Tag: labor
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Build Our Power – Spread the Strike: A UCSC Strike Leaflet
We have conjured a mass movement, which presents us now with this choice: allow it to be smothered by fear and self-doubt already trickling in through the expected channels, or, to animate it by reproducing our activity in every corner of the state. For it to live, we must spread the strike.
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Strike While the Iron is Hot: Interview on the Growing Wildcat Strike at UC Santa Cruz
By It’s Going Down Since the wildcat strike at the University of California in Santa Cruz kicked off last Monday, thousands of students have blocked streets and shut down the campus, while riot police from across the State have been mobilized and made over a dozen arrests. Predictably, police violence has broken out on the…
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Santa Cruz Grad Students Prepare to Launch Full Strike Next Week
Following up on our previous coverage of the wildcat strike and work stoppage launched by UC Santa Cruz grad student workers, participant Cameron A. writes on the workers next move: launching a full strike this coming Monday, February 10. See below for how you can follow and support. By Cameron A. Graduate Student workers at…
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Wildcat Strike Launched by UC Santa Cruz Grad Student Workers
Could the #Red4Ed strike wave spill over to higher education and graduate student organizing? Participant Cameron .A. writes on the announced strike hours after the vote was taken. By Cameron A. Graduate student workers at the Santa Cruz campus of the leviathan University of California have voted to launch a wildcat grading strike in the…
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“This is Overdue”: Interview with a Striking GM Worker
As General Motors reaped $8.1 billion in profit and paid its CEO $22 million, nearly 50,000 GM workers have been on strike since Monday. While workers gave major concessions during the previous recession the company is digging in it’s heels over wages and has even cut off healthcare plans for workers. Marianne Garneau of Organizing…
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When and Why Did Unions Start Signing Contracts?
This piece from the Organizing Work blog explores an important but often little discussed question of the historical origins of labor contracts in the U.S. The current dominant model of formal collective bargaining agreements which include provisions against striking and job actions, also known as “workplace contractualism,” has not always been the dominant model. The…
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The State of Labor: Beyond Unions, But Not Without Them
As working class and left movements the world over celebrate May 1st, International Workers Day, we offer our reflection on the current state of the U.S. labor movement – both our optimism around recent strikes and stressing the need to transform the labor movement towards its revolutionary potential. This document was produced by the Labor…
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“If You Want a General Strike, Organize Your Co-Workers” Interview with Joe Burns
The following interview with Joe Burns, author of the important labor text Reviving The Strike, takes up the evergreen questions of the role of strikes and building a base within our workplaces. With the recent wave of teacher strikes these questions are back on the radar of the U.S. left but this interview from 2012…
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Update: West Virginia Walkouts Beats Back Neoliberal Education Bill
A #55Strong Update on the Omnibus Bill Walkouts From a West Virginia Teacher By Michael Mochaidean On Monday, February 17th, Presidents of the three major education unions in West Virginia announced a statewide walkout by union members in opposition to the Senate’s Omnibus Education bill – SB451. As mentioned previously, SB451’s key sponsor, Patricia Rucker,…
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New Strike Launched as West Virginia Teachers Continue Struggle
Editorial note: This article was written by a rank-and file West Virginia teacher the week prior to teachers striking on February 19, 2019. The headline has been adjusted to reflect the current strike. By Michael Mochaidean One year ago, teachers and school service personnel in West Virginia rocked the nation with their historic nine-day statewide…