• Viewpoint: Concessions Are Back. So Are the Flashbacks.
    All of us in the labor movement are—hopefully—scrambling to figure out how to construct defenses and get positioned to deal with the rapidly deteriorating bargaining climate. Every employer is either on the attack or soon will be. — Aug 4
  • New York Bookstore Workers Blast Their Boss for Layoffs While Taking a PPP Loan
    Shop stewards at the Strand, a prominent New York City bookstore, are denouncing owner Nancy Bass-Wyden for accepting federal loans but failing to keep workers on the payroll. Strand Bookstore, Inc. received a federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan of $1-$2 million by claiming to retain 212 jobs. (Public data provide only a range for the loan amount, not a precise figure.) But in fact Bass-Wyden laid off all but a few employees shortly before applying for the loan. — Aug 3
  • Brooklyn Teamsters Protest UPS Harassment of Black Shop Stewards
    Brooklyn Teamsters Protest UPS Harassment of Black Shop Stewards July 30, 2020 / Jonah Furman A hundred members of Teamsters Local 804 gathered outside a Brooklyn UPS hub July 20 to protest management’s harassment of a Black shop steward and efforts to divide the workforce along racial lines. It was Local 804’s way to mark the global “Strike for Black Lives,” a day of protest (though it included few conventional strikes) called by a constellation of unions and organizations including the Service Employees (SEIU), Teachers (AFT), Transit Union (ATU), Teamsters, Communications Workers (CWA), UNITE HERE, Farmworkers (UFW), and Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). — Jul 30
  • Somerville Paraeducators Win 20 Percent Raise and Permanent Status After Nine-Month Battle
    The ask was clear and self-explanatory: a starting salary of $25,000 and permanent status after four years. Somerville’s paraprofessional educators made this demand over and over during the course of protracted and contentious negotiations over a contract that expired August 31, 2019. We made the demand on social media, at community meetings and rallies, and in the local media. — Jul 29
  • Could a Teacher Strike Wave Halt Premature School Reopenings and Flatten the Pandemic's Curve?
    This piece originally ran on July 26 at Jacobin. On July 28, the American Federation of Teachers announced it would back local safety strikes around reopening.—Eds. — Jul 29