Labor strikes

The women of the Empire Zinc strike on the picket line.

What an Epic Women’s Strike Can Teach Us Over 70 Years Later What an Epic Women’s Strike Can Teach Us Over 70 Years Later

The 1951 Empire Zinc strike made history and spawned a landmark labor film. Its impact is still reverberating today.

Mar 21, 2023 / Natasha Varner

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Letters From the March 6/13, 2023, Issue Letters From the March 6/13, 2023, Issue

Toadying at Harvard… The work of democracy (web only)

Feb 21, 2023 / Our Readers, Sammy Feldblum, and Lavanya Nott

Striking coal miners, who have been on strike for 18 months, form a picket line outside of the Warrior Met Coal Mine no. 5 on September 1, 2022 in Brookwood Alabama.

Why the Warrior Met Strike Is Ending Why the Warrior Met Strike Is Ending

After 23 months, the union tells more than 1,000 coal miners in Alabama it’s time to head back to work—without the contract they want.

Feb 20, 2023 / Kim Kelly

Britain’s Winter of Discontent

Britain’s Winter of Discontent Britain’s Winter of Discontent

If unions here are weaker and smaller than in Margaret Thatcher’s day, their strikes are also far more popular.

Jan 31, 2023 / Gary Younge

Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts

The Supreme Court Is About to Make It Even Riskier to Strike The Supreme Court Is About to Make It Even Riskier to Strike

The Roberts court is famously anti-union. With Glacier Northwest v. Teamsters, it’s poised to make it easier for employers to sue striking workers.

Jan 11, 2023 / Elie Mystal

Senator Josh Hawley, Republican from Missouri, holding a pencil.

One-and-a-Half Cheers for Comrade Josh Hawley One-and-a-Half Cheers for Comrade Josh Hawley

The Missouri Republican’s attack on Biden and corporate Democrats for stopping railway workers from striking was on-target. But if he really wants to get on the workers’ side of hi...

Dec 16, 2022 / Ben Burgis

Activists in support of unionized rail workers protest outside the U.S. Capitol Building on November 29, 2022.

I’m a Rail Worker, and Biden Screwed Us I’m a Rail Worker, and Biden Screwed Us

We can either deny rail carriers our labor in defiance of long-established laws, or we stand still and keep eating their punches.

Dec 13, 2022 / John Tormey

A PhD student with a megaphone leads a picket.

Time to Turn Up the Pressure on the University of California Decision-Makers Time to Turn Up the Pressure on the University of California Decision-Makers

A union member’s view of the biggest strike in the country.

Dec 5, 2022 / StudentNation / Jane McAlevey

Karen Bass at news conference

Will LA’s New Mayor Karen Bass Reset the City’s Labor and Housing Markets? Will LA’s New Mayor Karen Bass Reset the City’s Labor and Housing Markets?

Or will her administration stand by as a series of high-profile sporting events turn the city into Doha on the Pacific?

Dec 2, 2022 / Sasha Abramsky

Activists rally with signs in support of unionized rail workers outside the Capitol.

On the Wrong Track: Why Biden Abandoned Rail Workers On the Wrong Track: Why Biden Abandoned Rail Workers

The White House has leveraged the power of Congress to ratify the bargaining terms that management wanted. This outcome is as depressing as it is predictable.

Dec 2, 2022 / Chris Lehmann

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