Reader Comments - Kshama Sawant's election; The Vietnam Antiwar Movement; AFL-CIO's new road; Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA; Religious Freedom, or Reproductive Freedom; Israel Boycott Movement Controversy; Chris Christie; Bill de Blasio;
Announcements - Chicago (Jan. 18); New York (Jan. 21, 24 and 30); Bay Area (Jan. 22)
Today in History
The loss of pensions at Boeing marks a major setback for unions, as employers typically follow the example of other employers at the bargaining table in terms of what constitutes a reasonable demand. Since the financial crash, unions have given up pensions for new hires at large, profitable, industry trendsetters such as General Electric, Verizon, Honeywell and now, Boeing.
The American Federation of Teachers was the donor behind One Boston, a PAC that paid for a $480,000 television commercial supporting Mayor-elect Martin J. Walsh during the final days of the Boston mayoral race.
Raising the floor for our lowest-paid workers is an absolute necessity, and continued victories in this area should be a priority for workers everywhere. However, these victories are not enough by themselves. For community-labor coalitions to reach their full potential, they must go beyond the political agenda that Richard Trumka outlined prior to the AFL-CIO’s convention. They must also be able to defend the gains that unionized workers have already won.
What would it mean to extend solidarity to the ecosystem? That's the question at the heart of this conversation with union activist and environmentalist, Sean Sweeney. Even conservatives are saying that 50 years will be more than sufficient to witness the worst impacts of climate change. And if past is prologue, poor and working-class communities will be hit doubly hard. Climate change is a class issue, and yet the trade union movement continues to drag its feet.
Union-backed groups mount new strikes, announce a potential federal complaint, and promise a big Black Friday.
Reader Comments - More on the AFL-CIO; NFL Bullying; Vets and Peace; Seattle Socialists Win; Obamacare; Babies;
Announcements - Organizing Walmart & Fast Food Industry - New York - Nov 19; Fighting Back Against Wall St. - NYC - Nov 25; Mark Rogovin To Be Inducted Into the Illinois Labor History Society's Labor Hall of Honor; 'Spies Of Mississippi' preview - NYC - Dec 15; Audio available -The Hidden History of Workplace Resistance: U.S. Autoworkers Speak Out;
The AFL-CIO isn’t lifting a finger to help the White House — it remains in negotiations at the White House and on Capitol Hill to change elements of the law it finds objectionable to workers. Those talks were put on hold earlier this month during the government shutdown — a far larger concern for the federal government employee unions — and have begun to restart only in recent days, according to officials from multiple unions.
Reader Comments- Shutdown; Tea Party; Keystone XL; Pensions; AFL-CIO Convention; Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap; Class War; Education & Testing; Edward Snowden; GE; Israel;
Announcements - Healthcare Crisis in Indiana -Lafayette- Oct 26; Protest Idan Raichel - Israeli Artist and Israeli Army Supporter -New York- Oct 27; Pack the Court: New York Stop and Frisk Case- Oct 29; Labor Education Open House -NYC- Oct 30; ALBA Human Rights Documentary Film Festival- New York- Nov 22 - 24
Spread the word