Union Review
Union Review - Labor Movement News & Views
- Victory at Hersheys!
Last August, Jobs with Justice took action in solidarity with hundreds of student guestworkers from around the world who halted production during a factory sit-in at the Hershey Chocolate Company’s packing plant in Pennsylvania. The State Department on Monday announced that CETUSA (the company that worked to recruit the students) was now banned from the J-1 visa program -- sending a clear message to all companies participating in the program: "A cultural program for foreign students will not be exploited to recruit cheap labor!" This piece originally appeared on the JWJ blog.
- Despite Attacks, U.S. Union Membership Rises
A report issued by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics last week shows that union membership increased by 49,000 from 2010 to 2011. The private sector led the way with a union membership increase of 110,000 employees, while the public sector saw a 61,000 decline, mainly due to government cutbacks. This is a cross posting from the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers.
- Emblematic of 1 Percenters, Cooper Tire Punk’d Workers
At the end of November 2011, Cooper Tire & Rubber locked out 1,050 workers in Findlay, Ohio. United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard writes in his latest blog about how when Cooper Tire was losing money in 2008, these employees gave up $31 million in concessions to help their employer stay alive. Cooper has since rebounded, raking in $300 million in profits -- and handing corporate executives millions in raises and bonuses.
- It Is a Political Mistake to Forget About Healthcare
Kawana Lloyd filed this story on the annual Health Action 2012 conference in D.C. for her union's webpage -- and we're reposting to help spread the word. She starts the article off with a very poignant and direct quote of Dr. L. Toni Lewis, the SEIU Healthcare Division Chair: "It's fitting during this week when we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to remember his passion in demanding that every man, woman and child have the right to live free of illness and to reach his or her potential."
- The Heart of Unionism: One Local Union’s Story of Solidarity
When I saw this article come through earlier this week from Brother Todd Farally, I bookmarked it -- and put it in my read later folder. I just couldn't get to it when it first hit on Wed of this past week. And I have to tell you, I am kind of glad I waited for a moment of downtime to really read it slowly and appreciate its message.
Todd is a Tinknocker out of Philadelphia, and for as long as I can remember, he's been present in the online union activist community. But it was this article that he put together that made stop a minute to realize that THIS ... THIS is the stuff we need to get out there: Stories of our solidarity -- not only when we are organizing, but all the time.
We need more of these stories ... and we all have them.
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