The U.S. unemployment rate is a low 4.9 percent, so they say. But current figures don’t cover anyone not actively seeking work because of age, disability, discouragement, or lack of nearby work. Government figures are rigged and most folks know it. Unemployment is a spiraling crisis. Trump blames bad foreign trade deals and “swarms” of… Read more »
The Feb. 15 vote by workers at Boeing’s South Carolina Dreamliner plant against being represented by the Machinists union was portrayed in the press as another case of workers saying, “Union, No!” That’s not the whole story. Before the vote, Boeing saturated the airwaves with hype designed to scare their employees into rejecting unionization. Workers… Read more »
February 2017 — Strike vote — 81 percent! For the first time ever AFSCME Council 31, representing 38,000 Illinois state workers, authorized a strike. Since their contract ran out in July 2015, the union has fought against Gov. Rauner’s demand for a four year pay freeze and doubling health insurance costs. February 2017 — South… Read more »
Cada trabajador sindicalizado sabe que a su jefe le encantaría ver a los sindicatos inutilizados, o eliminados por completo. Los patrones están luchando por lograr ese objetivo, cortesía de Trump y sus secuaces. Para detener esta tendencia, los trabajadores necesitan un movimiento obrero unido preparado para luchar contra este monstruo reaccionario y contra su ataque… Read more »
Every unionized worker knows that their boss would love to see unions toothless, or gone altogether. The bosses are on the offense to achieve that goal, courtesy of Trump and his cohorts. To stop this, workers need a united labor movement ready to fight this reactionary juggernaut, including the bigoted assault on immigrants, refugees and… Read more »
“Intersectionality” is a term that has been coming up a lot in political movements and in the news, especially in regard to the Women’s March on Washington in January. It means examining how the intermingling of all forms of discrimination that people experience — based on race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality and more — affect… Read more »
The Federal ALP introduced enterprise bargaining in 1991 to replace the pre-existing centralised “wage fixing” system. No longer do workers get regular wage adjustments. Instead, the only way of getting so-called wage “increases” is by “bargaining” with the boss. With the deck stacked against us.
We must all encourage and build the leadership of the most oppressed within the struggle. This task is all to clear in the public sector where, in many industries, women are a clear majority yet, almost without exception, we are, as a group, at the bottom of the heap.
