Roseanne and the Changing Working-Class
When ABC’s Roseanne premiered in 1988, it arrived in the era of Reaganomics with policies that stripped power from unions, sent blue collar jobs overseas and... Read More
Janus v AFSCME:
What the Supreme Court May Strip from Workers The roar of the approaching storm can be both heard and felt in workplaces across the United... Read More
Trump One Year Later: Most of Us Live in Dread
I had a discussion with my doctor late spring 2017. I was having gastrointestinal issues, and I said to him that I kept wondering whether... Read More
Brexit: Race and Class
I had very mixed emotions about the Brexit vote. Having watched the manner in which the European Union strangled Greece, I have not been very... Read More
Brexit – A Class Issue
Two weeks on, a lot of progressive people in Britain are still in deep shock or fury or despair – or alternating rapidly between all three... Read More
SCOTUS: Public Sector Unions Safe for Now
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it was deadlocked in the case of Friedrichs v California Teachers Association (representing 325,000 teachers in 1,000 school... Read More
The Worker Center Boogyman
Lately the Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) has been complaining loudly that Worker Centers are a kind of front group for unions. Worker centers are... Read More
Philly School Crisis Meets Pushback
While a group of determined teachers, parents and community activists rallied a small crowd in front of South Philadelphia High School on a rainy weekday,... Read More
What Declines in Union Representation Say About Class
Labor law is in reality “play nice” law. The law – much of which was set up in the 1930s – recognized that bosses would... Read More
Verizon Strike: A Teachable Moment?
Why Health Care Strikes Should Demand “Health Care For All,” Not Just “Hands Off My ‘Middle Class’ Benefits” For two weeks in August, thousands of... Read More
Who represents the working class in Massachusetts?
The vote to take away public employee health care bargaining rights took place thirty minutes before midnight, on April 26th, while most of the state... Read More
Caregiver Unions: Much Needed But Most Vulnerable Now
Often overlooked amid the current attacks on long-established public sector unions around the country is the threat to recently organized workers, who are the lowest... Read More
Modern-day Pirates: the Republicans vs. the Public Sector
So, let’s be clear: it’s not about the budget. As the facts have emerged in the 2011 Wisconsin crisis with Governor Scott Walker’s move against... Read More
Who Gets Plowed in New York?
After the first huge snow storm on December 26, my family was asking two questions: a) where are the damn snowplows in our Brooklyn neighborhood?;... Read More