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Strong Unions Will Boost America's Economy

Rana Foroohar Financial Times
The labour share of the overall economic pie is at a post-second world war low, which is an enormous problem in an economy that is 70 per cent dependent on consumer spending. The demise of the traditional union movement (which represents only 10.7 per cent of the American workforce today, half of what it was in the early 1980s), is one of the biggest contributors to that problem.

Hire Power: Los Angeles Employment Program Breaks New Ground

Bobbi Murray Capital & Main
The Los Angeles Black Worker Center was founded seven years ago to increase access to quality jobs for African-Americans. Rather than focusing solely on job training, the Center is working to connect people with actual jobs through programs like the LA Local Hire program.

Luz Sosa: Take Off the Rose-Colored Glasses about Foxconn

Luz Sosa The Cap Times
If Foxconn establishes production in Wisconsin it will be in a highly automated capital-intensive facility that would not create anywhere near the number of jobs being bandied about. CEO Terry Gou clearly stated, "Automation, software and technology innovation will be our key focus in the U.S. in the coming few years.”Here’s reality: Cyber component manufacturing with large numbers of employees has mainly occurred in low-wage, marginally regulated countries.

How D.C. Grocery Workers Got Their Groove Back

Alan Hanson Labor Notes
To regain lost wages and benefits, UFCW Local 400 used political power, working with union, community, and faith allies to win minimum wage increases and paid sick days in much of the area the union represents. The local also mobilized its membership. Conferences that brought together nearly 300 Safeway and Giant stewards were followed by mass meetings and in-store action teams. The result was a victory and a commitment to keep up the pressure.

Unions Rip Senate’s Obamacare-Repeal Move

Seven Wishnia Labor Press
"Several American labor unions reacted angrily to the Senate’s vote July 25 to take yet another crack at dismantling Obamacare. AFSCME President Lee Saunders called the vote “morally indefensible,” while Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers said it was “cruel and heartless.”

Nyack Library Workers Vote to Unionize

Kimberly Redmond Lohud
Nyack Library workers voted Monday night to unionize, making it among the small handful of Rockland County, New York libraries where employees are covered by unions. They will be joining the New York State United Teachers.

Boston Nurses Are Bringing Back the Strike

Sarah Betancourt In These Times
Tufts Medical Center nurses went back to work on Monday after launching the first Boston nurses’ strike in more than three decade. Despite the collective action, the roughly 1,200 nurses who walked out still face barriers to a satisfactory resolution.