Author Profile
Jeff Schuhrke
Jeff Schuhrke is a Working In These Times contributor based in Chicago. He has a Master’s in Labor Studies from UMass Amherst and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in labor history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was a summer 2013 editorial intern at In These Times. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffSchuhrke.
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Labor Unions Were Crucial in Bernie Sanders’ New Hampshire Victory
Sen. Bernie Sanders has emerged victorious following the nation’s first Democratic primary in New Hampshire on Tuesday. The win further solidifies Sanders’ position as the frontrunner in the race to... MORE
Working · February 12, 2020
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To Build a Left-Wing Unionism, We Must Reckon With the AFL-CIO’s Imperialist Past
First published at Jacobin. Two days after Bolivia’s socialist president Evo Morales was forced from office in a right-wing military coup last November, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka condemned the... MORE
Working · January 10, 2020
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Why 15,000 Indiana Teachers Just Walked Off the Job
After making waves in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kentucky, North Carolina and beyond, the Red for Ed movement has now spread to Indiana. Fed up with disinvestment in public schools and disrespect for... MORE
Working · November 19, 2019
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Elizabeth Warren Says Make the Rich Pay for Striking Chicago Teachers’ Demands
Chicago public school teachers and support staff—on strike since October 17 for smaller class sizes and improved services for students—received a boost Tuesday when they were joined on the picket... MORE
Working · October 22, 2019
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Chicago Teachers Won Public Support for Their Strike. Here’s How.
As 35,000 Chicago teachers, school support staff, and park district workers are set to begin a major strike on October 17, they boast the backing of students, parents, community organizations, and local unions who see... MORE
Working · October 15, 2019
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Graduate Workers Are Going to Fight Like Hell to Stop the Trump NLRB’s New Rule
At universities across the country, graduate student workers perform essential labor. We teach classes, grade exams and assignments, tutor and mentor undergraduates, maintain labs, and perform clerical duties. Some 66,000 graduate employees at over 30... MORE
Working · September 25, 2019
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Did You Get a Text Inviting You to a Picket Line? It Might Be from Bernie Sanders.
As graduate student workers at the University of Chicago began a three-day work stoppage this week to demand union recognition, Sen. Bernie Sanders—one of the university’s most notable alumni... MORE
Working · June 6, 2019
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We’ve Been Fighting for $15 For 7 Years. Today I’m Celebrating a Historic Victory.
On Tuesday, Illinois became the first state in the Midwest to enact legislation phasing in a $15-per-hour minimum wage, giving 1.4 million workers a raise every year between 2020 and 2025. MORE
Working · February 19, 2019
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When Janus Backfires: A Test Case In Labor Solidarity After Fair Share
In the aftermath of this summer’s Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision attacking public-sector unions, the University of Illinois at Chicago is rapidly becoming a bellwether for how those unions might... MORE
Working · November 14, 2018
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Hyatt Workers Win 4-Week Strike, Hours After Third Coast Audio Festival Refused to Cross Picket Line
Twenty-eight days into the largest hotel strike Chicago has seen in a century, about 1,000 workers with UNITE HERE Local 1 have won a new contract at the Hyatt—the last major holdout after... MORE
Working · October 4, 2018