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The Wages of Dignity

Eleanor Bader Brooklyn Rail
Beyond just better wages, the workers at the forefront of the FFF campaign are demanding to be treated with greater respect and dignity.

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Fast Food Workers Striking in Seattle

Josh Eidelson The Nation
Yesterday, workers at dozens of Seattle fast food restaurants went on strike against poverty wages. This marks the nation's seventh work stoppage by fast food employees in the last eight weeks. The strikers are demanding a raise to $15 an hour and the right to organize unions without retaliation or intimidation.

Camping Out for Five Days, in Hopes of a Union Job

By Jessica Glazer The New York Times
They set up their tents and mattresses on the sidewalk in Long Island City, Queens, unpacked their Coronas and cards – and settled in to wait as long as five days and nights for a slender chance at a union job as an elevator mechanic.

Protesting Walmart: The New Freedom Riders

By Berry Craig LA Progressive
Called the “Ride for Respect,” the demonstration at Walmart corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, will be modeled on civil rights volunteers who rode buses into the South in the 1960s to protest Jim Crow racial injustice.

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8 Killed in Bangladesh Garment Factory Fire, Protests Grow

S. Quadir, R. Paul, J. Zarroli, K. Bhasin, M. Mosk, B. Ross
Eight people were killed when a fire swept through a clothing factory in Bangladesh on Wednesday, as the death toll from the collapse of another factory building two weeks ago climbed above 900. Meanwhile, multinational corporations are coming under growing scrutiny and facing mounting protests over their involvement in the exploitation of Bangladeshi workers. One U.S. union is targeting Gap, Inc.

Netflix's "House of Cards" Promotes Union-Bashing

Randy Shaw Beyond Chron
Netflix’s new House of Cards series offers an inside look at Beltway power games and is far better than most of this genre---which is why its retrograde and even racist union-bashing is so unfortunate.

Fashion Models Shatter Stereotypes, Demand Labor Rights

Jenny Brown Labor Notes
Strip off the gloss and you have a workforce of young women classified as independent contractors, not covered by minimum wage laws, who are often paid in clothes rather than cash, and are in debt to their modeling agencies.

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Union Health Plans Will Suffer under Obamacare

James McGee Labor Notes
What should have been a model for health care reform faces an uncertain future. Because the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tilts the playing field to disadvantage multiemployer plans, this decades-old gain of the labor movement may be irreparably damaged.

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So Why Don't We Have Better Unions?

Michael Hirsch Logos
Labor is in trouble which is not news to our readers. Michael Hirsch describes some of the obvious problems and some ways forward. He believes unions should have more of them against us approach. This was something Occupy Wall Street did very successfully. For a short period of time they changed the dialogue away from austerity to the needs of working period. Other ideas include community and union based electoral campaigns, workers papers, international organizing.
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