Why I’m Marching with Bill McKibben to Protest the Keystone Pipeline

by Joe Uehlein Sometimes a decision forces you to think deeply about what you believe in and how you act on those beliefs. It was like that when the climate protection leader Bill McKibben asked me to sign a letter calling for civil disobedience to block the building of a pipeline designed to carry tar sands [...]

This Labor Day We Need Protest Marches Rather than Parades

by Robert Reich Labor Day is traditionally a time for picnics and parades. But this year is no picnic for American workers, and a protest march would be more appropriate than a parade. Not only are 25 million unemployed or underemployed, but American companies continue to cut wages and benefits. The median wage is still [...]

Jobs, Justice and the American Dream

Watch a replay of a live webcast of the AFL-CIO and Martin Luther King Jr. Center symposium on Jobs, Justice and the American Dream. Click here to watch Martin Luther King III, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other civil rights activists, worker advocates, scholars and more took part in two panels: [...]

CREDO Mobile, Warren Buffett, and the Limits of Progressive Business

by Josh Eidelson Two web petitions showed up in progressive inboxes last week. One, organized by Daily Kos in support of striking Verizon workers, was blasted out by “alternative” cell service provider CREDO Mobile. The second, organized by MoveOn, was a call for taxing the rich, piggybacking on a recent op-ed by billionaire Warren Buffett. [...]

Abuse of Power: Congressman Issa’s Attacks on the NLRB

by Dmitri Iglitzin & Robert Lavitt In a truly unprecedented attack on federal law enforcement agents at the National Labor Relations Board, California Representative Darrell Issa and his Republican allies in the House of Representatives are doing the bidding of corporate elites in an effort to suppress the collective bargaining rights of private sector workers. [...]

Poisoned Chinese Workers Demand Action from Apple CEO Successor

by Debby Chan The poisoned workers at Wintek, an Apple supplier in Suzhou, China, have been awaiting a response from Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple. Regrettably, he had not responded before his resignation. The poisoned workers hope the new Apple CEO, Tim Cook, will live up to its claim of corporate social responsibility [...]

Join Nurses’ Demos to Tax Wall Street to Help Main Street

by Paul Garver National Nurses United, the largest union and professional organization of registered nurses with members in every state, is hosting 60 events across the country as a national day of action on Sept. 1, 2011. RNs across the U.S. are calling on Wall Street to pay for the damage they caused on Main [...]

Contribute to Help Student Workers Exploited by Hershey

by Paul Garver Four hundred foreign students from many countries paid $6000 for a visa program that placed them performing hard physical labor for $8 at a Palmyra PA warehouse working for the global chocolate giant Hershey. They have gone on strike to demand they be made whole for their fradulent visa fees and that [...]

Remembering Steve Jobs’ Record on Workers’ Rights

by Mike Elk Yesterday, Twitter was abuzz with reactions to Steve Jobs’ resignation as CEO of Apple, among reports that his health is in bad condition. Progressives and conservatives alike praised Jobs as someone who had revolutionized industry with Apple’s innovative computer designs. “Thanks Steve for pushing for designs that have humans at the center,” [...]

Turning up the heat on Paul Ryan

by Andrew Cole Shanon Molina wants answers. “I’m tired of struggling to support my family,” she says. “I’m tired of not having a decent job that provides benefits, and I’m tired of being ignored by my congressman.” Shanon requested a meeting with her congressman, Rep. Paul Ryan, who represents a district in Southeastern Wisconsin, to [...]