Category: Organizing Labor
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A Return to Leftist Self-Defense
These kinds of threats were nothing new. Historically, wherever working-class social movements grow, fascists see them as distinct threats both because of their politics and the marginalized communities they represent. To guard against this, self-defense projects—organized efforts where people from these communities are trained, and often armed—are formed to ward off these outside threats.
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Beat the Heat: How US Workers Are Winning Fans, AC, and Even Heat Pay
In 2022, the latest year for which we have data, 43 U.S. workers lost their lives to heat on the job. That’s up from 36 in 2021, and we can expect this cruel number to keep climbing. But from warehouses to coffeehouses to construction sites, workers using solidarity and creative action—even without the protection of a union…
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How University of California Researchers Began Refusing Military Work
As unionized workers in higher education, we are positioned to intervene at the very beginning of the military supply chain. The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions issued an urgent call on October 16 to stop arming Israel—including the specific request to disrupt military funding and military research.
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Management Rights: A Pitfall When Negotiating Your First Contract
In the past year, retail and service sector workers have started organizing unions with success in companies like Starbucks and Amazon. The negotiation process for their first contracts is challenging, with employers seeking language that weakens the union. Management rights clauses have become a point of contention, as employers aim to limit union rights. Changes…
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Why is free time still so elusive?
Many economists see the status quo mostly as a choice: People would simply rather have more money. So they prioritize work over free time. However, in the past, many economists assumed that people’s need for more stuff would eventually be met. At that point, they would choose more free time.
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#FeesMustFall in Nigeria
The current crisis in education demands a bold response: student resistance must evolve beyond local campus struggles. It is time to embrace the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist spirit that marked the heydays of a vibrant NANS, understanding that the fate of public education is inextricably linked to the broader struggle for social justice.
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UE Support for Ceasefire Was Built on Decades of Membership Education and Debate
Our union, the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), was able to mobilize quickly on this critical issue because we have a strong tradition of international solidarity and taking a critical view of U.S. foreign policy. When Israel launched its brutal assault on the people of Palestine in the wake of the…
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From Picket Lines to Plot Lines
Written by Sonali Kolhatkar, published by Yes! Magazine on August 4th, 2023 under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Hundreds of thousands of creative workers in the film and television industry are currently flexing their labor power. For the first time in more than 60 years, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (which merged with the…
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The Death of Slavery, The First Dawn of Freedom
An organized clandestine underground network to resist the slave state was not inevitable. The path of fatalism and despair, a pale specter that still haunts many would-be rebels today, was just as likely. In those days, given the seemingly low odds of success, an overwhelming feeling of helplessness doubtless consumed many hearts. Courageous people, most…
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Collective Action is the Only Answer to a Global Garment Industry Driven by Debt, Wage Theft and Coercion
Cases like the labour abuse in Mauritius are conspicuous and show new connections between modern slavery and migration. But these cases are enabled by centuries of colonial and neo-colonial organisation of production that has involved unacceptable forms of worker exploitation. The analysis of the disputes in our study clearly suggests that social justice is only…
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