appeal: Save Iranian Union Leader from Hanging

Eric Lee LabourStart This morning I received news that jailed Iranian teacher union activist Farzad Kamangar may be hanged within the next few hours. According to the Education International, he has been taken from his cell in Tehran’s Evin prison in preparation for execution. The guards have told him he is about to be executed [...]

Chinese Labor: Epic Struggle in the Pearl River Delta

By Paul Garver Democratic Left Fall 2008 While Americans were focused on their November presidential election, equally momentous decisions  were being made in the Pearl River Delta area of China’s  Guangdong Province. The industrial belt stretching from  Hong Kong north through the cities of Shenzhen and  Dongguan to the provincial capital city Guangzhou (formerly  Canton) [...]

Nike Human Rights Investigation Up for Human Rights Award

A TV  news report on the exploitation of Bengla Deshi, Burmese, and  Vietnamese workers in Malaysia and Nike’s hypocrisy is up for a prestigious “Every Human  Has Rights” Award. There ]’s a public vote, but there only five days left to vote; the deadline is midnight November 30.

Boston DSA post-Election Forum Obama’s Victory: What Happened? What Next?

7:00 P.M., Monday, Nov.24 The Democracy Center  45 Mt. Auburn St. Cambridge (Harvard Sq.) Speakers: Frances Moore Lappe, Tim Costello & Frank Llewellyn What does Obama’s historic victory mean for the progressive coalition that backed him? What will be the effect of the massive grassroots movement that brought him into office?  Are we in for [...]

What To Do With the Big Three? Bailout? Bankruptcy? Nationalization?

by Bill Onasch A few weeks ago, 25 billion dollars of federal assistance was approved for the Big Three automakers to retool their product lines, shifting from gas guzzlers that are not selling at any price to more fuel efficient vehicles. But General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler say they are essentially broke, and cannot meet [...]

The State of U.S. Labor & Building Union Power

By Elaine Bernard Democratic Left Fall 2008 The State of Organized Labor in the U.S. It is sobering to note that U.S. unions have been in decline for the entire worklife of the vast majority of today’s workers. It was long ago, in 1955, when unions reached their highest density (that is, the proportion of the [...]

Atlanta Douglass-Debs Dinner Draws Enthusiastic Crowd

by Milton Tambor and Barbara Joye On November 8, Metro Atlanta DSA celebrated its second annual Douglass-Debs awards dinner at the IBEW hall. About 200 people were in attendance. The diverse crowd’s joyful, high-energy mood was enhanced by elation over the recent election. Songs and music by Elise Witt and the Cafe Mezclao band further added to [...]

Cane Cutters Win Strike Victory in Colombia

18,000 Colombian sugar cane workers have ended a 56-day strike after sugar mills employing 75% of the workers agreed to some major demands of their new union SINALCORTEROS. The remaining employers are expected to sign on to the pattern agreement that includes a 15% wage increase, a limitation on excessive hours of work, paid sick [...]