Author Archive
Shaun Richman
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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