Troublemakers Blog
July 29, 2020 /
The ask was clear and self-explanatory: a starting salary of $25,000 and permanent status after four years.
Somerville’s paraprofessional educators made this demand over and over during the course of protracted and contentious negotiations over a contract that expired August 31, 2019. We made the demand on social media, at community meetings and rallies, and in »
July 29, 2020 /
July 24, 2020 /
Relief—that’s what Niki Gurgen, a personal support worker (PSW) at the Hillcrest Reactivation Centre rehabilitation hospital in Toronto felt when she heard about the $4 per hour “pandemic premium” the Ontario government was providing to health care and other essential workers. »
July 24, 2020 /
The battle for union democracy is uphill but crucial to reviving a fighting labor movement. No person did more to advance it than Herman Benson (1915-2020), founder of the Association for Union Democracy. »
July 24, 2020 /
When your hospital’s business plan is built around making workers less safe from COVID, the path to striking during a pandemic becomes much clearer.
Workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Sonoma County, California, are wrapping up a five-day strike today. It’s the largest health care worker strike during COVID and, as insane as it might sound, we’re fighting »
July 21, 2020 /
I felt a jolt when I heard the news of the Supreme Court’s ruling: the 1964 Civil Rights Act (which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in hiring, promoting, and firing) also protects LGBTQ workers. »
July 20, 2020 /
Detroit-area teachers mounted a five-stop car caravan today, determined to tell administrators “Safe School or No School!” »
July 20, 2020 /
Unions Need To Reckon with Their Own Histories
On June 9 the General Board of the AFL-CIO adopted a “comprehensive set of recommendations ... to address America’s long history of racism and police violence against black people." »
July 16, 2020 / Alexandra Bradbury
This month’s magazine is bittersweet; it’s the last one with Samantha Winslow’s name on the masthead, as she leaves the staff. »
July 15, 2020 /
“After COVID-19, they put a sign up saying ‘heroes work here,’ but they sure aren’t treating us like that in bargaining,” said Olga Deschamps, a nurse at AMITA St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Illinois. »