Entries by Paul Becker

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JANUARY BITS AND PIECES

UAW STEPS UP DRIVE TO UNIONIZE NON-UNION AUTO PLANTS After gaining the best contract in decades for auto workers from the US Big Three a few months ago, UAW President Sean Fain announced that the union would be begin an organizing drive among the non-union auto plants in the country. A second early result this […]

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UNIONS REGISTER BIG GAINS IN RECENT MONTHS

Some big wins for labor over the past couple of months have signaled the rising power of the union movement. It may well be the opening shot across the bow against corporate attacks on unions over the last four decades that has resulted in a steady decline in the standard of living of working people. […]

AUTO WORKRS STRIKE SIGNALS A NEW CHAPTER IN UNION MILITANCY

The biggest news on the labor front this month is the strike by the United Auto Workers against selective plants of the Big Three auto makers. What makes it particularly ground-breaking is that, it signals the reawakening of the UAW, a union born in the militancy of the 1936-37sit-down strike against GM in Flint, Michigan. […]

AUTOWORKERS TAKE ON BIG THREE IN HISTORIC STRIKE

Once upon a time, autoworkers had the best jobs in American manufacturing industries. It was a time when unions were instrumental in building our country’s middle class. Workers at GM, Ford, and Chrysler were able to buy the new cars they were producing. They were able to afford a modest home, to send their children […]

BERNIE SANDERS: ON LABOR DAY, 2023

On this Labor Day, when labor is stirring all over the country after a summer of strikes and union organizing, along with wide public approval of unions, it is fitting to reprint a tribute to the holiday by US Senator Bernie Sanders that were first printed in The Guardian, 9/4 By Bernie Sanders Why this Labor […]

SEPTEMBER BITS AND PIECES

3 UNIONS COOPERATING TO UNIONIZE DELTA AIRLINES In what is a novel partnership, three unions are collaborating to organize workers at Delta Airlines, the company that, until now, has been the least unionized of all the air carriers. At Delta, only 20 percent of its work force is unionized (mostly the pilots) compared with about […]

NYC RETIREES WIN BIG VICTORY

New York City retirees won major victory earlier this month when a state Supreme Court judge permanently enjoined the city from switching retirees from their traditional Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan. Retirees have been fighting this change that the city is trying to force down their throats for two years. The scheme is the […]

NEWLY SPIRITED UAW LAYS OUT BARGAINING DEMANDS TO AUTO MAKERS

The Big Three auto manufacturers – GM, Ford and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) are facing a different kind of union leadership as negotiations began on a new contract this year. With some of the old leaders now in jail, guilty of embezzling union funds and a referendum two years ago that mandated direct elections of the […]

AUGUST BITS AND PIECES

OHIO AFL-CIO A KEY FACTOR IN DEFEAT OF GOP ATTACK ON DEMOCRACY The news last week was filled with stories about the defeat of Ohio Republicans’ attempt to make it harder for citizens to amend the state constitution. A referendum introduced by Republicans in the legislature on a strictly partisan vote would have made it […]