Commentary
Dow Jones Newswire: A Safety Net For UAL Execs, Not For Workers (Jan. 17, 2003)
It's a hard time to be a UAL Corp. (UAL) employee. Being a top UAL executive, on the other hand, is at least a little more comfortable, writes Dows Jones Newswire columnist Michael Rapoport.

Commentary
What Does Bush's Proposed Economic Stimulus Package Mean for Working People? (Jan. 7, 2003)
LRA Executive Director Greg Tarpinian appeared on CNBC's Morning Call to discuss the Bush economic stimulus and tax-cut plan.

Commentary
New York City Transit Workers Are Fighting for All Workers (Dec. 12, 2002)
The struggle is not between the transit workers and the people of New York City, as the Mayor and the newspapers would have it. The TWU's struggle is for all New York workers.

Commentary
Workers Should Be Wary of Changes to the Nation's Overtime Law (Nov. 22, 2002)
Unions and workers must fight to ensure that big business does not do away with the 40-hour work week.

Commentary
Unions Will Continue the Fight for Working Families in America (Nov. 8, 2002)
Corporate America helped the Republican party win control of the United States Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday. But the labor movement will be fighting to ensure that the concerns of working families continue to be heard in Washington.

Commentary
Corporate Corruption, Not Workers, Crippled the Economy (Nov. 1, 2002)
Enron. Global Crossing. WorldCom. The dot-com hucksters on Wall Street. These are the folks who helped crash the U.S. economy, wipe out workers' retirement savings, and evaporate millions of jobs. But if you read the financial press you hear that longshoremen, airline unions, and workers who won higher wages are somehow the real threat to the U.S. economy.

Commentary
Bush's Intervention in West Coast Port Negotiations Is an Assault Against Organized Labor in America (Oct. 10, 2002)
As predicted, President Bush has lived up to his reputation as chief union buster by giving West Coast shipping companies what they wanted: federal intervention in labor negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU).

Commentary
Workers' Rights Are Not Obstacles in the War on Terrorism (Sep. 23, 2002)
Bush says he needs more "flexibility" to manage federal workers in his war on terrorism. But taking away collective bargaining rights is a not the answer.

Commentary
Remembering September 11, 2001
September 11, 2002, is a day for us to remember and honor the 3,000 men and women who were killed by acts of terrorism one year ago in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

Commentary
Labor Day Pays Respects to America's Workers. Now, How About Respecting Workers' Rights? (Aug. 29, 2002)
On Labor Day, the nation will honor the working men and women who help make America the richest country in the world. But this year, amid the post-Enron economy of layoffs, corporate corruption, and bursting bubbles, workers in America are facing some sobering realities about corporate power and their misplaced trust in the gods of Wall Street.

Commentary
Bush, Longshore Workers, and the Freedom to Fight for Good Jobs (Aug. 13, 2002)
Americans should not let Bush's hyperbole and fear mongering turn them against the longshore workers. Union members fighting for job security and decent lives do not pose a threat to the nation's health and security.

Commentary
Wall Street Meltdown Worsening Pension Crisis Facing American Workers (Jul. 9, 2002)
The shift from traditional defined-benefit pension plans to defined contribution, 401(k)-type plans has been a disaster for working families in America.

Commentary
Estate Tax Repeal, a Bonus to the Wealthy, Is Wrong for America (Jun. 18, 2002)
Acting responsibly and in the best interest of the country, the U.S. Senate last week defeated a bill to permanently repeal the federal estate tax. Approval of this proposal would have only benefited the richest 2% of Americans, and would have had a significantly negative impact on the country as a whole.

Commentary
No Double Standard: Department of Labor Must Publish Reports Filed By Employers, Anti-Union Consultants (Jun. 6, 2002)
Bush administration publishes union financial reports on the web, but fails to publish reports required by employers and anti-union consultants.

Commentary
Trade Bills Must Include Aid for Workers Left Behind (May 22, 2002)
Both parties in Washington, D.C., have a hand in passing global trade deals that are the kiss of death to American manufacturing jobs. Now, it's time for Congress to get real about providing benefits to workers on the losing end of free trade.

Commentary
Corporations Profiting From Dead Employees. Where Will It End? (Apr. 24, 2002)
How much are you really worth to your employer? The answer to that question may depend on whether you're alive or dead.

Commentary
Supreme Court Ruling on Undocumented Immigrants Is a Blow to All Workers (Mar. 28, 2002)
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday made it easier for employers to harass and intimidate undocumented workers with impunity. In a 5-4 decision on Hoffman Plastic Compounds vs. NRLB (01-1595), the court ruled that employers do not have to pay back wages when they illegally fire undocumented workers for union activities protected under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Commentary
Should Workers Be Blamed for Believing a Company's Lies? (Jan. 22, 2002)
Enron employees trusted a system that cannot be trusted. They believed in something that was not real. And they got burned. And now they are being told that they shouldn't have put so much faith in the company's stock.

Commentary
The Enron Collapse: Symptom of a Corrupt Economic System (Jan, 21, 2002)
Not since the Junk Bond and Savings & Loan scandals of the 1980's have the fundamentals of U.S. capitalism been so shaken. The collapse of Enron is more than a story about a single company going under. It is more than a story of influence peddling and shady deals. Enron is a vignette in a bigger story about the inherent corruption in the system of capital accumulation itself.

Commentary
Bush Lets Law-Breaking Contractors Off the Hook (Dec 31, 2001)
Playing Santa Claus to big business, the Bush administration last week overturned rules issued by the Clinton Administration that would have prohibited the federal government from awarding contracts to businesses that violate labor, environmental, and consumer-protection laws.

Commentary
When Companies Will Do Anything for Cheap Labor (Dec. 20, 2001)
The news that six managers at Tyson Foods Inc., the nation's largest producer of poultry products, were indicted by the federal government for allegedly smuggling in illegal immigrants from Mexico to work in the company's plants is just another example of Corporate America's contempt for the law.

Commentary
'Invisible Hand' Not a Solution; Laid-Off Workers Need More Protection (Nov. 15, 2001)
In freshman economic classes, students learn that in a free-market economy such as the United States there is an "invisible hand" guiding how much gets produced, how much things cost, how much workers should get paid, etc. But when the economy starts to decline, and millions of workers lose their jobs, the invisible hand stops delivering.

Commentary
Airport Security Workers Should Be Employed by the Federal Government (Oct. 29, 2001)
It is time to take airport security seriously, and that means passing legislation now that gives the federal government control and makes it a professional law enforcement job.

Commentary
Workers' Right to Strike Should Not Be Condemned (Oct. 9, 2001)
The war against terrorism is just. Eliminating the right to strike in response to it would not be. The right to strike is a critical part of the democracy the war on terrorism seeks to preserve.

Commentary
Is This 'Normal'? Airlines Stiffing Unions, Congress Wavering on Support for Dislocated Workers, and Big Tax Cuts for Corporations (Sep. 28. 2001)
During this time of national tragedy, there is little room for the pursuit of narrow self-interest. Or so it would seem. But when Congress refuses to include relief for the more than 100,000 laid-off airline workers in a $15 billion bailout package, it begins to look like the interests of corporations and their investors are the only real concern in Washington.

Commentary
The Time Is Right for Labor's Push on Immigration Reform (Aug. 16, 2001)
Politics can make strange bedfellows. That's the only way to describe the new potential coincidence of interests between the Bush Administration and the labor movement on the issue of immigration.

Commentary
The Vote on China: Labor Did Not Lose. But Will It Draw the Right Lessons? (May 25, 2000)
The pundits are now calling the passage of Permanent Normal Trading Relations (PNTR) for China a defeat for labor. That's wrong. The truth is that labor waged a mighty and effective campaign against Corporate America and raised the fundamental issue of global worker rights in a way that has never been done before.

Commentary
As Unemployment Shrinks, So Does Job Security (May 19, 2000)
The U.S. economy has been experiencing headlong growth, generating millions of new jobs and soaring profits for corporations. But loss of well-paying jobs in manufacturing is still a reality for many workers.

Commentary
Fearing Inflation in the Long Run the Fed Raises Interest Rates, Ignoring That 'In the Long Run, We Are All Dead' (May 16, 2000)
Alan Greenspan, the nation's chief banker, appears to be following the logic of a self-fullfilling prophesy: Give the financial markets what I pretty much told them to expect, and they will take it easy. But what will happen to the economy?

Commentary
Fearing Well-Paid Workers (August 1999)
For most people, landing a job or getting a raise is good news and cause for celebration. But when Wall Street investors hear that jobs are abundant and workers’ wages are rising, they act like they have just been handed a death sentence.

Commentary
Plenty of Jobs - But Not Many Good Ones (June 1999)
Low unemployment in the United States is certainly a welcome trend. But the downside is that many of these new jobs do not pay enough to raise a family or save for a comfortable retirement.

Commentary
The Meaning of Hoffa's Victory (Dec. 1998)
A vote for Hoffa was seen as a vote to restore the power of the Teamsters union.

Commentary
The DC 37 Crisis: Some Proposals for Reform (Dec. 14, 1998)
The District Council 37 AFSCME scandal and crisis affects the whole labor movement, in New York City and beyond. The question for trade unionists is how to turn this enormously negative set of circumstances into a basis for positive change.