All eyes were on Seattle in June, as the city council adopted a $15/hr. minimum wage plan — the highest in the nation for a major city. Organized labor and… Read more »
economy
Fast-food workers strike on Sept. 4
In their biggest action since launching the fight for $15 per hour, better working conditions and union rights, fast-food workers joined by homecare unionists took to the streets in 150… Read more »
Living wage fight flourishes in California — Campaigns underway in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Diego
As the cost of living in California climbs upward at a racer’s pace, alliances of progressives, socialists and trade unionists have launched intense campaigns to raise the minimum wage in… Read more »
Dateline Australia — Fight-back against austerity needs union leadership
An infamous image said it all. After drafting the largest attack on the poor in Australia’s history with a drastic budget scheme, chief finance minister (treasurer) Joe Hockey and his… Read more »
Seattle tenants mobilize against massive rent hikes
Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) is pushing a proposal called “Stepping Forward” that could kick many low-income tenants out of their homes. The plan would raise rent for households with at… Read more »
The war on retirement security: How bosses and bankers are cracking your nest egg
One year ago last November, in Washington State, the Boeing Co. told 30,000 members of the International Association of Machinists: Stick ’em up! Your pensions or your jobs! CEO’s threatened… Read more »
Harlem community battles developers, privatization of schools and housing
In his 1951 poem Harlem, Langston Hughes asks: “What happens to a dream deferred?” More than half a century later, with hedge fund honchos and real estate moguls calling the… Read more »
Oil and the struggle for world domination
Oil and oil prices — they are on the minds of everyone. When the price of oil plummets, it’s a relief for beleaguered workers around the world. With wages falling… Read more »
After a massive vote in Greece against austerity … Can the Syriza party deliver on its promises?
Banksters demanding debt payments have been hammering at Greece for years. When visiting there in September 2013, I was shocked at how government cuts had devastated the Greek people. And… Read more »
Guns versus butter: Why tanks trump food stamps in the federal budget
Though hardly front-page news, the proposed federal budget for 2016 boosts funding for the Department of Defense. Obama earmarked $534 billion to these U.S. warlords. Their base budget in 2000… Read more »