2013 Lac-Mégantic, Quebec Disaster

100 Car Train With a Crew of One?

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Rail Workers Revolt Over Solo Crews

by Alexandra Bradbury
Reposted from Labor Notes

Railroaders are racing to put the brakes on a secret deal between their union officers and Warren Buffett’s railroad. It would allow huge freight trains to rumble through towns across the western U.S. with just an engineer onboard, no conductor. “There’s a real rank-and-file rebellion going on right now,” says Jen Wallis, a Seattle switchman-conductor for Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway. “People who’ve never been involved in the union, never went to a union meeting, they are showing up Continue reading →

HK Dockers

Hong Kong Dockers Strike – US Speaking Tour

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Hong Kong Dockers  –

Speaking in San Francisco April 8th

Tuesday April 8th 7-9pm
Unite-Here Local 2
209 Golden Gate Ave –  San Francisco, CA 94102

In the spring of 2013, a 40 day strike by 500 dockworkers at the Hong Kong Port aroused massive support in Hong Kong society and throughout the world. The target was one of the world’s richest and most powerful men – oligarch Li Kai-shing. The Hong Kong dockworkers, suffering years of frozen wages and inhumane conditions, divided by a subcontracting system meant to deflect Continue reading →

Clothespins on eyes to stay awake

China Blue – Amazing Documentary of Chinese Blue Jeans Factory

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Friday March 14-San Francisco

See China Blue – Amazing Documentary of a Chinese Blue Jeans Factory

and

Support the April US Speaking Tour of the

Hong Kong Dockers

Micha Peled’s  China Blue (2005) is a heartbreaking, truly unforgettable cinéma-vérité stay with two teenage girls employed in a Chinese blue-jean factory  where seventeen-hour days are normal, toiling Continue reading →

Stop TPP

Jan 31st Protests to Block ‘NAFTA on Steroids’

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by Benjamin Gerritz – Reposted from Labor Notes

San Francisco March Against TPP
Friday – Jan 31 90 7th st. San Francisco

Workers across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will unite in an Inter-Continental Day of Action Friday to stop a massive new trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership—commonly referred to as “NAFTA on steroids.” In the U.S., the immediate fight is to block a bill that would grant the president “fast track” authority to sign off on the TPP. Defeating fast track would likely stop the TPP. Fast track is designed to swiftly pass trade deals, circumventing the standard Congressional Continue reading →

Boeing

Opinion: Boeing Deal

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Boeing Deal

A Defeat for Us All

by Andy Piascik
Re-blogged fro Counterpunch

In a move that strikes yet another blow to democracy and the living
standards of working Americans, Boeing forced major givebacks on its
30,000 union employees in the state of Washington while simultaneously
pulling off what may be the biggest welfare rip-off in the nation’s
history. Confronted with company threats to move production of a huge
new project out of state, workers reluctantly voted by an extremely
narrow margin to give up defined pensions in exchange for risky 401(k)
retirement plans. Thus Boeing, which earned $3.9 billion in profits Continue reading →

Cointainer Ship and Crane

What’s At Stake in Longshore Battle?

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by Joe Burns, author of Reviving the Strike

Re-posted from Reviving the Strike blog.

The disputes that led to one of the nation’s most militant and progressive unions, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) abandoning the AFL-CIO are not, as some may argue mere jurisdictional squabbles, but rather  touches on central issues facing trade unionism today.   The question at stake is whether one of labor’s most militant and effective unions will be able to defend its traditional jurisdiction and in doing so maintain Continue reading →

Fast Food Pickets

Saturday Strike by Oakland Airport Fast Food Workers

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Low-Wage Workers Are Fighting

Saturday (December 21)
Picket Line 4 Am – 6 Pm
Mobilizations At 7 Am, 12 Noon, 5 Pm
Oakland Airport Terminal 2

200 Oakland Airport fast food and retail workers will walk off the job THIS SATURDAY, December 21st. Workers are making the tough decision to strike during the holidays to protest Unfair Labor Practices by their employer, Host International – including regressive bargaining proposals that Continue reading →