Tag: Worker Struggle
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Emancipation of the Working Class: The Legacy of the IWW
Founded over 110 years ago on June 27, 1905, the Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, created an iconic legacy and rich history of militant unionism in the U.S. The union was founded by radical unionists and currents within the labor movement with the purpose of building an alternative to the conservative trade unionism…
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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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On Strike at Stop & Shop: Interview from the Picket Line
Starting Thursday, April 11th, 31,000 Stop & Shop grocery store workers at over 240 stores throughout New England went on strike to fight for a fair contract— what will be the largest strike in the U.S. since a 2016 walkout by Verizon workers. Stop & Shop workers are members of United Food and Commercial Workers…
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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…
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Picket Line Lessons: The UTLA Teacher Strike
Members of Black Rose/Rosa Negra – Los Angeles who were involved in community mobilization in support of the strike and as members of UTLA provide their summary and analysis. The article highlights the community-worker nature of the strikes demands, the conditions of the settlement, the pitfalls of union leadership and labor law, as well as…
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A Year In Popular Power #4 – Burgerville Workers Union
Stephan is an organizer and fast food worker with Burgerville Workers Union (BVWU) in Portland, OR. The union has led an innovative campaign along the model of “solidarity unionism” to become the first recognized fast food workers union in the country using store based committee building, multiple strikes shutting down stores and other actions. BVWU…
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A Year In Popular Power #3 – “Don’t be a scab!” Graduate Student Strikes
Tariq is a graduate student, teaching assistant and union member of Graduate Employees Organization or GEO Local 6300, which represents 2,700 graduate and teaching assistants at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). In February 2018, the union led a successful two-week strike pushing back against the administration’s threat to take away tuition waivers and…
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A Year In Popular Power #1 – Teacher Strikes and #RedForEd
Episode #1 – Teacher Strikes and #RedForEd Enrique is a high school teacher in North Carolina and participated in a series of actions that built up to a state-wide strike that shut down most of public education in the state. He begins with broader political analysis of the current political moment and goes into the…
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Brazil: Support the Struggle of the Municipal Workers of Cachoeirinha
In solidarity with the workers and our comrades in Brazil with Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira (CAB) we republish this statement highlighting an example of class struggle unionism from below. We also encourage supporters to follow the Facebook page of the Municipal Workers’ Union of Cachoeirinha for updates as well as additional photos and videos of the struggle. …
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Solidarity with the striking workers of Sisters’ Camelot
Wild Rose Collective of eastern Iowa joins others in declaring our solidarity with the striking canvass workers of Sisters’ Camelot in Minneapolis. As many of us have been workers in non-profit organizations, we know well that wage labor under some other name than profit enterprise is wage labor nonetheless. Further, the socially positive mission and…