Membership has plummeted and once-powerful groups have lost clout as conservative governments oppose worker activism.
How otherwise progressive unions stand in the way of a more humane correctional system.
The American labor movement is once again facing a most controversial issue - the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. While labor leaders weigh the pros and cons of building KXL, they should keep in mind that the pipeline is as much a threat to our economy as it is to our planet. After a year of extreme weather - at an extreme cost to the economy - this age old jobs vs. environment debate is emerging as a false choice.
A budding coalition of immigrants and African-Americans - modeled on the outstanding community- and labor-organizing example of Culinary Workers Union Local 226 - is potentially the largest progressive force in America - one capable of transforming the trajectory of US history.
Readers respond - The Persistence of Racial Resentment; Meredith Tax on Democracy, Islam and the Left. Response to Carl Proper (The Americanization of the United States); Prisoner X. Plus: Grad Students Take Action at UIC - Urge School to Not Break Their Hearts; Resources on Racial Justice;
Role of Public Intellectuals - New York - Feb 15; Life of Eslanda Robeson - Conversation with Barbara Ransby - Chicago - Feb 19; Red Brain, Blue Brain - There is a Difference;
Many new state workers — ranging from teachers to police officers to street cleaners — will retire with fewer retirement benefits than their current counterparts. Since 2009, faced with ballooning bills and strained budgets, 45 states have either cut pension benefits or increased mandatory employee retirement plan contributions, or both.
Underneath global apparel's glitzy makeup lies an unglamorous underbelly - one of violent working conditions and structural faux pas. Case and point: factory fires. In September 2012, 300 garment workers lost their lives when a factory caught ablaze in Pakistan - two months later, 112 deaths after a similar tragedy in Bangladesh. Add China to the list, and 2012 will go on record as the deadliest year to be a garment worker.
For too long organized labor has failed to ask the Dems, ‘Which side are you on?’
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