American Exceptionalism

In more than 160 countries worldwide, workers enjoy a legal entitlement to paid sick leave. The US is not among them. Instead, like such bastions of individual liberty and economic efficiency as Mongolia, Angola, and Mozambique, we leave our workers free to choose between their health and their job.

The Union Makes Us Strong, and Fox’s Corporate Backers Can’t Stand That

My friend and mentor Big Stu provides a succinct answer to the question, “Are unions still relevant?“ The story itself is classic Fox: feigned objectivity while implicitly slanting the story in favor of the corporate narrative. Yes, “the numbers don’t lie”. But the numbers have a history, one that Fox and other corporate outlets persistently [...]

Workers of All Countries, Unite!

German & U.S. unions join forces for T-Mobile representation

This is a great example of trans-national labor solidarity : U.S. and German labor leaders announced a transatlantic alliance on Wednesday aimed at persuading Germany’s giant Deutsche Telekom AG to allow collective bargaining at its subsidiary, T-Mobile USA. Under the agreement, which U.S. labor officials called unprecedented, German trade union Ver.di will represent T-Mobile USA [...]

Union Busting 101

A great resource exposing the nasty and often illegal tactics of the real “labor thugs”: corporations and their hired lackeys who block workers from exercising their legal and human right to organize for their mutual aid and protection.

Butchers and barbers and rats from the harbors

In a recent post at Concurring Opinions, Tulane law professor Elizabeth Nowicki addresses the issue of whether racist or sexist slurs made by law students should weigh in their character and fitness evaluation for bar admission. In the subsequent comments, the discussion turns to the broader issue of foul language among lawyers. One commenter suggests [...]

May Day greetings!

It’s good to be the King; it sucks to be his peasant

The real issue in the debate over EFCA

In an interview with the Washington Post a week before his inauguration, Barack Obama addressed the Employee Free Choice Act and the idea of card-check recognition for labor unions (emphasis added): I think the basic principal of making it easier and fairer for workers who want to join a union, join a union is important. [...]

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”

My trip to eastern North Carolina this weekend wasn’t all fun and games and pirates. I came out here to meet with a group of truckers who are organizing a union after growing fed up with having their livlihoods left to the whim of the bosses. This is a remarkable group in many ways. In [...]