Portlanders Kicked, Arrested for Protesting Post Office Privatization

Oct 31 / Jamie Partridge
Seven activists calling themselves "postal protectors" were arrested in Portland, Oregon's main post office Tuesday, the sixth time they were refused a meeting to discuss an end to privatization of postal jobs. »

Pittsburghers Try a Community Union

Oct 30 / Margot Nikitas
Pittsburghers are trying out a new organizing model: a rank-and-file community union that anyone can join, affiliated with the Steelworkers. »

Auto Workers Try a New Angle at Volkswagen

Oct 28 / Jane Slaughter
The United Auto Workers, so long frustrated in their attempts to organize foreign-owned auto plants in the U.S., may have found a different way in: a works council like those in Germany. »

Tea Party, ALEC Prescribe CPR to Kill Pensions

Oct 24 / Bruce Bostick

A tiny group of wealthy financiers and Tea Partyers calls the proposal “Cincinnatians for Pension Reform” (CPR). But unlike the medical procedure of the same name, this one would kill its patient. »

Stealth Bill Would Allow Cuts to Current Pensions

Oct 22 / Jane Slaughter

If there was a bright side to the government shutdown, it’s that Congress has delayed taking up a little-publicized bill that would leave some pensioners high and dry. »

Activists Take The Helm of Postal Union

Oct 18 / David Yao

A change in American Postal Workers Union leadership reflects dissatisfaction with the 2010 national agreement and the union’s inadequate response to assaults on postal jobs and plant closings. »

Bay Area Transit Workers Beat Back the Worst, End Strike

Oct 23 / Samantha Winslow

Transit workers in the Bay Area returned to work yesterday with a pact that fought off big concessions on wage and benefits and held on to the right to have a say in work and safety rules. »

Pension Theft Crime Wave

Oct 21 / Mark Brenner

Politicians across the country are seizing on Detroit’s hard times as an excuse to trim public pensions closer to home. For them—and for bankers angling for a piece of the action—this could be the breakthrough they’ve been waiting for. »

Viewpoint: AFL-CIO Convention Repositions Unions to Speak for All Workers

Oct 17 / Jeff Crosby and Bill Fletcher, Jr.

The September convention took an important turn—a correction to the traditional narrow focus on dues-paying members and electoral work. »

TroubleMakers Blog

A Solution to the Problems of the Faculty Majority

Nov 1 / Jack Longmate

Contingent faculty, now the majority, are almost always paid on a discounted secondary pay scale. But a college in British Columbia shows another way is possible. »

The 1963 March on Washington: Reclaiming Labor History

Oct 29 / Tim Schermerhorn

The two big commemorations of the 1963 March on Washington this August just asked us to honor a well-attended march where great speeches were given. The march represented much more, which has been written out of history. »

Viewpoint: AFL-CIO Follows Path of Least Resistance

Oct 22 / Peter Olney

Though the AFL-CIO Convention’s focus on new alliances was healthy, the Convention was unwilling to grapple with fundamentals that are crucial to its long-term viability. »