Samantha Winslow

Dining Workers Strike at Harvard, World's Richest University

On October 5, instead of setting up breakfast for thousands of college students, 750 cafeteria workers at the richest university in the world kicked off their first strike in three decades.

Harvard University’s dining hall workers are demanding a living wage of $35,000 a year, and fighting administration efforts to increase co-pays on top of already costly health insurance plans.

Portland Teachers Expose Lead in Schools

The school superintendent in Portland, Oregon, has resigned amid a widening scandal, after news broke that the district waited months to tell the public that drinking water at two elementary schools had tested positive for lead.

Even school employees only learned about the elevated lead levels at Creston and Rose City Park when a local newspaper ran an exposé.

Teachers Arrested Protesting Police Brutality in the Twin Cities

As teachers gathered in Minneapolis for the American Federation of Teachers convention, the two Twin Cities teachers unions led a march to protest the recent police killing of an African American man, Philando Castile, at a traffic stop..

Teachers Take On Student Discipline

Teachers are drawing attention to racial disparities in suspensions and the "school-to-prison pipeline."

Chicago Teachers to Strike for Public Schools and Services

The Chicago Teachers Union will hold a one-day strike and citywide day of action April 1.

Welcoming New Members to the Table

Hamstrung by harsh legal limits on collective bargaining, the teachers union in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, doesn’t wait to welcome new employees in.

This Shopping Is No Fun

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blogger's alley
Author(s): 
Samantha Winslow

Whether we like it or not, every December Labor Notes staffers get a firsthand look at how the new state health insurance exchanges are working.

I’ve had four different health plans in about three years here. After our old plan was discontinued with the advent of the Affordable Care Act, we had to switch to an inferior plan, bought through the exchange.

Then, two years in a row, we got a letter announcing a dramatic price hike—by 36 percent in 2015, and 28 percent this year—forcing us to scramble to change plans to keep premiums down.

Teachers Hold Walk-In Protests in 30 Cities

Locals from both major teacher unions participated in “walk-ins” on February 17 to “reclaim our schools.”

Colorado Teachers and Parents Recall Hostile School Board Members

Teachers and parents beat the Koch brothers' campaign money by knocking on 100,000 doors.

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