A conversation with a labor journalist and author eager to see labor seize on the post-pandemic surge of union enthusiasm.
Media
The Auto Workers Who Stand with Gaza
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More than half of organized labor in the US is part of a union that has called for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. One worker explains why.
Media
Master Lock Factory in Milwaukee Closes After 100 Years
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After more than 100 years, Master Lock’s iconic factory in Milwaukee is shutting its doors in March 2024. The closure will result in 400 lost union jobs, and also mark the end of a former industrial region of the city that once housed some 50 plants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfmKb2dvimU
The Real News, In These Times, and Workday Magazine speak with current and former Master Lock workers on what the closure of this longstanding plant means for them and their community. Transcript
The following is a transcript of the video
President Obama:
Hello, Milwaukee. That’s what we’ve got to be shooting for is to create opportunities for hardworking Americans to get in there and start making stuff again and sending it all over the world, products stamped with three proud words, “Made in America.” That’s what’s happening right here at Master Lock.
Media
Minnesota Prison Officials Seized $10,000 in Wages From Incarcerated Workers
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Stillwater prison authorities gave 44 incarcerated workers a raise and then, months later, said they had to pay it back. The incarcerated workers say it’s wage theft.
Book Review
3 Decades Ago, There Was a Deadly Attack on Mexican Autoworkers. Here’s What It Can Teach the U.S. Labor Movement Today.
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A review of Rob McKenzie’s book, ‘El Golpe,’ and the quest to uncover AIFLD.
Media
How Biden Can End Secretive Corporate Tribunals
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The president has promised not to put anti-democratic investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms in future trade deals. But they are still in many existing ones.
Media
Military Budget Hike for 2023 is 3,200 Times the NLRB Increase
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If a budget reveals what we value, this one should give us pause: extravagant spending for the war machine, scraps for workers.
Unions
They Waged the Largest Private-Sector Nurses’ Strike in U.S. History. They’re Still Waiting for Justice.
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Minnesota nurses made national headlines by going on strike this fall, but as contract negotiations stall, they’re fighting for a voice on the job.
Audio
Ask a Railroad Worker: How Did Railroad Jobs Get So Bad?
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As a national rail shutdown over mounting labor disputes looms in the US, it’s worth asking how we got here from the folks who know best—the workers themselves.
Audio
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) Strike
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Last month, roughly 40,000 UK rail workers with the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) went on strike for three days, bringing major portions of the British rail system to a halt in a historic show of collective strength. This week, after receiving a contract offer from state-owned Network Rail that union leaders described as “paltry,” the RMT announced that workers at Network Rail and the train operating companies will engage in another day of strike action on Wednesday, July 27. With these strikes, and in the ongoing negotiations, workers are fighting for livable wages at a time when the cost of living is spiraling out of control and corporate executives and shareholders are stuffing their pockets with cash. As Adam Bychawski writes, “Train companies paid out nearly £800m to shareholders last year before telling rail unions that employees must take a real-terms pay cut for them to stay afloat.” But workers are fighting for much more; they are fighting against years of austerity policies and corporate profit-generating schemes that have led to deteriorating working conditions and quality of service on the rails; they are fighting against further job losses for the sake of “modernization”‘; and they are fighting for better, safer, more accessible, and well-staffed rail services for the people who depend on them.
In this special panel episode, we speak with four rail workers and RMT members/officers—Mel Mullings, Clayton Clive, Cat Cray, and Gaz Jackson—about the strike and the importance of workers around the world standing in solidarity with strikers.
Additional links/info below…
Audio
From Amazon to Starbucks, America Is Unionizing. Will Politics Catch Up?
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A debate on how unions build power today and whether politicians — particularly Democrats — are still behind them.