Night of Outrage: Thousands Protest NYC School Closings

by Michael Hirsch and Micah Landau In one of the angriest demonstrations yet against Mayor Bloomberg’s failed education policies, thousands of teachers, parents, students and community members turned out to protest school closings at a Feb. 9 meeting of the city’s Panel for Educational Policy at Brooklyn Technical HS. Despite virtually unanimous opposition, the panel [...]

Harvest America or Invest in America

by Stan Sorscher Many American voters seem ready to run our country as if it were a business. Some businesses take a long-range growth perspective, and honor all their stakeholders. A country run that way would be OK. However, other businesses believe their markets are “unattractive,” to use the business school expression. If your business [...]

Stopping Evictions in Detroit

Steve Babson , People Before Banks The scene is straight out of Charles Dickens: shortly before Christmas, bank officers notify an elderly couple that they will be evicted from their home of 22 years in the dead of winter. The Garrett family has fallen behind on the mortgage. William Garrett, who is legally blind and [...]

Workers Claim Victory After an Occupation with Serious Energy

By Dan Massoglia (Feb 24) Dozens of workers emerged from the Serious Materials factory building at 1333 N. Hickory Avenue last night, chanting “Si se pudo!” to cheers from a wet but excited crowd of roughly thirty, many of whom had planned to spend the night in solidarity. Led by UE Local 1110 President Armando Robles, [...]

YDS Organizes a week of student protests

YDS mobilizes to participate in protests during National Student Debt Week, Feb.27- March 2, across the country.  Over 170 members of the Young Democratic Socialists met in New York City along with Dr. Cornel West  over the weekend of Feb.17-19, and planned their participation in the escalation of protests during National Student Debt Week. Cornel [...]

Black America: A Prescription for the Future–NYC meeting on Feb 26

Panel discussion with  Moderator Jerold Podair, history professor, Lawrence College; author of Bayard Rustin, American Dreamer and panelists Dr. William Julius Wilson, noted author and distinguished professor of sociology, Harvard University Dr. Bernard Anderson, economics professor emeritus, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; former asst. secretary of labor in the Clinton Administration Rev. Al Sharpton, PoliticNation, [...]

Apple Refuses to Meet With Hong Kong Consumers

by Debby Chan Labour groups and media have been reporting the unethical labour practices at Apple suppliers in China in the past 2 years. Under the intense pressure, Apple joined the Fair Labour Association (FLA) in January 2012 in an attempt to create a transparent and socially responsible image. Regrettably, Students & Scholars Against Corporate [...]

Community, Labor, Faith Groups Call on Chicago Mayor to Create G8/NATO Community Fund

Chicago–Today community, labor and faith groups delivered a letter to Mayor Emanuel calling for all spending related to hosting the upcoming G8 and NATO summits to be matched dollar for dollar by investment in Chicago’s communities through the creation of a Chicago G8/NATO Community Fund.   The letter asks the Mayor to call upon the large [...]

Workers on ‘Journey for Justice’ Meet Newly Scared Minn. Labor Movement

by Mike Elk ST. PAUL, MINN.—Yesterday, locked-out union workers from five different American Crystal Sugar (ACS) facilities in Minnesota, North Dakota and Iowa, as well as locked-out workers from Cooper Tire, set out on a 1,000-mile “Journey for Justice” across the United States to raise awareness of their plight. The ACS workers are members of the [...]

Rising Above the Odds With the National Labor Relations Board Process

by Cory McCray A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to aid the workers of a sub-contractor that Comcast employs. The workers goal was to organize to have a voice at the workplace and obtain a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). On Election Day the final result was 58 Votes No to 40 Votes Yes, [...]