May 10, 2013: 400,000 German metalworkers join strikes Nearly 400,000 workers in Germany's metalworking and electrical sectors have joined strikes in the past week to push for higher wages, their union IG Metall said Wednesday.
April 29, 2013: Striking Hong Kong workers block road, refuse to leave billionaire's skyscraper Hong Kong dockworkers briefly blocked a road and refused on Thursday to stop camping out at a tower owned by the city's richest man, as their bitter strike looked set to drag into a second month. About 300 striking workers protested by walking slowly on the road in front of the Asian financial hub's container ports. The protest lasted several hours and left trucks backed up for several kilometres.
April 25, 2013: Low-Wage Workers Walk out in Chicago NBC Chicago is reporting that 'hundreds of fast-food and retail workers walked off their jobs Wednesday morning to call for higher wages' and the ability to unionize without intimidation. For many workers, like Esly Hernandez, it's also about dignity: 'They don't even appreciate the work that I do. They don't even say thank you. They treat you like you're a robot.'
April 22, 2013: Thousands of Danish teachers protest mass school closure At least 30,000 Danish teachers have taken to the streets to protest a closure of schools that has stopped over 800,000 pupils attending classes. They were shut after a dispute over working hours last week.
April 13, 2013, Bullet No. #804: Why I'm Voting No: OSSTF and Ontario Teachers, Jason Kunin Teachers in Ontario may not know it, but their actions in this coming week will have huge ramifications for unionized workers across Ontario and across the country. We stand poised either to hold the line against the austerity agenda and mounting attacks on workers, or pave the way for escalating attacks on the labour movement.
April 5, 2013: Britain's biggest unions put weight behind plan for general strike Plans for the first general strike in modern British history have been backed by the country's two biggest unions. The proposed 24-hour walkout would be the first time since 1926 that private and public-sector workers have co-ordinated a nationwide mass action. The tactic, which would represent a significant escalation to the unions' protests against the Coalition's austerity measures, will be discussed at the meeting of the Trades Union Congress's general council this month.
April 4, 2013, Bullet No. #797: European Trade Unions and the Struggle for Public Services, Christoph Hermann The public sector is a key battleground for a progressive trade union strategy and for an alternative to neoliberalism in Europe. On the one hand the existence of a public sector is a continuing example that a not for profit driven production of goods and services is not only possible in the 21st century -- it is also preferable.
March 27, 2013: Chicago Teachers: We Will 'Put Our Bodies on the Line' The mass closings of more than 50 schools in Chicago is being met with outrage by the city's teachers, parents and students and an analysis shows that the 'uncompromising' move by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel will cost the city as much--if not more--than the plan purports to save.
March 13, 2013: Which way forward for Ontario teachers? It has been over a month since the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) held their one-day protest of the provincial Liberal Party leadership convention, mobilizing some 15,000 people on the streets of Toronto and then sending them all home again around 4:00 PM. The protest was part of the trade union response to Bill 115, which enabled the provincial government to circumvent collective bargaining and mandate the terms of new 'collective agreements'.
March 11, 2013, Bullet No. #780: Porter Airlines: The Little Strike that Could, Sean Smith On Saturday, 26 January 2013 tens of thousands of teachers and supporters rallied outside the Liberal leadership convention at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto in opposition to their Bill 115 which stripped Ontario teachers' collective bargaining rights. Every corporate media outlet covered this story. By all accounts the rally was a huge, peaceful success. In spite of all the fury of the speeches, word is now coming out that the Teacher Unions' leadership quietly gave tens of thousands of dollars of Union funds to several of the same candidates the workers outside were protesting.
February 15, 2013: Greek Factory Under Workers Control The workers of Vio.Me., a building materials factory in Thessaloniki, Greece, which was abandoned by its bankrupt owners, have been unpaid since May of 2011. This week, after a series of general assemblies the workers convened, they've started occupying the factory and operating it under direct democratic workers' control. The culmination of a year-long struggle that has attracted attention and solidarity in Greece and worldwide, the occupiers are trying to kick-start production and prove themselves a viable new model.
January 27, 2013: PORTER - You're Out of Order Asking affiliates and trade unionists to not fly Porter Airlines until they resume bargaining in good faith. The employees (members of COPE-ON) who fuel Porter aircraft at the Toronto Island airport went on Strike January 10th, 2013.
January 26, 2013: California unions grow, bucking U.S. trend Latino workers, demanding respect in a precarious job environment, helped boost the state's unionized workforce by 100,000 in 2012.
January 19, 2013: Why I don't feel safe or right flying Porter and you shouldn't either Several months ago I was approached by a group of young workers at Porter Fixed Based Operations (FBO) looking for a union to represent them as they had serious concerns around health and safety. The stories they recounted of flagrant health and safety violations and unsafe working conditions were appalling.
January 17, 2013: How the Walmart labor struggle is going global 'Workers of the world unite!' says the traditional slogan of the Industrial Workers of the World. The Wobblies, since their founding in 1905, have envisioned a global union capable of waging a worldwide general strike. By its height in the 1920s, the union was capable of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of workers. But while the Wobblies never fully realized international unity among workers, there is new promise for its vision today -- thanks not to a union, but to a union-busting corporation: Walmart.
December 28, 2012: In a Year of Politicians and Bad News, Surprising Stories of Resistance The giddy heights of 2011--the Wisconsin uprising and Occupy Wall Street--yielded this year to a slog of an election season where many crucial questions were not even up for debate, from labor law reform to the minimum wage to climate change.
December 22, 2012: Hundreds of Argentina Walmart Employees Went on Strike in Solidarity With US Co-Workers About 1,000 Walmart workers in Argentina staged brief strikes last Friday, a union official told The Nation this week. Rubén Cortina, the president of the Americas division of the global union federation UNI, said workers struck in close to ten regions of Argentina, and 'almost half of the stores had some type of strike during the day.' He said those strikes generally lasted between one and three hours, as workers walked off the job to hold demonstrations inside or outside their store during part of their scheduled shift, then returned to work.
December 22, 2012: Week of Action on Commmunity Start Up Takes the Fight to a New Level! Between December 7 - 14, 2012, actions were taken to defend the Community Start Up and Maintenance Benefit in local communities from Windsor to Ottawa to Sault Ste Marie. People demonstrated at or occupied the offices of Liberal MPPS, marched through the streets of their communities, held clinics to enable people to obtain the start up benefit and more For the most part, the Liberal MPPs hid from sight as this challenge to their brutal cutback unfolded in community after community.
December 20, 2012: Showing solidarity with teachers in my neighbourh Elementary teachers at Toronto's Pauline Junior Public School were in good spirits today--part of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario's 'Super Tuesday' action that saw walkouts across some of the province's largest school boards, including Toronto, Durham, Peel, Waterloo, Greater Essex, Grand Erie, Lambton Kent and Near North. In total, the actions have mobilized some 35,000 teachers.
December 19, 2012: The return of class struggle unionism Two faces of the U.S. labor movement were on display in 2012. On the one hand, teachers in Chicago showed unionists everywhere that the strike weapon could succeed in turning back employer attacks, and workers at Wal-Mart took a stand at the world's largest private employer. On the other, organized labor endured historic defeats with the passage of anti-union 'right-to-work' legislation in Indiana and Michigan--with labor failing to mobilize more than token opposition, even in Michigan, its one-time greatest stronghold.
December 14, 2012: Students across Ontario walk out against Bill 115, Mick Sweetman On Monday thousands of students across Ontario protested the Liberals' Bill 115, also known as the "Putting Students First Act," after the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) ordered teachers to no longer provide after-school extra-curricular activities. The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) also began rotating one-day walkouts on Monday, but it was clear that students were walking out en-masse over the job action by the OSSTF.
December 12, 2012: Showdown in Michigan The struggle to defend union power in the birthplace of the modern labor movement has all eyes focused on the capital of Michigan, reports Eric Ruder.
December 10, 2012: Support our Teachers: Repeal Bill 115 On Monday, December 10th, 2012 at 10:00am, we are walking out from our school. We are not walking out on our teachers, we are walking out to support out teachers. We are walking out to protest Bill 115. Bill 115, otherwise known as the "Putting Students First Act" strips all educational workers of their charter right to freely negotiate a collective agreement with their employer.
December 10, 2012, Bullet No. #742: Kill Bill 115: Where is the Ontario Labour Movement Going?, Doug Nesbitt This week, Ontario's teachers, education workers and students will be turning up the heat on the Liberal minority government and Bill 115, which imposes a concessionary bargaining agenda on teachers unions and the school boards, and allows the cabinet to change tentative agreements and stop strikes without even legislative oversight.
December 7, 2012: Bills Placing Limits on Unions Advance in Michigan Legislature As labor supporters crowded into the Capitol chanting their dismay, this state's Republican leaders announced on Thursday their intent to swiftly pass limits on unions in Michigan, a state with deep ties to organized labor.
November 27, 2012: Teachers Urge Colleagues to Vote 'No' to Tentative Agreements As members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) in the York Region and Upper Grand school boards prepare to vote on tentative agreements this week, many of their colleagues in other boards are urging them to vote 'no.'
November 15, 2012: #14N: millions join largest European strike ever Street battles break out and large parts of Europe are paralyzed as millions of workers walk off their jobs in the biggest coordinated EU strike ever.
November 10, 2012: Protesters, reporter arrested at MPP's office Eleven of the 12 people arrested at Sudbury MPP and Minister of Northern Development and Mines Rick Bartolucci's office Nov. 9 have been charged with fail to leave premise when directed under the Trespass to Property Act by Greater Sudbury Police.
October 26, 2012: Why Direct Action Is Working for Walmart's Workers The nation's largest retailer -- Walmart -- is in the throes of a bold movement for worker justice. The company has faced a number of separate strikes in less than a month and, rather than its typical retaliatory response of firing workers, Walmart is backing down and conceding to some demands.
October 23, 2012: On the march against the cuts James Illingworth reports on mass marches that drew tens of thousands of people across the UK in a show of strength against the government's austerity agenda.
October 21, 2012: Six million workers could strike across UK TUC steps up anti-austerity campaign by looking into practicalities of staging first mass-walkout since 1926.
October 10, 2012: Walmart strikes spread to more states For the second time in five days - and also the second time in Walmart's five decades - workers at multiple U.S. Walmart stores are on strike.
October 7, 2012: Strike Supporters Shut Down Illinois Walmart Warehouse Six hundred supporters of striking Walmart warehouse workers in Elwood, Illinois, ratcheted up the pressure Monday with a huge march and civil disobedience that shut down the most important node in the company's American distribution network. Workers estimate that shutting down the facility cost the company several million dollars.
October 3, 2012: Students lengthen walkout to two days About 35 students at Winona Drive Senior Public School refused to attend class for two days -- longer than most student rallies -- to oppose the fact their teachers have stopped coaching sports to protest the province's unpopular wage freeze law that curbs teachers' bargaining rights.
October 2, 2012: The Chicago Teacher's Strike and the Struggle for a New Unionism One of the most striking features of the Chicago teacher's strike was the level of community support for the teachers. Contrary to public expectations, the strike turned into a social mobilization around education rather than a battle for the special interests of teachers.
September 30, 2012: There's something happening here Teachers go on strike in Chicago and Lake Forest. Chicago symphony musicians walk out. Machinists walk picket lines in Joliet, and Wal-Mart warehouse workers stop working in Elwood. Gov. Pat Quinn gets chased from the state fair by angry government workers, and talk of a state workers strike is rumbling.
September 26, 2012: Toronto Food Service Workers Celebrate Contract Wins UNITE HERE Local 75 members working at five Aramark food service locations have voted overwhelmingly to ratify new union contracts. UNITE HERE members working at the University of Toronto, York University, Upper Canada College, and Toronto French School are celebrating significant wage and pension increases and improvements in benefits, including expanded health benefits for part-time workers.
September 22, 2012, Bullet No. #698: Another NHL Lockout: An Alternative View, Julian Ammirante and Tyler Shipley Sport has always been a matter of deep social significance. In contemporary society there are few individuals who do not, directly or indirectly, encounter elements of sport in their daily social lives. Some may be actively involved as participants in some kind of sporting activity.
September 21, 2012, Bullet No. #697: 7 Days that Shook Chicago: The 2012 Chicago Teachers Strike, Peter Brogan On Tuesday, September 18, 2012 the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly to suspend their first strike in 25 years, begun on the previous Monday, September 10 at 12:01 am. Many commentators from both left alternative publications and in the corporate press have observed that in an era of austerity when seemingly no unions in the United States - and I would add Canada - are fighting back against layoffs, budget cuts, wage freezes and the like, the CTU has stood up to a city government that was seeking massive concessions.
September 16, 2012: Funeral for Collective Bargaining Rights Devastated by a far-reaching anti-worker Bill 115: Putting Students First Act (it was passed Sept. 11), rank and file education workers convened a funeral for collective bargaining rights on the lawn of Queen's Park. The solemn ceremony comes after education workers spent weeks trying to stop the legislation by lobbying Members of Provincial Parliament, rallying at Queen's Park, and addressing the public through the media.
September 15, 2012: Greek unions call general strike for 26 september Greece's largest labour unions has called a general strike for 26 September, responding to a major new government austerity package that is expected to worsen hardship in the recession-hit country.
September 15, 2012: Large anti-austerity protests in Spain, Portugal ens of thousands of people from all over the country converged on Spain's capital to hold a large anti-austerity demonstration on Saturday. By mid-morning several major roads had been blocked as buses unloaded protesters at 10 rendezvous points from which marches began.
September 14, 2012: Greek Unions Call for General Strike September 26 Greece's largest labor unions called for a general strike on Thursday, responding to ongoing negotiations between the Greek government, its European partners and the International Monetary Fund, over drastic austerity measures. Negotiations reached a breaking point today as Greece's coalition government clashed internally over the depth of the cuts.
September 14, 2012: Rally to Repeal Bill 115 On Tuesday, the Ontario Liberals and Tories teamed up to pass a new law that strips school board workers of the right to strike and imposes contract terms. CUPE Ontario and unions representing teachers are launching legal challenges against this attack on the Charter rights of workers.
September 8, 2012: Windy City Fights Back: Live blogging the Chicago Teachers Strike On Monday in Chicago, a new generation of working class activists will hit the picket lines in the city's first teacher strike in a quarter century. In contrast to the 1980s (when the CTU struck three times) this will be the first strike that most current teachers have ever participated in. It will be a strike with broad support from the city's working class neighborhoods and from the ranks of its labor organizations.
September 7, 2012: Map of picket locations in Vancouver The BCGEU will be conducting strike action for direct B.C. government employees on Wednesday, September 5, 2012 during operating hours at many B.C. government worksites in the province.
September 2, 2012, Bullet No. #690: Chicago Teachers Draw a Line, Lee Sustar Can the scrappy band of outsiders that now heads the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) lead the kind of high-stakes fight that most labour unions have ducked? That question looms large - not just for the city's teachers, students and their parents, but for the entire labour movement. Because while both private- and public-sector unions are taking a pounding across the U.S. with layoffs, pay cuts and pension rollbacks, the CTU is gearing up for a showdown.
July 20, 2012: Millions Take Streets As Spain Unites Against Austerity On Thursday, millions of Spaniards took to the streets in over 80 cities around the country in the largest protest since the past 15th of October, just hours after the Rajoy government ratified the largest budget cuts in the history of Spanish democracy.
July 7, 2012: Houston janitors battle corporate power Some 3,000 janitors in Houston are using rolling strikes in their fight to win a living wage from the employers.
July 4, 2012: Locked out workers at Rio Tinto in Quebec will vote on settlement, Roger Annis 750 Steelworkers union members will vote later this week on a new collective agreement to settle a six-month lockout at the aluminum smelting operations of Rio Tinto Alcan in Alma (Saguenay/Lac Saint Jean), Quebec. The key issue in the strike has been job security.
June 15, 2012: SF workers stop concessions AFTER MONTHS of campaigning, organizing and demonstrating, thousands of San Francisco city and county workers won big gains in their contract fight in May. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 represents 12,000 workers, including librarians, custodians, social workers, public health workers and hundreds of other classifications in dozens of city departments.
April 23, 2012: Ontario unions try to provide cover for NDP's support for austerity budget About ten thousand workers attended a rally on the grounds of Ontario's legislature in Toronto on Saturday to protest against the vicious austerity budget introduced by the province's minority Liberal government. The budget, which will be voted on this Tuesday, calls for $16 billion in cuts to public expenditures over the next three years.
April 4, 2012: Massive Demonstration in Support of Rio Tinto's Locked-Out Workers Thousands of people marched through the streets of Alma in Lac Saint-Jean today to demand an end to the lock out and to fight for the preservation of jobs at the Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) smelter.
April 1, 2012: Red Squares Sweep Montreal Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest tuition hikes in Quebec.
March 31, 2012: Spain: millions take to the streets in general strike Chris Bambery reports on the general strike which rocked Spain as millions challenged austerity policies being implemented by Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy.
March 1, 2012, Bullet No. #603: Factory Occupation Saves Jobs, Orlando Sepulveda A 12-hour occupation by workers at a Chicago factory on February 23 won an agreement that will save workers' jobs for at least three months so they can seek other ways to keep their plant open and producing. The factory on the northwest side of the city is the former Republic Windows and Doors plant, where union members occupied for a week in December 2008.
February 13, 2012: Hundreds of thousands rally in Portugal against austerity Hundreds of thousands protested in Portugal Saturday against austerity measures ahead of next week's talks with international creditors, with unions vowing to keep up the pressure.
February 10, 2012: Pension protest Seniors, labour activists occupy 22 Ontario Tory MP offices.
February 6, 2012: CAW threatening to occupy Electro-Motive plant The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union is prepared to occupy the Electro-Motive plant in London if owner Caterpillar Inc. doesn't bargain a severance package, Local 27 president Tim Carrie says.
January 27, 2012: Union pickets Caterpillar dealerships across Canada to protest wage cuts The Canadian Auto Workers union took its campaign against heavy equipment giant Caterpillar to a national level Thursday to protest steep wage cuts and other concessions being demanded of its members at a locomotive factory in southwestern Ontario.
January 27, 2012: What will it take to win the lockout at Electro-Motive Diesel?, Mick Sweetman It was a loud and boisterous scene outside the massive Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) factory on Jan. 21 as more than a thousand trade unionists joined the picket line in solidarity with 465 workers who have been locked out by the company for the past three weeks. With a punk rock band blasting music from a makeshift stage by the front gate, hundreds of workers disrupted traffic by crossing back and forth across the road regularly.
January 25, 2012: CAW Members Block Caterpillar Train in Ingersoll The labour dispute at London's Electro-Motive has moved down the 401. Members of CAW Local 88 from CAMI are blockading a Caterpillar locomotive in Ingersoll.
January 25, 2012: Caterpillar talking points: profits, tax breaks and relocation threats On January 1st, 2012 Caterpillar, Inc locked out 465 workers at Electro-Motive, its London, Ontario locomotive plant, after offering a contract that would cut workers' wages & benefits by more than half (to approximiately $16.50/hr).
January 23, 2012: A Start, but Far from Enough On the Solidarity Rally with Locked-Out Workers in London, Ontario.
January 22, 2012: Thousands turn out for London rally to support locked-out Caterpillar employees crowd of more than 10,000 descended upon this city's Victoria Park to support local workers who have been locked out of their jobs since the new year. They came from all over, from Timmins, Sudbury, and Pennsylvania in scores of buses.
January 21, 2012: Fight the Electro-Motive Lockout: Move the Struggle Forward On a bitter cold London, Ontario day on December 11, 1995, tens of thousands of trade unionists and community activists converged in the first of the celebrated Ontario Days of Action. Workers struck employers in a one-day general strike against the attacks on working people by the Mike Harris Conservatives.
January 16, 2012: What's Wrong With Caterpillar?, Laurel MacDowell Local 27 members of the Canadian Auto Workers union were locked out on New Year's Day by Caterpillar Inc.'s Electro-Motive Diesel in a callous display of corporate might, by a company that may be intending to leave Canada. The 465 CAW members in London, Ontario, voted by 97 per cent on December 30 for strike action and, 24 hours later, just as they were returning to jobs on New Year's Eve following a holiday shutdown, they were locked out.
January 8, 2012: Bracing for trouble on the picket line The boss of the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment took to the stage at a Washington event last spring and described a business philosophy that could have been ripped from the pages of a bulldozer's operating manual.
January 8, 2012: OFL to mobilize massive rally in London against Caterpillar Inc. The Ontario Federation of Labour today issued a call to workers across Ontario to mobilize for a massive rally in London, Ontario on Saturday, January 21 to oppose Electro-Motive Canada and its attack on decent paying Canadian jobs.
January 2, 2012: Strike or lockout scenario possible for city workers It could be a quiet winter at Toronto City Hall. On Jan. 1, the city's contracts with its two biggest unions - CUPE Local 416, representing outside workers, and CUPE Local 79, representing inside workers - are no more.
December 27, 2011, Bullet No. #582: Mayor Ford versus CUPE Locals 79 and 416: Some Thoughts on Strategy, Carlo Fanelli As the Canadian government and its provincial equivalents take part in the global push for austerity, its after effects have significantly strained the fiscal and political dimensions of municipal governance.
December 16, 2011: Novotel Mic Check Supporters of the Novotel Ottawa workers OCCUPIED the main restaurant and management had no choice but to shut down the restaurant and give the coffee for free. Supporters then gathered in the front of the hotel and marched and chanted "Solidarity Forever."
December 11, 2011: CUPE National: Move Your War Room To Toronto Now In 1981, Ronald Reagan took on and smashed PATCO, the Air Traffic Controllers. The American labour movement expressed outrage but did nothing. This sealed the fate of American workers for over three decades. Toronto's mayor, Rob Ford, has declared war on city-workers. He intends to smash unions. This is our PATCO moment.
December 1, 2011: Millions of British Public Sector Workers Take to the Streets in Historic General Strike In Britain, up to two million workers have marched in the streets during the largest mass protest in generations. Teachers, hospital staff, garbage collectors, firefighters and border guards are participating in a 24-hour strike organized by a coalition of 30 trade unions.
November 30, 2011: Strikes hit services as millions heed unions' call to fight pension cuts The UK is experiencing some of its worst disruption to services in decades as more than 2 million public sector workers stage a nationwide strike, closing schools and bringing councils and hospitals to a virtual standstill.
November 30, 2011: Stop the cuts -- Hit the streets on Nov 30 The TUC, unions, local trades councils and community campaigners will be taking the call for Pensions Justice to towns and cities across the country with rallies and public meetings in many towns, and activists will be out on the High Street, distributing leaflets and talking to members of the public.
November 27, 2011: This Is No Time For OPSEU To Go It Alone The writing is on the wall. Public sector workers are fair game provincially, federally and municipally. The McGuinty government, backed by Tim Hudak's PCs, the corporate media and business lobbies, has been ratcheting up its efforts for massive cuts to the public sector workforce and public services.
November 27, 2011: Korean Sit-In atop Crane Defeats Job Cuts After 309 days sitting in on top of a 115-foot shipyard crane, a South Korean welder has won an agreement that her multinational employer will rehire 94 laid-off workers.
October 31, 2011: Battle rages over Ohio's union-limiting law The pagoda-styled Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad station is more than a 116-year-old Columbus landmark. It is a reminder that times change. The railway faded into history six decades ago and the station is now the union hall for the city's firefighters.
October 27, 2011: Strike Wave Sweeps Brazil, Dan La Botz Workers in Brazil -- in heavy industry, services, the public sector, and agriculture -- are involved in a series of strikes and mass protests such as the country hasn't seen in decades. Driving the new labour upsurge is the strength of the country's economy, the powerful position of unions in the society, and the rising inflation.
October 10, 2011: Thousands block Westminster Bridge to defend the NHS Some 2,500 demonstrators gathered on Westminster Bridge in central London today, Sunday, in protest at the government's planned NHS reforms. The action forced police to shut the bridge to traffic.
October 3, 2011: Longshore workers are fighting for all of us Jack Heyman, a veteran maritime worker and member of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10, looks at the stakes in the battle in Longview.
October 3, 2011: Standing for postal workers Activists report on postal workers' rallies and demonstrations around the USA.
October 2, 2011: 100,000 rally against austerity in Portugal Enormous anti-austerity rallies shake crisis-stricken Portugal, with organizers estimating an attendance of at least 130,000 in Lisbon and 50,000 in Porto.
October 2, 2011: Europe Against Austerity Conference Europe is on the brink of breakdown. A Greek default is almost inevitable. Already standards of living in Greece are plummeting,and protests are mounting in Greece and around the continent.
September 30, 2011: Airline Pilots Join "Occupy Wall Street" Protest For almost two weeks, protesters have been rallying in New York's financial district under the name "Occupy Wall Street." Some demonstrators have said they were against Wall Street greed, others say they are protesting global warming and still others say they are protesting 'the man.' United and Continental Airlines pilots protested an ongoing dispute with management.
September 28, 2011: The new sparks of labor resistance There's a new surge of labor struggles in the U.S.--and what unites them is the activism and solidarity on display, despite a hostile media and aggressive employers.
September 20, 2011: Why postal workers need your support A battle is looming at the U.S. Postal Service. Nicole Colson reports on what's at stake.
September 19, 2011: Falling Real Wages Signal Trouble Ahead The Labour Force Survey for August showed that average hourly wages were up by just 1.4% from a year earlier, the same low level of increase as was registered in July.
September 19, 2011, Bullet No. #545: The Left Bloc and Resistance Across Europe, Jorge Costa, Feyzi Ismail A major European Conference Against Austerity is slated for London on 1 October, as part of building and coordinating a set of mobilizations across the fall in Europe. A key zone for the anti-austerity struggle is Portugal. The administration of Jose Socrates, of the 'Third Wayist' Partido Socialista, was already moving toward sharp public sector austerity.
September 18, 2011: Under Attack: In Defence of the Public Sector, Public Sector Campaign, GTWA The Great Recession -- the product of government incompetence and corporate greed -- should have lit a fire under workers everywhere. It hasn't. Politicians should be on the defensive. They aren't. We are. Employers should be making concessions. They don't. We do.
September 15, 2011: Hundreds rally for locked out SFU staff CUPE hosted a rally yesterday, attended by hundreds of people to support the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) staff, members of CUPE Local 3338. The staff have been locked out by their employer since July 10.
September 12, 2011: Hyatt workers draw the line Matt Camp and Elizabeth Lalasz look at the issues at stake in a one-week strike of housekeepers at six Hyatt hotels in several cities around the U.S.
September 12, 2011: Showdown for the ILWU Darrin Hoop reports on the West Coast longshore workers' battle to stop a scab port.
September 11, 2011: UN trade body says spending cuts threaten economic recovery Austerity measures in rich countries to reduce budget deficits risk triggering economic downturn, Unctad report says. But poorer economies offer GDP growth.
September 11, 2011: 500 gather to stop 'across the board' city cuts Nigel Barriffe was a rare suburbanite among the downtowners at Dufferin Grove Park on Saturday at a gathering of about 500 people bent on organizing against planned austerity measures at City Hall.
September 7, 2011: Fear, resentment and Ontario's middle-class angst The battleground in this Ontario election campaign is a middle class unnerved by recession. The governing Liberals understand this. Middle-class angst explains Premier Dalton McGuinty's abrupt about-face on tuition fees.
September 7, 2011: Good Jobs Today. Good Jobs Tomorrow Solidarity rally for OPSEU College Support staff - Thursday September 8 at 8am at the George Brown College -- Casa Loma Campus.
September 7, 2011: Italians launch general strike against austerity Tens of thousands of Italians have taken to the streets during a day-long strike against the government's latest austerity measures.
September 4, 2011: On Labour Day, think about unions as an equalizing force On Labour Day 2011, unions in North America are facing historic challenges. Governments and corporations are increasingly disputing the right of unions to exist and to represent working people.
September 3, 2011: This Labor Day We Need Protest Marches Rather Than Parades Labor Day is traditionally a time for picnics and parades. But this year is no picnic for American workers, and a protest march would be more appropriate than a parade.
September 3, 2011: Together at last! Here's one to watch. Down in New Zealand, a country with an unusually cohesive (though struggling) union movement, affiliates of the national union federation have launched an innovative thing called 'Together'.
August 31, 2011: Steelworkers Expose Bank of Montreal's Financing of Union-Busting Company The United Steelworkers (USW) demonstrated today at Bank of Montreal (BMO) headquarters in downtown Toronto to protest the bank's financial support of Infinity Rubber which forced workers on strike 21 months ago.
August 29, 2011: Steelworkers Denounce BMO's Role in 21-Month Strike Members of the United Steelworkers (USW), including workers involved in one of the longest strikes in Toronto history, will demonstrate today outside Bank of Montreal corporate headquarters.
August 20, 2011: Poverty Protest at Loblaws This Afternoon On Saturday afternoon, in a protest organized by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), dozens of people, many directly affected the Province's cut of the Special Diet program, converged on the Loblaws grocery store, at Jarvis and Queen's Quay, to send a message that poverty and hunger are growing and will be challenged.
August 18, 2011: Protestors occupy London MPP's office Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) activist crowded Chris Bentley's office Wednesday, hoping the London West MPP will hear their calls for change when it comes to rights for injured workers.
August 16, 2011: Italian Unions Threaten General Strike Over New Austerity Italy's second austerity package in less than a month met with a chorus of criticism a day after becoming law, with the largest union federation threatening a general strike over the 'injustice' of the measures.
August 15, 2011: Strikers seeing red over Verizon's greed A member of Communications Workers of America Local 1106 reports on the first week of the Verizon strike--with reports from picket lines up and down the East Coast.
August 11, 2011: USW Fighting Back Against Infinity Rubber Infinity Rubber provoked a strike at its Toronto plant in December 2009 when it demanded workers accept a 25% cut in wages and a 50% cut in benefits. Members of USW Local 526L have walked the picket line every day for nearly 20 months.
August 10, 2011: When the poor rise up: Is it terrible or is it great? This is a very basic question of world-view and class stand -- including right now when the whole world is awash in propaganda and hand-wringing denouncing the rebels of London.
July 30, 2011: Time for Public Sector Unions to Fight Back The media attack on public sector unions has reached a timely zenith, perfectly in sync with the politicians' anti-union deathblow.
July 25, 2011: Mass protests continue in Spanish capital Thousands of 'indignant' demonstrators are angered by politicians' faliure to solve high unemployment and economic woes.
July 20, 2011, Bullet No. #528: The Hope Bus Campaign: South Korean Workers Resist Layoffs, Park Hyun-jung The Hope Bus Campaign is establishing itself as an icon of resistance to employment anxieties that are threatening worker and working-class livelihoods. The Hope Bus Campaign was launched with the goal of supporting embattled union members and Kim Jin-suk, a member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. Kim is currently in the 186th day of an aerial protest.
July 17, 2011: Ford Workers Have a Better Idea Speculation is a game for rubes. High rollers don't gamble, they steal, and call it a deal. So let's not speculate, let's talk about what we know. UAW President Bob King longs to be partners with the bosses and the bosses are eager to initiate their new pledge with a hazing ritual called Concession Bargaining.
July 13, 2011: Age of austerity to continue for decades Office for Budget Responsibility report suggests UK will continue to pay the price for an ageing population and declining tax levels.
July 2, 2011: Towards the General Strike The trade-union organizations CGT, CNT, SO and CSC are moving for mobilization for shared demands, debated and adopted by the workers with a view towards a general strike.
June 30, 2011: Public sector unions and the assault on public services, Michael Hurley Business elites are attacking the last remaining stronghold of unionism - public sector workers. Michael Hurley says creative new strategies are needed in response. Hurley is President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, a division of CUPE; interviewed by Lorraine Chisholm of Redeye - Co-op Radio.
June 30, 2011: More than 11,000 schools affected by strikes A total of 11,114 schools affected by industrial action, but only half of civil service union members are striking, says No 10
June 30, 2011: Postal Worker Solidarity Defeats Compulsory Overtime, Rachel Stafford For those of us who get excited about workers sticking up for themselves and fighting the bosses, I have been pretty lucky to have been able to participate in what has turned out to be a really inspiring wave of struggle over the past few months. My national union has been in negotiations for a new collective agreement over the past seven months, but what people are agitated about on the floor isn't up for negotiation.
June 29, 2011: Showdown in Greece The struggle in Greece will reach a new high point on June 28 as workers across the country participate in a 48-hour general strike called jointly by the country's two main union federations, a first in Greece since the fall of the military junta in the 1970s.
June 28, 2011: Call Bloomberg's Bluff New York City's mayor blinked after insisting that teacher layoffs and other cutbacks were inevitable--but union leaders let him off the hook.
June 26, 2011: Attack on Workers The public response to recent labour disputes has been a disturbing sideshow to the return of Parliament.
June 25, 2011: Don't let them pay for the crisis with our pensions Public pensions face a two pronged attack form the financial markets. The attack consists of, as Danny Alexander has so publicly said, making as pay more towards our pension, wait longer for the pension and not have it linked to our final salary but to a gamble on the financial markets.
June 24, 2011: Global unions launch campaign to defend public services In the face of mounting threats to public services around the world, the Council of Global Unions is launching a campaign to defend and promote the value of public services.
June 23, 2011: Global unions launch campaign to defend public services In the face of mounting threats to public services around the world, the Council of Global Unions is launching a campaign to defend and promote the value of public services.
June 20, 2011: Postal Workers Occupy Conservative Offices Postal workers and allies occupy Conservative MP offices in support of strike and against back-to-work legislation.
June 19, 2011: Public-sector workers vow not to bow to bullies Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander sparked fresh anger today after he claimed that ministers would stick to their guns over controversial public-sector pension reforms despite threats of mass strike action.
June 18, 2011: Biggest strike for 100 years Pensions revolt won't be like the miners - because we'll win, says Unison general secretary Dave Prentis.
June 17, 2011: Air Canada gets labour peace for busy summer It looks like Air Canada has bought itself some labour peace for the peak summer travel season. The airline reached a tentative settlement Thursday with its 3,800 striking customer service workers, just hours after Labour Minister Lisa Raitt tabled back-to-work legislation in the House of Commons.
June 16, 2011: Austerity in Greece Meant to Break Workers' Resistance, Leo Panitch Paul Jay interviews Leo Panitch on the latest problems the Greek government is dealing with - default on its debt, banks want to make Greek people pay a heavy price, anti-austerity demonstarions.
June 16, 2011: CUPW may be just the beginning... This is about austerity -- undermining public services through aggressive privatization and job cuts under the pretext of reducing deficits. Canada Post wants to cut 7000 jobs. Harper's been planning to privatize and/or sell off crown corporations including Canada Post since as early as 2009.
June 16, 2011: In Greece, we see democracy in action The public debates of the outraged in Athens are the closest we have come to democratic practice in recent European history
June 16, 2011: Greece: Days of unrest and hope, Panagiotis Sotiris The only way to describe recent developments is Greece is to refer to a peaceful popular insurrection. The mass gatherings at city squares at the centres of all major Greek cities continue to gather momentum. On Sunday 5 June, Athens and most Greek cities experienced some of the biggest mass rallies in recent history.
June 15, 2011: National Day of Action in Support of CUPW, Fredericton District Labour Council Whereas the Harper Government is waging a full-out attack on workers' rights in Canada by implementing back-to-work legislation to end labour disputes; by abolishing defined-benefit pensions; by driving down wages; by cutting back sick-time benefits; and by rolling back women's rights...
June 15, 2011: Memory and Muscle A documentary on the history of the 1965 postal strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.
June 15, 2011: Greece hit by anti-austerity strike Unions bring public services to a standstill as Socialist government prepares further cost-cutting measures
June 15, 2011: Flights continue despite Air Canada strike Workers fumed and passengers fretted but flights continued through Pearson Airport's Terminal One today as a strike by Air Canada workers moved into its second day.
June 15, 2011: The revolt of the indignad@s It has been almost four weeks. Four weeks that have changed the political landscape of the whole Spanish State with the emergence of a movement which no-one expected and which has been credited with two political victories,
June 14, 2011, Bullet No. #516: The Assault on Public Services, Michael Hurley and Sam Gindin We are living one of those historic moments that cry out for rallying the working-class to build new capacities, new solidarities, and concrete hope. The crucial question is not how far the attacks on the public sector will go. The real question is how far we will let them go?
June 14, 2011: Unions Cross Borders to Organize Guestworkers Faced with a surge in guestworkers laboring in the fields, farmworker unions in the U.S. and Canada are crossing borders to organize them and to hold governments to account for programs that exploit workers.
June 13, 2011: Air Canada readies strike backup plan Air Canada says it has a contingency plan in place that would see non-unionized employees fill in for its striking workers if the airline cannot reach a new labour pact with its sales and service agents by their strike deadline at midnight Monday.
June 12, 2011: Mass Rally at Toronto Airport for Air Canada Workers More than 1,000 CAW members and supporters demonstrated outside Toronto's Pearson International Airport on June 9, calling on Air Canada to end its demands to eliminate the current pension plan and back off on a number of other economic concessions.
June 11, 2011: Solidarity With CUPW: Building Public Support This Saturday, the Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly will engage with people about the CUPW strike and distribute solidarity leaflets at several locations in Toronto from 1pm - 3pm.
June 10, 2011: Steel workers keep lift bridge closed second day Hamilton steel workers have kept the Burlington Canal Lift Bridge down for a second day to protest shipments of a valuable steelmaking component out of the city.
June 10, 2011: Hey Walker, we're back Sarah Blaskey and Aongus O Murchadha report on the return of union and student protesters to the streets of Madison to take a stand against Scott Walker's budget.
June 8, 2011: Cue the protesters: Greece goes on sale By rough estimates, Athens has seen 900 protests in the past year as Greece's austerity measures have been rolled out. On Monday, a day after one of the biggest demonstrations, the first step in the plan to privatize government businesses gave the protesters one more reason to get mad.
June 7, 2011: Wisconsin Protesters Look to Escalate More a thousand rallied in Madison yesterday to relight and escalate protests against Governor Scott Walker and the state's continued attacks on Wisconsin workers.
June 6, 2011: Our challenge and cause: Supporting the postal workers Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are on strike -- beginning with rotating strikes in selected cities, but quite possibly escalating into a full-scale shutdown if the corporation remains intransigent.
June 5, 2011: Trade union membership and the working class today As public sector unions prepare for a day of coordinated strike action in defence of pensions on June 30th Alex Snowdon looks the state of the union movement.
June 4, 2011: Greek protests greet new cuts talks Protesters occupied Greece's Finance Ministry in Athens today as ministers announced that negotiations with the EU, European Central Bank and the IMF over austerity measures and public asset sell-offs had been 'positive.'
June 3, 2011: Greek Protestors Take Over Finance Ministry In Athens Protesters took over the Finance Ministry building in Athens Friday morning, hanging a giant banner from the roof calling for a general strike, just as Greece wraps up tough negotiations with international officials on new austerity measures.
June 3, 2011, Bullet No. #513: Battling Austerity: CUPW Hits the Picket Lines The purpose of this strike activity is to encourage Canada Post Corporation to abandon their proposals for significant concessions and instead negotiate solutions to the very real problems that are being experienced by 48,000 postal workers.
June 2, 2011: CUPW Presents Final Offer To CPC And Issues Strike Notice Today, in an effort to break the impasse at negotiations, CUPW presented a final offer to the Canada Post Corporation negotiating committee. The Union also issued its strike notice to the Employer and the Minister of Labour. If we have not reached a negotiated collective agreement we will be in a legal position to strike as of 11:59 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 2nd, 2011.
May 29, 2011: Air Canada: A 'Day of Action' and satisfaction In Air Canada call centres, customer relations and Aeroplan offices across the country, Local 2002 members stood in solidarity, united in their resolve for a fair deal for the Air Canada workers and to let everyone know that our pensions are not for sale.
May 18, 2011: Spain inspires hope of a European Spring The Coalition of Resistance is organising a European conference against Austerity, Cuts and Privatisation, and in defence of the Welfare State on Saturday 1st October in London.
May 18, 2011: Tens of thousands march in Spain to protest against austerity measures Tens of thousands of students, social groups and unemployed Spaniards rallied in more than 50 cities on Sunday to protest against government austerity measures and the role banks and political parties have played in the financial crisis.
May 5, 2011: Private garbage workers may join CUPE Garbage collectors with the private company Turtle Island Recycling are considering joining the Canadian Union of Public Employees -- the same union that represented City of Windsor employees who lost the work six months ago.
May 5, 2011: Greek Unions Strike Over Government Austerity Measures Ship and train workers in Greece staged strikes on Sunday, May Day, causing a cancellation of ferries and trains. Thousands of workers from various labor unions marched to demonstrate their opposition to government austerity measures.
April 27, 2011: Can Drastic Deficit Reduction Help Economic Recovery? Drastically reducing fiscal deficits has been increasingly advocated as an urgent priority across Europe and the US. The election of a Conservative-led coalition government in the UK in the Spring of 2010 and the Eurozone crisis and sovereign bail-outs during 2011 have motivated this recent fixation with fiscal retrenchment.
April 25, 2011: U.S. Labor Unions Plan National Mobilizations The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is seeking to reorient its actions toward a mass movement of public protests, similar to those carried out by public workers in Wisconsin.
April 11, 2011: Wisconsin: Why a general strike hasn't happened yet... If you haven't figured it out yet, a general strike is probably not going to happen in Wisconsin. Maybe it never was, but what is commonly identified as the high point is past and a major demobilization has happened.
April 10, 2011: Thousands rally against Ford policies Several thousand people converged on Yonge-Dundas Square and marched to City Hall Saturday to rally against privatization and cuts to public services.
April 6, 2011: Black Workers and the Public Sector The standoff in Wisconsin highlights the fiscal crisis facing state and local governments across
the country. Required by law to balance their budgets, politicians in state legislatures, school
boards, and city councils are faced with the choices of cutting public services and laying off
workers, raising revenue, or some combination of the two.
April 5, 2011: Now's the Time: Organizing in the Face of the Class War Despite inspiring and massive rallies and protest campaigns, the two most visible attacks on America's working class - the anti-union bills in Wisconsin and Ohio - have both been signed into law.
April 5, 2011: Why Martin Luther King Jr. Would Support the Public Worker Protests In this guest column, Martin Luther King III, president and chief executive officer of The King Center, explains why his father would be on the front lines today supporting public employees.
April 4, 2011: Montreal - Thousands vs Tuition Fees, 3 Arrests According to different sources between 2,000 and 7,000 people took to the streets of Montreal (Quebec, Canada) to resist an increase in tuition fees and fight for free education. The demonstration was called by L'Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ).
April 3, 2011: Reflections on Two Years of IWW Organizing in the Education Industry I moved to a medium size city in the Great Lakes Region in the fall of 2008; armed, I thought, with experiences built up through years of working and organizing in a large mid-western city's branch of the IWW.
March 31, 2011: Frustrated Workers are Currently Refusing to Leave Ontario Legislature In an impromptu demonstration of frustration, a group of workers caught in protracted labour disputes are refusing to leave the gallery of the Queen's Park Legislature to protest the defeat of a private members' bill that would ban the use of temporary replacement workers.
March 31, 2011: Assault on Public Unions an Affront to Women's Historic Gains Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's slash-and-burn approach to public sector unions -- imitated by over a dozen Republican governors across the nation -- is the political equivalent of slamming women's labor history into reverse. Right in the middle of Women's History Month.
March 28, 2011: The March to Protect Worker Rights and the Middle Class Thousands are marching in the streets of Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana. In March 2011, sparked by protestors in Madison, Wisconsin, workers and union members across the United States have rallied in front of statehouses in support of collective bargaining rights for public sector workers.
March 28, 2011, Bullet No. #482: Ontario's Bill 150 and the Right to Strike, Gord Wilson One of the first things that right-wing populist Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, did after getting elected in the fall of 2010 was to call for the elimination of the right to strike of Toronto Transit workers -- organized in the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). Ford declared that Toronto public transit be designated an 'essential service.'
March 27, 2011: The courage of our beliefs Tomorrow's massive demonstration against government cuts is a watershed moment in British politics.
March 26, 2011: Anti-cuts march swells to 400,000 London hosts largest protest since Iraq war as workers and public demonstrate against government spending cuts.
March 26, 2011: Unions' Loyalty to Democrats Costing Working People Dearly At the demonstrations in Wisconsin against Republican Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting, the heroes of the moment are the 14 Democratic state senators who fled the state to deny the Republicans a quorum for their 'budget repair bill.'
March 26, 2011: Clashes with police overshadow anti-cuts rally Black-clad, masked youths clashed with police, smashed windows and started a fire in central London on Saturday when more than a quarter of a million Britons marched in protest against government spending cuts.
March 25, 2011: Anti-union bill passes in Wisconsin Robert Kraig tells Redeye how Scott Walker got his union-busting bill passed through the state legislature and the legal challenges it now faces.
March 17, 2011: UK Uncut The government says it has to reduce the deficit (the gap between money it spends and money it receives). The government has chosen to focus almost exclusively on reducing the amount it spends, by cutting public services. We will not accept cuts to public services whilst the government ignores alternatives.
March 16, 2011: USW1005 rallies against 'provocation' U.S. Steel Canada workers passed a sorry milestone this week -- the lockout started by the company in November is now the longest labour confrontation in the plant's 100-year Hamilton history.
March 16, 2011: The housekeepers revolt: behind the labour dispute at the Royal York Hotel In an era of decline for organized labour, an aggressive hospitality workers' union is determined to turn menial labour into middle-class employment. To do so, they need to galvanize the recent immigrants who overwhelmingly staff the service industry.
March 14, 2011: Gov. Snyder's Budget 86 per cent Cut In Corporate Taxes, Regressive Increase In Personal Taxes
March 14, 2011: Indiana labor pushes back Tithi Bhattacharya reports on the ongoing resistance by organized labor and the left to the corporate-driven right-wing agenda in Indiana.
March 14, 2011: The struggle will continue Nicole Colson reports from Madison on a huge demonstration against Scott Walker's union-busting law--and the discussion about what comes next in the fight for our rights.
March 13, 2011: Fair Wages and Public Sector Workers Today's Globe has a long article by Konrad Yakabuski on the potential for a Wisconsin style attack on Canadian public sector workers. It's hard to challenge his argument that this is very much in prospect...
March 13, 2011: US city fires all of its teachers The mayor of Providence, the capital of the US state of Rhode Island, is facing criticism after he fired all of the city's nearly 2,000 school teachers in an effort to tackle a $100m deficit.
March 11, 2011: Do We Need a General Strike? It seems to me that just the very fact that the idea of a general strike is being discussed shows how far our political discourse has come and how deeply Scott Walker and prolonged economic anxiety have radicalized otherwise moderate masses.
March 11, 2011: Do or die in Wisconsin With Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker poised to sign a bill gutting public-sector union power, organized labor must use its power now, argues Lee Sustar.
March 11, 2011: The Fight Continues in Ohio You are making history! Four weeks ago, Senate Bill 5 was introduced in the Ohio legislature to take away the rights of public employees to collectively bargain. And, four weeks ago, we started a campaign like no other.
March 10, 2011: Ontario's 'Days of Action' - A Citywide Political Strike Offers A Potential Example for Madison With events in Madison unfolding by the hour, we are reposting the story of the Ontario 'Days of Action' to offer practical advice for mounting huge strikes and demonstrations. In the late '90s, unions in Ontario, Canada, conducted 11 citywide strikes against the Conservative government's policies. The strikes featured cross-picketing in each other's workplaces and broad labor-community coalitions.
March 8, 2011: Report on Emergency Labor Meeting Ninety-six union leaders and activists from 26 states and from a broad cross-section of the labor movement gathered at the Laborers Local 310 Hall in Cleveland on March 4-5, 2011, in response to an invitation sent out in January urging them to 'explore together what we can do to mount a more militant and robust fight-back campaign to defend the interests of working people.'
March 6, 2011: Help Brock university workers fight for quality education Facing a March 14 lockout and strike deadline, CUPE Brock University workers, representing over 850 academic workers, are trying to secure a fair deal that improves the quality of education, as management continues to push for cutbacks and concessions.
March 6, 2011: Gov. Scott Walker Has Lost The War In what may be the result of one of the great political miscalculations of our time, Scott Walker's popularity in his home state is fast going down the tubes.
March 5, 2011: New Voice in Wisconsin Protests: No Concessions, No Cuts A day after 100,000 people demonstrated in Madison--one of the largest protests in Wisconsin history--labor activists gathered to strategize with a new-found sense of power. Andy Heidt of AFSCME Local 1871, a union of county workers, repeated a recurring theme of the day: 'One hundred thousand people do not need to beg.'
March 5, 2011: Phoenix students walk out, march toward Capitol to protest immigration bill Students from several Phoenix-area high schools walked out of classes late Friday morning and began a trek to the Arizona State Capitol to protest anti-immigration legislation. By 1 p.m. about 100 students had managed to make it to the Capitol mall and were protesting in small, scattered groups, some shouting, 'Education not deportation.'
March 4, 2011: How can we defeat Scott Walker? Lee Sustar argues that organized labor has failed to demonstrate that it has a strategy to defeat Republican Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting campaign.
March 3, 2011: With the nurses on the road to Madison Helen Redmond, a social worker in Chicago, describes the 'festival of fighters' she encountered on a trip to Madison, Wis., with a delegation from National Nurses United.
March 2, 2011: Majority in Poll Back Employees in Public Sector Unions As labour battles erupt in state capitals around the U.S, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions...
March 2, 2011: Workers' Uprising Walker Threatens Democrats With Teacher Layoffs, Dems Strike Back; Protesters Ejected from Speech. Follow the latest developments and analysis on the democratic uprising spreading from Wisconsin to the rest of the country.
March 2, 2011: Providence (R.I.) city votes to fire all teachers School board officials in Providence, amid a growing national debate about the role of labor unions, voted this week to fire every teacher in the financially strapped city's public schools.
March 2, 2011: The Unbreakable Culture of the Occupied Capitol As Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker bolts the windows and bars the doors of the capitol building to scare, shrink and starve the ongoing protest within, it's important for everyone outside to understand just what he's so afraid of, and why.
March 2, 2011: Labor Organizers Consider General Strike in Wisconsin Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker is expected to propose deep cuts to the state's health programs for the poor and aid to local governments.
March 2, 2011: Canadian unions join protests in Madison, Wisconsin Representatives of three Canadian unions are in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend, joining with thousands of workers and supporters to fight Governor Scott Walker's union-busting budget bill.
February 28, 2011: Solidarity from coast to coast Eric Ruder rounds up reports of labor protests from around the country.
February 28, 2011: Upwards of 125,000 March in Madison It began outside the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union. A few dozen members of the Teaching Assistants Association, the oldest graduate employee union in the world, rallied to object to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's plan to strip public employee unions of collective bargaining rights.
February 28, 2011: Media Blackout: CNN Fox News and MSNBC Ignore 100,000 WI Protesters Over 100,000 people in Madison, Wisconsin were joined by thousands of other Americans around the country in protest of Gov. Scott Walker's attempt to strip collective bargaining rights from the state's unionized workers.
February 28, 2011: In Indiana, Clues Future of Wisconsin Labor Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and other officials who are pushing to eliminate or weaken collective bargaining by government employees say their goal is to save millions of dollars and increase government's flexibility to run its operations.
February 27, 2011: Rallies for Labor, in Wisconsin and Beyond With booming chants of 'This will not stand!' at least 70,000 demonstrators flooded the square around the Wisconsin Capitol on Saturday in what the authorities here called the largest protest yet in nearly two weeks of demonstrations.
February 27, 2011: Les lock-outés du Journal de Montréal acceptent l'offre de Quebecor Les employés du Journal de Montréal se sont finalement résignés, plusieurs à contrecoeur, afin de ne pas vivre un 765e jour du lock-out, le plus long de l'histoire des médias canadiens.
February 26, 2011: On Wisconsin and America We are now having a major dispute about what kind of society America should be.
February 25, 2011: In defense of public-sector unions Labor historian and author Peter Rachleff looks at the struggle in Wisconsin, Indiana and beyond--and the backdrop to the ruling class attack on public-sector unions.
February 25, 2011: 'We're Broke,' Say the Rich, and the Poor Must Pay A society built on racist lies and outright nonsense will believe anything. Therefore, it is no wonder that Republicans have achieved such 'wondrous success by planting the words 'We're broke' in the mouths of men and women who are transparently rich, and who in turn serve the interests of the super-rich.' Unfortunately, President Obama and other Democrats worship the same idols as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
February 24, 2011: Power in a Union by Street Dogs
February 24, 2011: Battle for Wisconsin Part Six: War of Maneuver The strategic and tactical assessments of the situation have shifted a few times since this started last week--our goals and objectives have had to change with the developments here, the idea of what is possible and what a win means.
February 23, 2011: Greek police clash with anti-austerity protesters Greek police clashed with protesters on Wednesday as around 100,000 workers, pensioners and students marched to parliament in protest at austerity policies aimed at helping Greece cope with a huge debt crisis.
February 23, 2011: Solidarity for Workers' Struggles Grows From California to North Carolina to Poland, workers, community and faith activists are standing in solidarity with workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and around the nation in their fights against a coordinated attack on middle-class jobs.
February 23, 2011: Introducing The 'American Dream' Movement In the past 24 months, those of us who longed for positive change have gone from hope to heartbreak. But hope is returning to America -- at last -- thanks largely to the courageous stand of the heroes and heroines of Wisconsin.
February 23, 2011: From Cairo to Madison: Hope and Solidarity Are Alive Here in Madison, Wisconsin, where protesters have occupied the State Capitol Building to stop the pending bill that would eliminate workers' right to collective bargaining, echoes of Cairo are everywhere.
February 23, 2011: Return of the Class Struggle Thanks to the public employees of Wisconsin, thousands of whom have occupied the state capitol building for the past several days, the class struggle has returned to the United States. Of course, it never really left, but lately only one side has been fighting. Workers, their unions and liberals more generally have now rejoined the battle.
February 23, 2011: New GQR Polls: Wisconsin Voters Diss Walker's Mess Evan McMorris-Santoro's report at TPM on new polls of Wisconsin voters, conducted by GQR Research for the AFL-CIO 2/16-20 should give the demonstrators some encouragement in their struggle against Gov. Walker's union-busting.
February 22, 2011: US union protests: Demonstrations move beyond Wisconsin Union unrest is spreading through the mid-western US, as labour activists in at least three states protest against pending anti-union legislation.
February 22, 2011: Madison labor raises the stakes FOLLOWING A weekend that included one of the largest protests in Wisconsin history, labor activists and the Madison-area labor council are organizing to oppose all provisions of Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting 'budget repair bill.'
February 21, 2011: Calling All Workers and Retirees Workers, retirees, unionists, and activists of all stripes and sizes are responding to calls to protest at state capitals in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and elsewhere.
February 21, 2011: Battle for Wisconsin, Part Four: Battle Plans We're into the fifth day now and its starting to take its toll--I'm pretty worn so hopefully this report is holding the standard.
February 21, 2011, Bullet No. #466: A New American Workers' Movement Has Begun, Dan La Botz Thousands of workers demonstrated at the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin on February 15 and 16 to protest plans by that state's Republican Governor Scott Walker to take away the state workers' union rights.
February 20, 2011: The Real Republican Strategy The Republican strategy is to split the vast middle and working class -- pitting unionized workers against non-unionized, public-sector workers against non-public, older workers within sight of Medicare and Social Security against younger workers who don't believe these programs will be there for them, and the poor against the working middle class.
February 20, 2011: Ohio: Statehouse Mobilization against SB 5 Thousands of workers and community members will pack the Statehouse again to tell lawmakers to reject the attack on Ohio's middle class and vote NO on Senate Bill 5, a bill that would gut workers' voice on the job in the hopes of dismantling unions in Ohio entirely.
February 20, 2011: Packers Captain Charles Woodson Stands With Wisconsin's Workers Already multiple members of the Super Bowl winning Green Bay Packers have taken public stands against the frightening, dictatorial, anti-union rampage of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
February 20, 2011: Battle for Wisconsin, Part II Thursday night ended with lots of energy and momentum as Democratic senators fled the state to break quorum and block a vote, and Friday seems to be a difficult and contradictory day.
February 19, 2011: Report from the Battle for Wisconsin This is a report from a Madison comrade, Andrew, who has been heavily involved with the protests there.
February 19, 2011: Pushed Too Far, Ohio Labor Gears for Fight Long the gauge by which national political trends are measured, Ohio is now becoming a pivotal testing ground for the labor movement.
February 18, 2011: Grass Roots: Labor activists strategize for 'class war' ignited by Walker budget bill What's happening now in Wisconsin, with thousands of workers flooding the Capitol to protest Gov. Scott Walker's move to snuff the collective bargaining power of public employees, is much more than backlash against a union-busting maneuver, labor activists and their supporters said Tuesday evening at a forum at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Madison.
February 18, 2011: The Betrayal of Public Workers The Great Recession and its aftermath are entering a new phase in the United States, which could bring even more severe assaults on the living standards and basic rights of ordinary people than we have experienced thus far.
February 18, 2011: Class war in Wisconsin Lee Sustar reports from Madison on the growing union struggle against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his attempt to crush public-sector unions.
February 18, 2011: Glorious Rallies in Madison, Ground Zero of the Fight Back What glory it is to be in Madison, Wisconsin, this week, where the people of this state have risen up in revolt against the Neanderthal Republicans who are trying to bust public sector unions and inflict massive harm on their workers.
February 16, 2011: Workers draw the line in Wisconsin WISCONSIN saw its biggest labor rally in memory Tuesday as an angry crowd estimated at as many as 20,000 turned out to oppose Republican Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to gut public-sector unions of their bargaining power, break them financially and force workers to pay for the state budget deficit.
February 15, 2011: Locked out Steelworkers take their fight to Bay Street The Toronto and York District Labour Council organized a rally Monday outside the offices of the Bank of Nova Scotia and Brookfield Asset Management, who helped finance the acquisition of Stelco by U.S. Steel in 2007.
February 9, 2011: Fight Back against the Attack on Public Sector Workers On Wednesday, February 9 at 1:30 PM, the Insurance, Commerce, and Labor Committee of the Ohio Senate will be holding the first meeting on abolishing the public sector collective bargaining law in the State of Ohio.
February 9, 2011: Major Work Stoppages (or Dearth Thereof) in 2010 In 2010, there were 11 major strikes and lockouts involving 1,000 or more workers and lasting at least one shift, the second lowest annual total since the major work stoppages series began in 1947, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
February 3, 2011: Paid for in Sweat and Sacrifice Stelco pensions were earned by workers, not a gift, and U.S. Steel has no right to take them away.
January 24, 2011: Manitoba government workers reject contract A large number of Manitoba government workers have voted against a contract offer that temporarily froze wages but also guaranteed no layoffs over the life of the deal.
January 22, 2011: Public Sector, Public Good Dumping on public sector workers is so 'common sense' these days that even a few fellow unionists are piling on. The head of the New York City building trades council, Gary LaBarbera, just joined the business-backed 'Committee to Save New York,' a group formed solely to advance Governor Andrew Cuomo's war on public sector unions' pay and pensions.
January 22, 2011: Profiting without producing, Marcos Arruda Increasingly centered on and subordinated to the financial sector, the global economy, based on the myth of "infinite" growth and resource exploitation, has come up against serious limits. New forms of development which put people at the center, rather than profit, urgently need addressing.
January 21, 2011: Public services won't be scapegoats The Economist, an international weekly news magazine, devoted its January 6, 2011 edition to attacking public sector workers and their unions. CUPE National President Paul Moist sent this letter to the editor...
January 15, 2011: University of Windsor workers fights concession demands with strike vote Frustrated by the slow pace of contract negotiations, and demands for concessions by the University of Windsor administration, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1393 held a strike vote yesterday.
January 14, 2011: Public sector unions: The battle ahead The struggle with public-sector unions should be about productivity and parity, not just spending cuts.
January 12, 2011, Bullet No. #453: Will U.S. Labour Challenge Austerity?, Brian Tierney Across the U.S., working-class people are struggling, scraping together meager sums in order to get by. In state and local governments throughout the country, workers are watching public services slashed in the name of balanced budgets.
January 10, 2011: No McJobs at McMaster McMaster Food Service Workers on Strike, Stand Up for Good Jobs for Working Families in Hamilton
January 4, 2011: Strained States Turning to Laws to Curb Labor Unions Faced with growing budget deficits and restive taxpayers, elected officials from Maine to Alabama, Ohio to Arizona, are pushing new legislation to limit the power of labor unions, particularly those representing government workers, in collective bargaining and politics.
January 4, 2011: Taking the hotel fight to the streets Carl Finamore, a delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council, reports on a solidarity campaign organized by UNITE HERE members to take on the hotel bosses.
January 1, 2011: Greek unions vow to step up protests over stringent austerity measures Greek unions vowed to step up the relentless stream of protests that have paralysed the debt-stricken country in the run up to Christmas, after parliament approved an austerity budget described as the toughest since the second world war.
December 24, 2010: Hotel Workers Dig In Amidst Threats and Retaliations Nationally, hotels experienced a record 5.7 per cent rise in the occupancy in 2010 leading prominent analyst R. Mark Woodworth to comment that 'the swift pace of recovery in the lodging industry has been remarkable... a base has been established for very strong gains in both revenue and profits in the years to come.'
December 19, 2010: Backlash grows against Flaherty's pension proposal Two dozen protestors barged into Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's office in Whitby on Friday as a backlash against his latest pension proposal gathered force.
December 18, 2010, Bullet No. #442: Student Protests and the Emerging Discontent of Youth, Oliver Huitson The 'iPod generation' have long been written off as apathetic, pampered wasters; a collection of illiterate Nathan Barleys draining their parents resources. Yet, from the storming of Tory HQ to campus occupations across the country, it is those same youth now leading public resistance to the Coalition's cuts.
December 17, 2010: Occupation: Federal Finance Minister's Office Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan, unions and community members have just occupied Jim Flaherty's office, 701 Rossland Road East, Unit 204, Whitby, stunned by his last-minute betrayal of Canadians' retirement security.
December 17, 2010, Bullet No. #441: France: Not Victorious, But Not Defeated, Murray Smith It is now possible to begin to draw a tentative balance sheet of the vast movement against the reform (or more exactly, counter-reform) of the pension system in France over the last few months. We need to look at the depth and breadth of the movement, the forms that it took and the positions adopted by its various components.
December 15, 2010: Simmering Quebec set to boil Two Quebec student groups are working with seven of Quebec's largest labour unions to beat back the Quebec Liberal government's proposed austerity budget. Put forward by Jean Charest's Parti Libéral du Quebec (PLQ), the 2012 budget's features include a number of anticipated cuts to social programs and the largest university tuition fee increase in Quebec's history.
December 12, 2010: Italian Students Clash With Police Students clashed with riot police today outside La Scala opera house in Milan. The mob was part of an daily national -- or continental -- protest against austerity cuts.
December 12, 2010: Public Sector Unionism, Austerity and the Left, Gindin, Sam A teach-in with leading Canadian labour analyst Sam Gindin explores the present crisis, its meaning and how we might get beyond it. Recorded November 29, 2010.
December 7, 2010: Mark Blyth on Austerity
December 5, 2010: Tariq Ali at SOAS occupation
December 5, 2010, Bullet No. #436: Thousands Protest Irish Nightmare Economy, Leo Panitch Last weekend in Ireland, thousands of people demonstrated against austerity measures and against bearing the burden of the Irish crisis. Just how did the Irish miracle turn into the Irish nightmare? Paul Jay of The Real News Network recently interviewed Leo Panitch.
November 30, 2010: Rally to Stop the Closure of 120 Beds, OCHU/CUPE This rally was held in front of the Ministry of Health to oppose the cut of 120 beds (one-third of its total) at Providence Healthcare. Recorded in Toronto, November 26, 2010.
November 26, 2010, Bullet No. #432: OCAP Marks its First Twenty Years, John Clarke Twenty years ago this month, the founding conference of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) took place. In the two decades that have followed, OCAP has organized and mobilized communities under attack in the context of an advancing agenda of neoliberalism.
November 23, 2010, Bullet No. #430: Austerity, Disabilities and Union Rights: Opposing Bill 83, Jordy Cummings On the twenty-eighth of October, a bill passed Second Reading in the Ontario Legislature, a bill that is a clear danger to the labour movement's ability to win fair contracts and defend public services. Bill 83 which essentially outlaws picketing outside of group homes housing people with intellectual and other disabilities that require home-care.
October 28, 2010: Building Labour Resistance, Guest, Don; Michael Hurley, Monica McKenzie Winning Strategies in Difficult Times - a forum organized by the Labour Caucus of the Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly. Recorded October 26, 2010 in Toronto, Canada.