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Long-time UNITE HERE Local 2 President Mike Casey Stepping Down

Marc Norton and Jeff Myers San Francisco Bay View
Mike Casey, who has led San Francisco’s UNITE HERE Local 2 for over 20 years, is stepping down. Casey was first elected president of Local 2 in 1994, after a tumultuous period in the 1970s and 1980s that resulted in large membership losses. He has presided over a period of stabilization, consolidation and growth. Local 2, once known as the Culinary Union for its many restaurant contracts that have long since disappeared, is now better known as the Hotel Union.

Where Do We Go Now?

Keith Ewing The People's Daily Morning Star
In the bleak political landscape following the British elections, trade unionism faces a huge challenge -- a challenge of leadership, a challenge of purpose and a challenge of survival. We need a new, clear vision to lead the movement not for the next five years but for the next generation — a vision that questions organisational activity, as well as industrial and political strategies.

Connecticut Has its Share of Exploited Workers

Bill Cummings Stamford Advocate
During the 2014 fiscal year, the Connecticut state labor department received 2,776 complaints over unpaid wages and returned $6.5 million in wages to workers, according to the state labor department.

The Job-Killing-Robot Myth

Dean Baker LA Times
Are the machines coming for our jobs? Dean Baker argues that we need to get beyond the fear of robots and address the real causes of inequality, low wages and changes in the labor market.

New York Hospitals On Notice

Mark Brenner Labor Notes
Till now, NYSNA has negotiated separate hospital-by-hospital contracts for its entire history—while Service Employees (SEIU) mega-local 1199 was winning high standards and industry-shaping political power through master contracts with the same facilities. Now the nurses union is putting common demands on every table. At most hospitals it’s conducting open bargaining, with as many as 200 members showing up to participate in negotiations.

Just a whisper Now: a Look Back at the AFL-CIO New Voice After 20 Years

Peter Olney and Rand Wilson Stansbury Forum
The New Voice wasn’t just about growth, it envisioned a labor movement that reclaimed its place as a powerful force for justice in the community and strongly allied with the country’s progressive intelligentsia. But organizing was the magic word.

Organizing New York

Joshua Freeman Jacobin
As public worker union growth ran into the realities of an increasingly conservative national climate, effective advocates for labor, like Victor Gotbaum -- who passed away on April 5 --like many of his peers, proved unable to find a way to keep renewing union power.

The Long Shadow Of The British Miners' Strike

Paul Dean SOCIALISTWORKER.org
Documentary film of the 1984-85 British miners' strike that ended in defeat. This was a great victory for the Conservative Party of Margaret Thatcher and a monumental event in the union history of the British working class.