Working Life

One of the most annoying things about the apologists for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (including the CAFTA 15) has been their insistence that the trade deal would do wonders for people in Central America and the Dominican Republic (which is included in CAFTA). The problem was that those apologists could not explain why […]

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Andy Stern has sent a letter to SEIU locals reacting to the recent Solidarity Charters proposal from the AFL-CIO. Here it ’tis: August 17, 2005 TO: All Local Unions FR: Andy SternRE: Labor Unity at Local and State Level and in Constituency Groups The seven major unions with 6 million members that formed the Change […]

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Jim Moran, one of the CAFTA 15–not to mention in the pocket of the credit card industry and a sleazy guy to boot–was given the back of the hand today from a group of union delegates. This guy is the bottom of the pond and should have been taken out long ago, as I opined […]

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The local press in Rep. Gregory Meeks’ neighborhood is getting on his case about his CAFTA vote. Here’s an editorial from the Queens Chronicle. Thursday August 18, 2005 Queens ChronicleEditorialNo More Compromises During the sleepy Congressional recess that occurs every August, it is easy to put aside thoughts of Capitol Hill for a few weeks […]

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Sorry, fans, for the late post (why I feel the need to apologize says something…) but was out early for my speech to the Teamsters National Black Caucus meeting in Chicago (where, yes, it’s 90 plus…again). You can read the speech if you feel like (as they say, the prepared text is not the precise […]

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It’s the classic question: local versus national; grassroots versus leadership…I’ve always been a man in the middle on the questions…you need both…neither is the answer on its own. And so the question of what will happen with the Central Labor Councils and State Federations has generated a lot of buzz and heat across the nation […]

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Knew I was going to be on the road here in Chicago (geez, maybe I should get a place here, what with spending a whole week here for the AFL-CIO convention) but had to go to the local candlelight vigil here in support of Cindy Sheehan. I know everyone knows the story so I’ll just […]

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I wish I didn’t have to keep pointing out the sorry state of the “opposition” party. But, alas, the reason we may lose yet another trillion dollars in revenues over the next decade to fund education etc. is that too many Democrats seem likely to vote to end a potential filibuster to prevent the repeal […]

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I’ve been enjoying reading everyone’s additions to the unanswered questions about the future of labor (and, yes, some suggestions which are good, too). So, don’t stop…I’m on my way to Chicago tomorrow to speak before the Teamsters Black Caucus annual meeting (and to catch, by chance, the Yankees playing those hard-to-beat White Sox) but, while […]

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Questions, questions, questions…I think that’s been my pre-occupation for the past six months. While so many people seem certain that they have the right answers to the future of labor, I find so many questions still begging for an answer–partly because there is no easy answer for our predicament. And, repeatedly in this space, I’ve […]

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