Entries by Paul Becker

MARCH BITS AND PIECES

DHS WIDENS PROBE INTO ILLEGAL MIGRANT CHILD LABOR The Department of Homeland Security has widened its investigation into migrant children found cleaning slaughterhouses and is now working with the Justice Department to examine whether a human smuggling scheme brought migrant children to work in multiple slaughterhouses for multiple companies across multiple states, according to two […]

A NOTE FROM THE SUPREME COURT’S PAST

This current US Supreme Court has people worrying about some of its recent horrible decisions. Now the country is awaiting a decision that could virtually cripple a union’s right to strike (see item Pending Supreme Court case … on then Labor News page of this website). But a reactionary Supreme Court is nothing new. Privileged […]

FEBRUARY BITS AND PIECES

STRIKE VOTE AUTHORIZED AT CATERPILLAR Caterpillar, the big farm equipment manufacturer, is facing a possible strike in a few weeks after 6,000 members at its plants in Illinois and Pennsylvania voted overwhelmingly to authorize one. Their contract expires March 1.  A powerful encouragement for the Caterpillar labor action has been the strike at another farm […]

A NOTE FROM THE SUPREME COURT’S PAST

We describe on this page some episodes in the history of the American labor movement in the hope that it will prove inspiring to the generation of young workers in offices and restaurants and coffee shops and warehouses and factories around our country  who are fighting to build their unions, and in the process, to […]

PENDING SUPREME COURT CASE COULD CRIPPLE UNIONS’ BARGAINING POWER

The US Supreme Court is scheduled hand down a decision in April that may severely curtail labor unions’ most important weapon – the right to strike. The unions are nervously sitting on edge for the outcome of the case, which was argued before the court on January 10. The case involves Glacier Northwest, Inc., a […]

NYC AND UNIONS HIT IMPASSE OVER NEW CONTRACTS

The efforts by New York City Mayor Eric Adamas and the heads of municipal unions in the Municipal Labor Council to push retirees out of Medicare and into a cheaper Medicare Advantage plan have led to a stalemate that is stonewalling negotiations on a new labor contract for 300,000 unionized city workers. Under the proposed […]