Today, on Presidents’ Day, we rightly celebrate Abraham Lincoln for helping end slavery. But we shouldn’t forget the unstoppable force that also brought down the Slave Power: the several million slaves who left the plantation, many of whom joined the Union Army.
Amid the upsurge of successful union representation elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, workers are still struggling to secure their first contracts—and real change in the workplace.
Two key questions confront labor: should unions focus on organizing workers with major strategic leverage in the economy? Or should they welcome any workers willing to fight, since that organizing can constitute a major catalyst for other workers?
If properly enforced, just cause protections would give all workers more security to stand up to dangerous working conditions, sexual harassment, bullying, speed-up, and wage theft.
“The US labor movement is largely unprepared for—if not downright skittish about—taking up the question of how to contest a fundamental assault on democracy.”
The judiciary committee voted not to advance the nomination of Hector LaSalle, setting up a likely legal fight between the governor and state Democrats. Gov. Hochul threated to hire a litigator to sue the State Senate to take up the nomination.
Democrats likely to defeat Dem. Governor Hochul’s nomination of Hector LaSalle to be the state’s next chief judge, after progressives raised concern about his conservative judicial record and anti-abortion, anti-labor and anti-bail reform positions.
The pandemic exacerbated a preexisting and long-standing shortage of teachers. The shortage is, instead, the result of a lack of qualified teachers willing to work in what has long been a highly stressful job for compensation that is well below what is available to college-educated workers in other professions.
The Union of Southern Service Workers is organizing food service, retail and health care workers through direct action against low wages and historical racism.
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