Working Life

I heard a rumor on Friday that the Laborers International will pull out of the AFL-CIO on Monday (tomorrow). For those of you with long memories–say, going back to August–you may remember that the Laborers had decided to keep a foot in both federations: joining up with Change To Win but remaining in the AFL-CIO. […]

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I was going to post, quite late today, about a picket line I took part in this early morning against Rep. Gregory Meeks (he’s one of the CAFTA 15) at JFK airport. But, hey, we’ve got the transit workers rejecting the negotiated contract. Here’s what New York 1 is reporting: Transport Workers Union members have […]

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I don’t think we should make much of the United Farm Workers leaving the AFL-CIO. Sure, the union has a certain iconic position in the movement’s lore which is quite disproportionate to its current size and impact on anything happening in labor. Remember, the UFW was already part of the Change To Win coalition–like the […]

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Here’s a bit more information on where we stand on the question of the participation of Change To Win unions in the AFL-CIO’s local and state central bodies. For those just joining the conversation, there’s been a long back-and-forth between the two federations about John Sweeney’s proposal to create Solidarity Charters. In mid-September, there was […]

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Well, reader Sue took me to task in yesterday’s post for not keeping everyone fully informed on what Change To Win is up to. I guess I should feel honored that you’all expect me to be the bearer of news. BUT, this blog was started precisely so that people could have a place to debate […]

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It seems like ages since the Solidarity Charter issue was being debated (I divide time now between BSI–Before Scooter’s Indictment–and ASI–After Scooter’s Indictment). But, it seems as if we’re done and the major issues have been resolved, with negotiations continuing on the exact “specific amount and mechanism for a solidarity fee to be paid by […]

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From time to time, I’ve raised, and commenters have opined about, the issue of union democracy. Everyone is for it–but it tends to get subsumed into very general broad statements that degenerate into black-and-white “down with the anti-democratic union leaders” versus “leadership must lead.” So, an old friend of mine, Jane Slaughter and I have […]

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With all the focus on the slashing of UAW members’ health care at GM (there’s a more detailed story today in the New York Times), I didn’t get to the recent, also sad, development regarding the folks who have been striking Northwest. This has been a hotly debated topic here–but the situation continues to be […]

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A reader passed this on–it’s the tale of Cingular Wireless workers joining the Communications Workers of America. Off of the CWA website comes this: “On Oct. 13, the largest single day of union recognition by former AT&T Wireless workers at Cingular, nearly 1,800 Customer Care and Retail Sales employees gained representation with CWA. The American […]

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I had gotten this yesterday (see below) and was trying to track down some more info but figured it was worth putting out as is. We’ve been watching the various efforts at peace making, most recently in an exchange of letters between Anna Burger and John Sweeney. What I see here is some compromise and […]

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