The Working-Class Mini-Revolts of the Twenty-First Century

Jeremy Brecher Labor Network for Sustainability
The start of the twenty-first century has seen a continuing decline in union membership and strikes. But it has also seen the emergence of unpredicted mini-revolts. Activists in the Battle of Seattle took over downtown Seattle, put an end to the millennium round of the World Trade Organization, and redefined the question of globalization for millions of Americans.

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Culinary Union Workers Strike Rally Nears Full-On Strike

Jacqui Heinrich ABC Action News 13
More than 1,000 members of Culinary Union Local 226 (UNITE HERE) picketed downtown Las Vegas on Saturday, April 12. Contracts covering 10 downtown casinos are expired, as well as Brady Laundry. Major Strip casinos, including those owned by MGM Resorts and Caesar's, were settled in recent months. In addition to picketing, workers queued up from 8am until 7pm to sign up for strike relief benefits and strike picket shifts.

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Workers of the World, Faint!

Julia Wallace The New York Times
Three years ago, when the Cambodian minimum wage was $61 per month, 200,000 workers took to the streets to ask for a raise. It was the largest-ever strike in the garment sector, but, after just three days, it came to an anticlimactic halt due to police violence and threats against union leaders. Then the "neak ta" appeared. Mass faintings in factories spread throughout Cambodia, and employers' took notice.

Friday Nite Videos -- Dec 6, 2013 (Mandela)

Portside
Music has always been a powerful expression and organizing tool of the oppressed people of South Africa. Here is music inspired by and supporting their struggles, including the artists Hugh Masakela, Abdullah Ibrahim, Johnny Clegg and Gil Scott-Heron.

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Strikes Surge as Killings of Colombian Union Leaders Fall

Andrew Willis Bloomberg
Strikes, demonstrations and protests are at a record pace in Colombia this year as workers seek a bigger share of wealth generated by the country’s expanding economy. After 50 years of guerrilla warfare, the government’s success in weakening illegal armed groups has drawn investment and rewarded businessmen, while the gap between rich and poor remains considerable, according to the World Bank’s Gini index of income distribution.

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Irish Doctors Strike to Protest Work Hours Amid Austerity

Eamon Quinn The Wall Street Journal
There is a growing impatience with austerity among public-sector workers, as the government prepares a budget for 2014 that will inflict a seventh year of spending cuts and tax increases. Irish governments have sought to control costs in response to the country's worst-ever property and banking crisis that started over five years ago. The country is obliged by its bailout with the European Union and International Monetary Fund to public sector spending and jobs cuts.

Is Fight for 15 for Real?

Micah Uetricht In These Times
A hard look at the campaign by retail and fast-food workers to earn a living wage.

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Among the Poorest Paid, a New Labor Revival

Ned Resnikoff MSNBC
Should the trend of de-unionization continue, it is not unreasonable to wonder whether there will be any American labor movement to speak of in twenty years or so. But that may change. Over the past several months, a new kind of labor activism has emerged from some of America’s poorest-paying and least-unionized industries. Fast food workers have stood near the forefront of the movement, waging a nationwide strike campaign which began in December with about 200 New York-

Strike: Fast Food Workers Speak Out

These are the names, the faces, the lives and the demands of fast food workers, who are striking for the right to organize and a decent wage.

Fast Food Strike Tactics Are Debated

Micah Uetricht In These Times
Since the first such strike in New York City last year, the expansion of low-wage jobs and the accompanying decline of well-paying union jobs have become a big topic in the media and on the street. The strikes have legitimated walking off the job as a tactic for workers, even those without a union. In addition, some fast food and retail workers have won tangible gains as a result of their strikes.
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