labor

AFL-CIO Must Shine Light on Past Foreign Policy, Activists Say

Larry Sillanpa Labor World
Delegates to the Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body passed a resolution calling on the national AFL-CIO to release sealed documents on its history with AIFLD, the American Institute for Free Labor Development. In 1992, workers at a Ford assembly plant in Mexico were attacked after a strike, leaving 12 workers wounded and one dead. Questions remain that have not been answered about AIFLD's role in what happened.

labor

AFL-CIO Must Shine Light on Past Foreign Policy, Activists Say

Larry Sillanpa Labor World
Delegates to the Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body passed a resolution calling on the national AFL-CIO to release sealed documents on its history with AIFLD, the American Institute for Free Labor Development. In 1992, workers at a Ford assembly plant in Mexico were attacked after a strike, leaving 12 workers wounded and one dead. Questions remain that have not been answered about AIFLD's role in what happened.

Puerto Rico: Cruelest Storm; Trump Political Disaster; AFL-CIO Labor Solidarity

Puerto Rico has been hit by a triple disaster - Hurricane Maria; outrageous debt owed to vulture hedge funds; racist, colonial indifference by the Trump Administration. Puerto Ricans - on the island, and in the U.S. have called for the lifting of the Jones Act, as it applies to Puerto Rico; canceling the debt; and abolishing PROMESA. Yesterday a solidarity flight of medical and emergency organized by AFL-CIO unions brought needed supplies and aid workers to the island.

labor

Labor’s Legitimacy Crisis Under Trump

Barry Eidlin Jacobin
Isolated examples exist of union resistance and victory. Important as these are, they do not yet approach the scale needed to respond to the challenges that labor faces in the coming years. But they show that it is still possible to strike, and it is still possible to win. In each case, building workplace union culture and organization was key. Broadening this model outwards could provide ways of reversing labor’s fortunes.

labor

Funding Agreement Protects Orphan Miner Health Care, But Doesn't Resolve Pension Issues

Tracie Mauriello Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Democrats and coal-country Republicans say miners are uniquely deserving because of an agreement in 1946, when the government seized mines and ended a strike by agreeing to provide health and pension benefits. Legislative leaders have agreed to the provisions as part of a $1 trillion government funding bill, and rank-and-file members are expected to approve it later this week.

Is It Time for the AFL and the CIO to Part Ways Again?

Ruth Needleman Portside
Now more than ever we need a strong united labor movement. We do not, however, have one. [Moderator's Note: An incorrect version of this article was previously posted. This is a corrected version. Portside regrets the error.]

labor

Choices: Perspectives on Labor Resistance and Growth

Carl Goldman and Kurt Stand Talking Union, a DSA labor blog
Socialists must work with all levels of the labor movement. Calling for an “insurgency” within the labor movement doesn’t further that goal. The Trump onslaught against unions will come immediately after he assumes office. While supporting strong rank-and-file we must work with anyone we can, including International leaders who supported Hillary. To do otherwise weakens us in this fight for union survival. And the work of Labor for Bernie proves it can be done.

labor

Carrier Deal: A Dilemma for Unions & Labor Solidarity

Ruth Needleman
Unions must maintain unity among the workforce split by the Carrier deal, and educate its members on why they should not have voted for Trump. Election data seems to indicate that it was union white workers more than poor white workers who supported Trump to begin with. The divide between highly skilled and paid workers and minimum wage workers harkens back to the 1920s when unions focused primarily on craft workers rather than the expanding industrial workforce.

Friday Nite Videos -- November 11, 2016

Portside
Elizabeth Warren | 'Why We Are Angry'. Leonard Cohen | Democracy. John Oliver: School Segregation. Michael Moore: Get Out and Protest. Millions Sign Onto Call for Electoral College to Award the Presidency to Popular Vote Winner Clinton.
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