Author Archive

Shaun Richman

The Powerful New Idea in Elizabeth Warren’s Labor Platform

On Thursday, Elizabeth Warren released her long-awaited labor platform, titled “Empowering American Workers and Raising Wages.” The plan provides unions with a long wish list of badly needed reforms and new... MORE

Working · October 4, 2019
Bernie Sanders’ Labor Plan Could Put a Union in Every Workplace in America

Bernie Sanders released his Workplace Democracy Plan on Wednesday. His campaign’s labor platform makes the strongest case of any of the candidates so far that he would be unions’ best... MORE

Working · August 22, 2019
The First Labor Plans of the 2020 Race Just Dropped. Here’s What to Make of Them.

It was a tale of two cities’ mayors (with presidential ambitions) this week. South Bend, Indiana’s Pete Buttigieg and New York’s Bill de Blasio—the two active-duty... MORE

Working · July 26, 2019
Fighting Against Racism—And For a Better Paycheck—On the Docks

“Dockworkers have power.” With that simple statement, Western Illinois University professor and In These Times contributor Peter Cole kicks off his compelling new history, Dockworker... MORE

Working · April 3, 2019
You’re a Sad Scab, Mr. Chait

Is there a German word for when a presumptive scab confirms your lowest expectations? MORE

Working · December 14, 2018
America’s Great Strike Waves Have Shaped the Country. We Can Unleash Another.

Erik Loomis’ "A History of America in Ten Strikes" is a powerful reminder of the need for worker militancy. Workers’ power is rooted in the work we do and our occasional... MORE

Working · October 1, 2018
America’s Great Strike Waves Have Shaped the Country. We Can Unleash Another.

Erik Loomis’ "A History of America in Ten Strikes" is a powerful reminder of the need for worker militancy. MORE

Culture · October 1, 2018
Nonunion Workers Can Save Unions. We Just Need to Reimagine How We Collect Dues.

The case for voluntary payroll deductions to donate to unions. MORE

Features · July 20, 2018
The West Virginia Teachers’ Strike Has Activists Asking: Should We Revive the Wildcat?

The stunning success of the recent statewide West Virginia teachers’ strike makes it one of the most inspiring worker protests of the Trump era. The walkout over rising health insurance costs and... MORE

Working · March 13, 2018
Here’s How a Supreme Court Decision To Gut Public Sector Unions Could Backfire on the Right

Janus v. AFSCME, which begins oral arguments on February 26, is the culmination of a years-long right-wing plot to financially devastate public-sector unions. And a Supreme Court ruling against AFSCME would indeed have that... MORE

Working · February 8, 2018
Republicans Are Taking Voter Suppression to the Workplace

A Republican party that survives through voter suppression may be replicating its model in the workplace. In December, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) invited public commentary on a possible revocation... MORE

Working · January 16, 2018
Biggest Labor Stories of 2017: The Attacks From Above and the Fight From Below

The first year of any Republican presidential administration is sure to bring new attacks on unions and their allies. This year has seen plenty of anti-labor offensives, as well as inspiring fights and... MORE

Working · December 18, 2017
How Bosses Use “Open Shop” Campaigns to Crush Unions

U.S. employers have never been particularly accepting of unions. Yes, there were a few decades after World War II when most employers engaged in a largely stable pattern of collective bargaining that... MORE

Working · December 5, 2017
The Untold Story of How Immigrants Turned the Wobblies into a Global Force

Declaring, “an injury to one is an injury to all,” the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) upended and forever changed the labor movement a little over a century ago. The... MORE

Working · November 8, 2017
SCOTUS Is on the Verge of Decimating Public-Sector Unions—But Workers Can Still Fight Back

On Thursday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Janus vs. AFSCME, the case that will likely turn the entire public sector labor movement into a “right-to-work” zone. Like a lazy Hollywood... MORE

Working · September 28, 2017
The Right Wing Has a Vast, Secret Plot to Destroy Unions for Good. Here’s How to Fight Back.

The vast right-wing network of Koch brother-funded “think tanks” is now plotting to finish off the public sector labor movement once and for all. In a series of fundraising documents obtained... MORE

Working · September 15, 2017
A New Bill of Rights for Workers: 10 Demands the Labor Movement Can Fight for and Win

Now is the time for unions to rewrite the rules. MORE

Features · September 1, 2017
How Union-Busting Bosses Propel the Right Wing to Power

U.S. bosses fight unions with a ferocity that is unmatched in the so-called free world. In the early days of the republic, master craftsmen prosecuted fledgling unions as criminal conspiracies that aimed... MORE

Working · June 22, 2017
Trump Wants To Privatize Air Traffic Control. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Promising “cheaper, faster and safer travel,” the Trump administration announced a plan this week to privatize the nation’s air traffic control system. The announcement Monday marked the first day... MORE

Working · June 6, 2017
Republicans Will Turn the NLRB into a Force for Union Busting. We Can Turn It Back.

Here comes the anti-union crackdown. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Donald Trump has submitted the names of two anti-union lawyers to the FBI for vetting. This is a precursor to nominating them... MORE

Working · May 17, 2017
What the Big May Day Strike in a Small Pennsylvania City Teaches Us About Organizing

The first May Day of the Trump era saw scores of major actions in cities across the United States, but perhaps the most impressive demonstration of worker power took place in the small... MORE

Working · May 5, 2017
Unions Are at Their Lowest Levels in Decades—To Gain Power We Must Stop Following the Rules

If Donald Trump’s first week as president wasn’t depressing enough, Thursday brought a report that showed union membership fell in 2016. Union members are now just 10.7% of the overall workforce... MORE

Working · February 1, 2017
From Company Town to Rebel City: Richmond, California Shows How Progressives Can Win

Rebel cities have long been laboratories for progressive policy experimentation. Specifically, the small Bay Area city of Richmond, California has stood out for its boldness. It’s now the subject of a... MORE

Working · January 11, 2017
Fighting Trump Isn’t Enough—We Must Also Wage War Within the Democratic Party

Absent our activism, the changing face of the GOP will continue to drag the Democrats further to the right. MORE

Features · November 16, 2016
The Two-Tier Provision in the Chicago Teachers Union’s Tentative Agreement, Explained

The tentative agreement that the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) struck with district management less than an hour before a midnight October 10 strike deadline has been hailed by many as a victory. Facing another... MORE

Working · October 18, 2016
The Fight to Save UMass Labor Center Is a Fight for Worker Power

The Labor Center at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) at Amherst is in turmoil. Its director, Eve Weinbaum, says she was abruptly pushed out of the position. In an alarming e-mail to... MORE

Working · September 13, 2016
We Are Witnessing a New Age of Social Justice Movements—And That Includes Labor

Something is happening. Socialism is no longer a dirty word (the “S-word”), but something a sizeable portion of Americans tell pollsters is their preferred vision for society. It’s no... MORE

Working · August 23, 2016
When the Hell Did the NLRB Become More Activist Than Labor?

When the hell did the federal government get bolder than most labor unions about asserting the legal rights of workers? On Monday, in a 3-1 ruling, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)... MORE

Working · July 12, 2016
The Right to Strike Must Mean the Right to Return to Work After a Strike

With the decisive victory for union members at Verizon, 2016 is already on pace to be the second year in a row where recorded strike activity has increased over the previous half-decade. Now,... MORE

Working · June 15, 2016
What Will It Take To Wake Up the ‘Sleeping Giant’ of the New Working Class?

The American working class has been dissed and dismissed. Our unions busted, our wages slashed, our homes foreclosed and our rents raised. We’re blamed for the rise of Trump, but... MORE

Working · June 8, 2016
The Verizon Strike Is Now In Its Second Month, and the Stakes Are Higher Than Ever

This piece first appeared at Jacobin. As the massive strike at Verizon enters its second month with no end in sight, the stakes — for the workers, the company, and the broader... MORE

Working · May 16, 2016
The Legal Argument That Could Overturn ‘Right-to-Work’ Laws Around the Country

Union supporters had reason to cheer earlier this month when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s hated “right to work” law was overturned by a Dane County Circuit Judge. Unfortunately, the... MORE

Working · April 21, 2016
Bernie Sanders Wasn’t Our First Socialist Mayor: Remembering Milwaukee’s Socialist Party History

Frank Zeidler served the city as mayor for three terms, and his Socialist Party held seats in the city council, state legislature and even Congress. MORE

Features · April 6, 2016
It’s Time for the Labor Movement To Pursue a New Judicial Activist Agenda

Unions that were bracing for a major defeat in Friedrichs v. CTA breathed a sigh of relief following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He was expected to be the decisive... MORE

Working · March 21, 2016
Our Political System Is in the Midst of a Massive Realignment. Here’s How the Left Should Respond.

We have an opportunity to build a different kind of party. MORE

Views · March 14, 2016
Friedrichs Is Dead; Labor’s Crisis Is Not. The ‘Scalia Dividend’ Is a Rare Opportunity for Unions.

The Friedrichs vs. CTA Supreme Court case, a nakedly partisan assassination attempt on the labor movement, has died with Justice Antonin Scalia. What cannot die with it is the sense of... MORE

Working · February 16, 2016
With 3 Recent High-Profile Walkoffs, Is the Wildcat Strike Back?

Three high-profile wildcat strikes have caught business watchers and union leaders by surprise in recent weeks. Could they be bellwethers for a rising tide of worker militancy? A wildcat strike is one that... MORE

Working · February 12, 2016
Could a New NLRB Case Limit Bosses’ Best Anti-Union Tool, the Captive Audience Meeting?

The captive audience meeting, “management’s most important weapon” in an anti-union campaign, is finally being challenged in a petition to the National Labor Relations Board that could help re-balance... MORE

Working · February 3, 2016
How ‘Friedrichs’ Could Actually Unleash Unions from Decades of Free Speech Restrictions

As the spring semester starts up at the City University of New York, union activists continue the painstaking work of preparing for a strike authorization vote. Faculty and staff at CUNY have been... MORE

Working · January 22, 2016
As Attacks on Unions Continue, Bringing Back the Strike May Be Our Only Hope

On December 14, Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey announced the results of the union’s strike authorization vote. For the second time in three years, the union’s membership... MORE

Working · January 13, 2016
How Friedrichs v. Calif. Teachers Association Could Actually Be a Boon for Unions

As unions file their legal briefs in the epic Friedrichs vs. CTA anti-union Supreme Court case, one clever legal scholar argues that Friedrichs is “an unexpected tool for labor.” ... MORE

Working · December 11, 2015
Labor Law Is Failing Us. It’s Time To Push for a New Labor Act.

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) was a bad bill, and it is deader than dead. It is time for labor to propose a comprehensive set of amendments to the nation’s... MORE

Working · November 23, 2015
How a ‘Right to Your Job’ Law Could Help Unions Fight Back Against ‘Right to Work’

The sword of Damocles hangs over the head of the American labor movement. This spring the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on Friedrichs vs. CTA, a case that could end automatic... MORE

Working · November 16, 2015
The Promise and the Peril of Members-Only Unions

Unions have taken some hard hits in recent years, with even greater existential threats on the horizon. Labor must consider alternative forms of organization if they want to survive. But unions should... MORE

Working · November 4, 2015