Labor Strategies
Presidential Candidate John Edwards to Keynote LRA's 30th Awards Dinner (January 23, 2007)
LRA's Board of Directors invites you to join with other distinguished labor leaders and supporters in co-chairing LRA's 30th Annual Labor Awards Dinner. We have an amazing night already planned for the dinner, which brings together hundreds of the most influential people in labor: our keynote speaker will be Democratic presidential candidate and a great friend of labor, John Edwards. And we will be honoring Greg Tarpinian, the executive director of Change To Win and LRA's executive director from 1984 through early 2006. The dinner will be held Wednesday, April 11, 2007, at the Hilton Hotel in New York City.

Benefits
The Growing Gap in Benefits (September 15, 2006)
The new 2006 survey of benefits from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) offers a close look at the huge gap that exists between benefits for union and nonunion workers and for low-wage and higher-wage workers. The bottom line is that union workers continue to receive benefits that are far superior to those provided for nonunion workers, and most low-wage workers are not covered by benefit plans or cannot afford to participate in them.

Benefits
Undermining Retiree Health Benefits (July 10, 2006)
Employers are pocketing vast taxpayer-funded Medicare subsidies for retiree health plans while curtailing or eliminating benefits. The subsidies, which Congress provided under the auspices of encouraging employers to maintain their retiree plans, have simply supplied employers with extra cash.

Workers' Rights
Backtracking at the EEOC (June 13, 2006)
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the primary federal agency for enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, is facing a $4.2 million budget cut, another blow to workers from the Bush administration.

The Economy
Poverty Drives Immigration (May 17, 2006)
As Bush continues to troll for votes to shore up Republicans in the November elections, the immigration debate moves further away from any informed discussion of why workers uproot themselves and make treacherous journeys to other countries, only to take miserable jobs with employers who exploit them in every imaginable way.

Labor Strategies
LRA Executive Director Greg Tarpinian Moves on to Change to Win (February 13, 2006)
Greg Tarpinian, the Executive Director of the Labor Research Association since 1983, has resigned to join the new Change to Win federation as its Executive Director.

Benefits
Union Advantage For Benefits Grows Wider (October 11, 2005)
Union workers receive employer-paid benefits that far exceed the benefits employers provide for nonunion workers, and the union advantage is growing wider. For years, employers have been canceling benefit coverage and shifting more of the remaining costs to workers. Unions have been able to fight off this employer attack on benefits, but nonunion workers have been left with inadequate health care protections and no retirement security.

Labor Strategies
Help the Victims of Hurricane Katrina (September 7, 2005)
Labor unions around the United States and throughout the world are rallying to aid the people whose lives have been thrown into chaos by Hurricane Katrina. Many unions have created special disaster relief funds to help out. Volunteers are also needed. To find out what the unions are doing and how you can help, click here.

Campaigns
Breaking Through the Noise Part II: How Grassroots Campaigns Can Have an Impact on Capitol Hill (August 8, 2005)
These days it's easier to send a letter to your congressman, but it's harder to be heard and even harder to have a real impact. For unions and other policy-oriented member organizations, it's still possible, but only if groups follow the new rules that are required to break through the noise in Washington.

Labor Law
Union Members Hit Harder By Job Loss Numbers (July 27, 2005)
Time for Card Check to Reverse the Course
Although high ongoing unemployment in a number of industries has depleted union membership and pushed the unionization rate down to record lows, job losses in heavily unionized sectors do not account for the decline in union membership since the 2001 recession. Rapid deunionization is occurring among the existing jobs in manufacturing and other industries. Card check recognition is essential to reverse the declines in union sectors.

Labor Law
Time to Legally Protect Card-Check (July 14, 2005)
The freedom to join a union is a basic right guaranteed under the law. But as two new reports show, the main process whereby workers can choose union representation — NLRB-certified elections — stacks the odds unfairly in favor of employers waging aggressive anti-union campaigns. The studies — one commissioned by Congress Republicans and another by the non-profit American Rights at Work — reveal that alternatives like card-check recognition create a more level playing field, allowing workers to choose with less employer harassment and intimidation.

Campaigns
Breaking Through the Noise: Reaching Overwhelmed Voters (July 11, 2005)
Unions, grassroots organizations and political campaigns increasingly need to focus on reaching and mobilizing candidates with precision and laser-like focus. That often means communicating with individual voters on a one-to-one basis. Fundamentally, there are two ways to do that. One is door-to-door canvassing, which can be very effective but can also be difficult to organize, and expensive and inefficient when done on a large scale. Phones are the other mechanism. True, they can irritate people, especially when they interrupt dinner. But, done correctly, they can persuade voters and move them to the polls.

Jobs
The Costco Challenge: An Alternative to Wal-Martization? (July 5, 2005)
Costco Wholesale Corp. is breaking the Wal-Mart mold. While Wal-Mart pays an average of $9.68 an hour, the average hourly wage of employees of the Issaquah, Wash.-based warehouse club operator is $16. After three years a typical full-time Costco worker makes about $42,000, and the company foots 92% of its workers’ health insurance tab. How does Costco pull it off? How can a discount retail chain pay middle-class wages and still bring in over $880 million in net revenues? And, a cynic may ask, with Wal-Mart wages becoming the norm, why does it bother?

Benefits
Union Advantage Reaches New Highs (June 23, 2005)
Since the 2001 recession, wages and benefits for nonunion workers have been pushed down, while wages and benefits for union workers have remained more consistent and rising costs for health care have pushed up the benefits portion of hourly costs of union workers.

Labor Strategies
Restore the American Dream: Reform Coalition Issues Growth Plan (May 16, 2005)
Calling the recent proposals of the current AFL-CIO leadership, “too little too late,” a coalition of reformist unions issued its own plan today to revitalize the labor movement by focusing on growth to empower workers in America. The proposal is being sent to all 27,000 union locals throughout the country.

Labor
Union Members Salute IBT General Secretary-Treasurer Keegel and LRA at 29th Annual Labor Awards Dinner (May 2, 2005)
On Thursday, April 21, over 1,000 union leaders, members, activists and supporters joined the Labor Research Association (LRA) in New York City to honor C. Thomas Keegel, General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) at LRA’s 29th Annual Labor Awards Dinner.

Bargaining
The Rebirth of Minority-Union Bargaining? (April 29, 2005)
Review: With the labor movement facing a crisis of declining numbers and power, the publication of a new analysis of the possibility of using the law to advance workers rights is welcome. In "The Blue Eagle at Work: Reclaiming Democratic Rights in the American Workplace," labor law scholar Charles J. Morris’ looks to the law for a lifeline. In it he claims that there is a hidden legal tool that unions should now use to gain leverage and grow their membership: the right to minority-union bargaining.

Workers' Rights
Obstacles Grow for Workers Facing Discrimination (March 14, 2005)
The Class Action Fairness Act that became law on February 18 will make it much more difficult for workers facing job discrimination and unfair pay practices to pursue class action law suits against employers.

Labor Strategies
A Vision for Change: Statement of Principles (March 3, 2005)
A statement from IBT President Hoffa, UFCW President Hansen, LIUNA President O'Sullivan, SEIU President Stern, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Burger, UNITE-HERE President Raynor & UNITE-HERE President/Hospitality Industry Wilhelm on the future of the American labor movement.

Bargaining
Bargaining Objectives (March 1, 2005)
Collective bargaining in 2005 will suffer under the double weight of soft labor markets and high benefit costs. Major contract negotiations are scheduled for unions in a wide range of industries, including food retailing, construction, transportation and health care.

Union Stats
More Union Jobs Disappear in the "Recovery" (February 2, 2005)
Four years of Republican control and a jobless recovery have wiped out more union jobs in manufacturing and pushed more public sector workers into nonunion positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released new data on union membership for 2004, documenting the ongoing decline in private sector unionization and an alarming drop in public sector unionization as well.

Bargaining
Two-Tier and Lump Sum Contracts Reappear (January 11, 2005)
The United Auto Workers' January 9 ratification of a new six-year contract with Caterpillar Inc. is part of the reemergence of two-tier pay systems, which pay lower wages to new workers. Under the new Caterpillar agreement, new hires will make $10 to $15 per hour depending on job classification, compared with veteran workers who started at $20 to $22 per hour. Current "supplemental" workers who become full-time workers will make about $17 an hour under the new contract.

Benefits
Union Advantage Grows (November 15, 2005)
The already substantial union advantage for employee benefits has increased in recent years, according to new survey data. Unions have been able to preserve the most important benefits for their members, while nonunion workers have not been able to withstand the huge employer push to cut coverage and shift costs on to employees.

Labor Law
November Election Will Determine the Fate of the NLRB (October 1, 2004)
The outcome of the 2004 presidential election will determine the viability and the direction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency charged with protecting workers’ rights and conducting elections for union representation.

Benefits
First Steps Toward Real Health Care Solutions (September 15, 2004)
The unmistakable failure of the U.S. health care system has reached a point where proposals for a national solution no longer seem implausible. In its new report on the health care crisis, the National Coalition on Health Care calls for comprehensive, system-wide reform, with mandatory universal coverage. This proposal, coming from an organization that counts among its members some of the largest corporations in the U.S., signals the willingness of some employers to rethink health care issues at a fundamental level.

Labor
Low-Wage Nation (June 22, 2004)
Walmart is not alone, and together with other large service sector employers is defining the new industrial landscape and the structure of the U.S. working class. Although the portion of large companies in the U.S. has remained relatively stable over the past decade, the industrial composition of the largest companies has continued to shift dramatically from relatively high-wage, unionized industrials to low-wage, nonunion retailers.

Benefits
The Employer Based Health Care System is in Crisis (June 6, 2004)
For the first time in more than four decades, a majority of Americans working in the private sector no longer receive health care coverage from their employers. And those that do receive coverage are being forced to pay for an increasing share of it out of their own pockets. Moreover, as the gap between the coverage between union and non-union workers grows, the competitive advantage of the non-union sector is growing with it - giving non-union employers greater incentive to fight organizing drives.

Bargaining
Profit Surge Should Ease Bargaining Climate (May 13, 2004)
Although bargaining conditions are still difficult, the current surge in corporate profits provides more favorable conditions for wage gains than workers have seen for several years, and better conditions than they may see in 2005

Bush Administration
Corporations Bankroll Bush (April 15, 2004)
U.S. corporate executives are the primary force behind the funding of President Bush's $180 million 2004 election campaign war chest. By early April, Bush had raised so much money that he suspended all further fund-raising. He now has the largest campaign fund of any candidate in U.S. history - almost double the amount he raised for the 2000 election.

Jobs
Bush Policies Guarantee Long-Term High Unemployment (March 29, 2004)
The Bush administration's policies are part of the problem of persistent long-term unemployment for million of Americans, not part of the solution. An average of 80,000 jobs have been lost for each month Bush has been in office. Bush now says he will fight for job growth if he is re-elected, but his 2005 budget reduces funding for training and employment programs across the board.

Union Stats
Job Losses Erode Union Membership (February 23, 2004)
Ongoing layoffs and the anti-union posture of the Bush administration are slicing union membership. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released new data on union membership for 2003, documenting the ongoing decline in private sector unionization. The number of workers who are union members fell by 369,000 to 15.8 million

Jobs
Bush Immigration Proposal Slammed by Labor and Conservatives (February 23, 2004)
President Bush rang in the new year with a policy broadside against America’s workers, proposing a cynical guest worker plan to staff the most menial of available jobs while creating no new path to citizenship for the foreign laborers who take on the work.

The Economy
New Year, New Lows for Bush, Republican Congress (February 23, 2004)
President Bush bestowed some belated holiday gifts on Republican conservatives, launching 2004 with a stack of giveaways to alienated party faithfuls in this increasingly competitive election year.

Economy
The Year Ahead (Dec. 23, 2003)
The U.S. recovery has not translated into a surge in hiring or higher wages, and most economists expect this pattern to hold through 2004. Although the recovery will form the broad context for contract negotiations in 2004, downward pressure on wages will continue and employers will show a sharp resistance to any contract improvements. This disjuncture between economic conditions and the bargaining climate is the end result of two full years of high unemployment and the successful ratcheting down of real wages and worker expectations.

Wages
State AFL-CIO Reports Illustrate Economic Hardship Under Bush II (Dec. 18, 2003)
The latest economic data suggest the economy is staging a growth turnaround, but working families across the country remain in financial danger, according to a new series of state AFL-CIO reports.

Benefits
Medicare Legislation: Another Blow to Retiree Health Plans (Dec. 3, 2003)
The new Medicare legislation passed by Congress on November 25 gives employers yet another reason to terminate retiree health coverage for the 11.6 million workers who now receive benefits. With health care costs out of control, many employers have already canceled or severely restricted coverage for retirees, and the new legislation will push many more to do so.

Labor Law
Congressional Democrats Seek to Streamline Unionization Process With Card Check Bills (Nov. 13, 2003)
Even while the Bush administration focuses on neutering the labor movement and mindlessly rewarding the rich, warriors in Congress are still fighting for hard-working families, striving to make it easier for employees to form unions and bringing the message to the voting public ahead of the November 2004 elections.

Labor
SALUTING LOCAL 1199 SEIU (Oct. 23, 2003)
Greg Tarpinian's remarks at the Labor Research Association's 28th Annual Labor Awards Dinner

Union Stats
Unions a Powerful Force Lifting All Workers, Study Finds (October 7, 2003)
Unions’ positive impact on workers’ wages, job security and benefits is well documented, but what isn’t as widely acknowledged is how these higher standards raise the compensation and improve the work lives of even non-unionized workers.

Organizing
White-Collar Workers Flocking to Unions; Professionals Now Approaching Half of AFL-CIO Union Membership (October 7, 2003)
A record 66,000 new white-collar workers joined unions in 2002, and their fast-growing ranks in organized labor are projected to swell to more than 11 million strong by 2010, according to a fresh AFL-CIO report.

Labor Law
New Congressional Report Blasts Failed Bush Economic Policies (Sept. 4, 2003)
Almost as though it's according to plan, the last three years have seen extraordinary erosions in both labor law and the fabric of working family life in America.

Wages
House Republicans Take Aim at Construction Industry Wages (Sept. 4, 2003)
As Congress returns to Washington from August recess to complete its annual spending spree, a first-term Republican lawmaker seeking to curry favor with her party's leadership is pushing to cut wages on federally funded highway construction projects.

Labor Law
AFGE Takes Battle with Bush Administration to Global Arena (Sept. 4, 2003)
Seeking to stunt President Bush's egregious anti-worker policies, the nation's largest government employees' union has formally charged the administration with violating international labor standards.

Jobs
Overtime Showdown Looms in Senate (August 1, 2003)
When Senate Democrats return from August congressional recess, they face the daunting task of foiling the Bush administration’s assault on the 40-hour workweek and overtime pay protections.

Jobs
ILO Report: Workplace Discrimination Can Stunt Economic Growth (July 7, 2003)
Job discrimination is bad for business, according to a new report by the United Nations’ International Labor Organization (ILO).

Bargaining
Wal-Mart Butchers Force Anti-Union Retailer to Eat Crow (July 7, 2003)
After elaborate trickery designed to blunt union activity, the world’s largest retailer has been forced to recognize and bargain with a United Food and Commercial Workers local.

Labor Law
New Bush-Appointed NLRB Could Cause Serious Damage to Labor Law (June 24, 2003)
Yet another weapon in the Bush administration’s anti-worker arsenal is the freshly packed National Labor Relations Board, the five-member body charged with enforcing federal labor laws.

Labor Law
Something Smells at Wal-Mart: Sex Discrimination Charges Underscore Stubborn Anti-Union Culture (June 2, 2003)
Years of systematic union busting at the largest U.S. retailer may soon be indirectly punished, as more than a million current and former female Wal-Mart workers prepare a class-action sex discrimination lawsuit.

Labor Law
Pentagon Power Grab Knocks Down 750,000 Civilian Defense Workers (May 27, 2003)
Building on the liberties taken with labor at the new Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Secretary’s sweeping personnel overhaul plan would hit more than 750,000 civilian Pentagon workers, and Congress is well on its way to ratifying it.

Bargaining
Perfect Storm Part II : Pension Costs Exert Additional Pressure On Bargaining (May 16, 2003)
Employers looking for deep concessions in bargaining based on rising benefit costs cite both soaring health insurance premiums and new pension funding requirements.

Labor Law
Bush, Republican Congress Aim to Choke Off Overtime Pay, Eligibility (May 2, 2003)
Bit by bit, Republicans in Washington are squeezing working families, most recently by targeting the 40-hour workweek and the basic right to overtime pay.

Bargaining
Health Care Costs Increase Bargaining Pressures (Apr. 30, 2003)
A perfect storm of rising health care costs, falling pension asset values, and high unemployment is pushing wages down and putting more pressure on bargaining as unions move into contract talks in the second half of 2003.

Budget crisis
New York Unions Strike Back at Bloomberg (April 30, 2003)
20,000 municipal employees rally at New York's City Hall against Mayor Bloomberg's budget cuts and proposed layoffs.

Labor Strategies
NYC Doormen Enter 11th-Hour Negotiations in Strong Position (April 22, 2003)
Bolstered by recent organizing victories that by summertime will add about 2,500 new members to their regional rolls, New York City’s doormen and building service workers can confidently head into final negotiations with luxury-building bosses.

Labor Law
New Hampshire Republicans Join Labor to Hand Right-to-Workers Stinging Defeat (April 14, 2003)
New Hampshire’s Republican state House handed anti-union agitators a crushing defeat on March 26 by killing a so-called right-to-work bill that would have outlawed fair-share fees.

Unions
Unions Swamp Albany to Say No to Budget Cuts (April 3, 2003)
Over 30,000 union members ascend on the Capitol with a unified message: Budget cuts are the wrong way to solve the state's fiscal woes.

Labor Strategies
Labor and the Airline Crisis (April 2, 2003)
Airlines are in crisis. Many are filing for bankruptcy. Throughout all of this, the unions that represent airline workers are doing their best to preserve the wages, benefits and working conditions that they’ve fought so hard for over the years. And it’s not an easy task.

Workers' Rights
On Anniversary of Historic Triangle Fire, Landmark Designated (April 1, 2003)
Just before closing time, on March 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in lower Manhattan. In less than 15 minutes, the fire had swept through three floors and left 146 workers, mostly immigrant women, dead.

Unions
Bush On Labor - "Worse than Ronald Reagan" (Mar. 27, 2003)
He promised compassionate conservatism in his 2000 presidential campaign, but for working families, President Bush has delivered anything but since being installed in the White House.

Jobs
Union Rolls Fall in 2002 as Economy Sours, Sept. 11 Fallout Continues (Mar. 4, 2003)
U.S. union membership followed the economy's direction last year, dropping to 13.2% of workers from a revised 13.4% in 2001, but women, African American and public sector membership rates lost no ground, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported last week.

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.

Benefits
Rising Health Care Costs Posing Challenges for Unions at the Bargaining Table (Dec. 19, 2002)
The scourge of soaring health care costs is continuing to plague unions, workers and employers.

Workers' Rights
Bankrolling a Union-Buster - Mother Jones (Dec. 16, 2002)
Is the Department of Agriculture backing a federal contractor's union-busting agenda?
Article online at www.motherjones.com

Organizing
AFL-CIO to Hold National Organizing Summit (Dec. 5, 2002)
The AFL-CIO's first National Organizing Summit will assemble hundreds of union organizers from around the labor movement on January 10-11 in Washington, D.C. to begin work on developing new strategic approaches to organizing.

Labor Law
U.S. Supreme Court Lets Stand an Appeals Court Ruling Upholding that Organizing Is Relevant to Collective Bargaining (Nov. 15, 2002)
Decision means that unions can continue to collect agency fees to support most organizing efforts.

Jobs
Unemployment Benefits Rapidly Expiring for Growing Number of Workers (Oct. 30, 2002)
More than 370,000 laid-off workers who got their last extended unemployment check in September were still out of work, bringing the total number of people who have run out of temporary federal benefits to nearly 1.5 million, according to a new report by the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities.

Bargaining
UAW Members Ratify New Contract with International Truck and Engine (Oct. 28, 2002)
Slump in heavy truck sales presented a tough bargaining climate, but union won pension increases and employer-neutrality language on organizing at non-union shops.

Bargaining
Workers at Boston Medical Center Ratify Three-Year Contract Covering 1,600 (Oct. 28, 2002)
SEIU Local 285 won new contract that will raise wages for all workers above $10.55 to provide a "living wage."

Labor Law
U.S. Appeals Court Upholds Limits on Employers' Ability to Film Workers for Union-Busting Videos (Oct. 23, 2002)
Rules established by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that limit an employer's ability to solicit workers to participate in union-busting videos are legally sound, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently ruled.

Bargaining
Janitors Win Month-Long Strike in Boston With Victory on Health Care Issue (Oct. 23, 2002)
Union wins full-paid health care benefits for some part-time janitors, agreement also includes a 30% wage increase and paid-sick leave.

Pensions
Stock Market Slump Bleeding Traditional Pension Funds; Unions Can Expect Battles Over Pension Costs at the Bargaining Table (Oct. 17, 2002)
While the bursting of the dot-com bubble and accounting fraud committed by Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing and other corporate outlaws have wiped out the assets of workers' 401(k) retirement accounts, corporations and unions have also seen traditional pension plan assets plummet in the wake of the stock market's collapse.

Benefits
Unions Helped Make Paid Family Leave a Reality in California (Oct. 7, 2002)
Organized labor played a lead role in making California the first state to enact a paid family leave law. Now the push is on to pass laws in other states and make family leave a real option for the millions of workers who need it but cannot afford it.

Obituary
The Labor Movement Loses One of Its Best: Tony Mazzocchi
Working people lost one of their greatest champions of workplace and health and safety rights with the death of Tony Mazzocchi, 76, of pancreatic cancer on October 5. Mazzocchi was a member of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers (PACE) International Union and the former Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) for 52 years.

Bargaining
Lockout Escalates Standoff at West Coast Ports (Oct. 2, 2002)
With shipping companies having locked out union members, shutting down 29 ports along the West Coast, tensions are rising in the ongoing labor dispute.

Union Busting Watch
Armor Maker to Face NLRB Complaint; Workers Allegedly Fired for Union Activities (Sep. 24, 2002)
Workers at a plant in Florida making body armor for the U.S. military were illegally fired for supporting union organizing efforts, according to charges filed by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).

Bargaining
Contract Brings Health Benefits, Wage Increases for Home Health Aides in New York City (Sep. 20, 2002)
After threatening an unprecedented strike, more than 3,000 home health aides in New York City finally won a union contract on September 18 that provides them with health insurance benefits and a raise in pay.

Bargaining
Boeing Rides to Victory on Fear and Confusion (Sep. 17, 2002)
After playing on workers' fears in a weak economy, the Boeing corporation shoved a weak contract down the throats of 26,000 union members. Editorial writers at the Seattle Times hailed the contract settlement as "splendid news." But there is nothing pretty about a massive corporation beating down its workers.

Workers' Rights
Unions Give Workers the Power to Fight Forced Overtime (Sep. 12, 2002)
During periods of high unemployment, workers who are lucky enough to keep their jobs are commonly forced by managers to pick up the slack by working more overtime hours and taking on duties once performed by colleagues who are now drawing unemployment. But without a union, workers have few options for refusing mandatory overtime.

Stats & Data
Union Political Contributions in 2000 Elections (Sep. 5, 2002)
Unions gave $90 million in direct campaign contributions to political candidates in the 2000 federal election, a pittance compared with the $1.2 billion that businesses and corporations handed out to the nation's leaders.

Bargaining
Machinists Bargaining Hard for Job Security at Boeing (Aug. 27, 2002)
As negotiations between Boeing and 26,000 members of the International Association of Machinists come down to the wire, the union is standing firm to win increased job security, among other issues.

Pensions
Wall Street Journal: Once High-Flying 401(k)s Pale Beside Payouts From Pensions (Aug. 16, 2002)
As more Americans realize that stock-laden 401(k) pension plans offer no guarantee of an adequate retirement income, the traditional defined-benefit plan may make a comeback.

Campaigns
AFL-CIO Brings Campaign Against Corporate Greed to Wall Street (Jul. 31, 2002)
Thousands of union members and other supporters gathered on Wall Street today to hear AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and laid-off workers from Enron, Arthur Andersen, and WorldCom speak out against rampant corporate corruption.

Bargaining
Six Elements in the Teamsters Victory at UPS (July, 25, 2002)
The Teamsters $9.3 billion contract at UPS in a moment of economic crisis came as a surprise to many. So what were the elements that came together to produce the "best contract" in Teamster-UPS history?

Bargaining
Highlights of the Teamster-UPS Agreement (Jul. 17, 2002)
The Teamster Union's contract at UPS is being hailed throughout the media as an historic agreement - "the richest contract in Teamster history." Indeed, the economic features of the contract are overwhelming, totaling more than $9 billion over six years -- close to UPS' total profits in the last five years -- compared to slightly more than $4 billion for the 1997 agreement that followed a two-week strike.

Bargaining
Wall Street Journal: A Tentative 6-Year Agreement With Teamsters Stabilizes UPS (Jul. 17, 2002)
Teamsters tentative contract with UPS hailed as a victory for union; strike averted.

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.

Union Stats
Percentage of Representation Elections Won by Unions Rose in 2001; but Number of New Workers Organized Dropped (Jun 25, 2002)
2001 was another tough year for unions at private-sector workplaces, according to a new report on union organizing activity under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Union Busting Watch
Former Las Vegas Waiter Tells Senate Panel of Problems Forming Union (Jun. 21, 2002)
A hotel worker and union organizer in Las Vegas last week told a U.S. Senate committee about the assault he faced when his coworkers tried to form a union at the Santa Fe hotel in 1996.

Bargaining
UAW Success at Johnson Controls Could Spark Other Victories (Jun. 21, 2002)
The recent UAW strike at Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) was a clear victory and a sign that under new leadership the UAW intends to aggressively use its bargaining leverage to organize new members in the auto industry.

Workers' Rights
U.S. Labor Laws Help Workers Fight for Fair Pay and Justice on the Job (Jun. 14, 2002)
With only 9% of private-sector workforce belonging to a union, the vast majority of workers do not enjoy the benefits and protection of a union contract. But thanks to federal labor and civil rights laws that unions and other activists have fought for and won in the last 100 years, workers who do not have unions are not entirely defenseless.

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.

Bargaining
Las Vegas Sun: Hotel Workers Union Bargains Hard and Wins in Las Vegas (May 31, 2002)
In a remarkable turnaround, the Culinary Union has risen from its post-Sept. 11 doldrums to negotiate its richest contract ever with the casino industry.

Workers' Rights
Anti-Labor Groups Attacking Workers' Ability to Vote for Unions in Card-Check Elections (May 29, 2002)
It comes as no surprise that anti-union groups are asking the government to ban unions and employers from holding card-check union recognition elections. But if the government is truly concerned about the status of workers' rights in America, then it should start by investigating the widespread worker rights violations that employers commit every day in America.

Wages
Living Wage Law for New York City Aimed at Reducing Poverty (May 17, 2002)
Debate is heating up in New York City over a living-wage proposal aimed at thinning the ranks of the city's working poor.

Wages
$10 Million Back Pay Award for Poultry Workers a Victory; But Too Many Employers Still Breaking Wage Laws ( May 14, 2002)
Putting on safety gear and cleaning equipment are not unpaid work activities, the U.S. Department of Labor has ruled.

Bargaining
Wall Street Journal: Architect of '97 Strike to Lead Teamster Talks With UPS (May 8, 2002)
A primary architect of the 1997 Teamsters strike against United Parcel Service Inc. was named lead negotiator for the latest contract talks, a sign that the union is likely to toughen its tactics as the two sides step up the pace of negotiations.

Bargaining
Hotel Workers Defending Benefits in Contract Talks With Las Vegas Casinos (May 8, 2002)
In the wake of massive layoffs after 9/11 and amid rising health care costs, negotiations between 45,000 hotel workers in Las Vegas and management are heading into choppy waters.

Review
The Unrule of Law: Documentary Follows Workers' Struggle for a Union at Overnite Transportation (May 2, 2002)
Chronicling the Teamsters strike against the Overnite Transportation Company that began in October 1999, "American Standoff", a new documentary produced by Academy Award winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple and directed by Kristi Jacobson, is a deeply personal account of the abysmal failure of current U.S. labor laws to protect the rights of workers seeking a union contract.

Labor Strategies
Laborers: Building an Organizing Model (May 1, 2002)
By shifting resources to organizing, reaching out to community allies and using its political clout, LIUNA is joining with a primarily immigrant workforce to win dignity and respect on the job.

Bargaining
Transit Workers in New York City Take a Stand Against Benefit Cuts (Apr. 25, 2002)
Thousands of New York City transit workers rallied in Manhattan yesterday to protest against any cuts in the union's health care benefit plan.

Organizing
Neutrality, Card-Check Agreements With Cingular Yield Victories for Communications Workers Union (Apr. 23, 2002)
Supported by neutrality and card-check agreements, nearly 4,000 workers at cellular-technology provider Cingular Wireless have joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in the last four months.

Campaigns
Hundreds Rally in New York City for Justice at Coca-Cola (Apr. 17, 2002)
Hundreds of union members, human rights activists, and others joined Teamsters General President James Hoffa at a rally in New York City today to demand justice for Coca-Cola workers around the world.

Union Busting Watch
Freightliner Used Illicit Tactics before Vote at Gastonia, N.C., Plant (Mar. 22, 2002)
The United Auto Workers has accused Freightliner LLC of trying to intimidate workers before Wednesday's disputed union vote at the company's Gastonia parts manufacturing plant.

Union Finances
Wall Street Journal: Grand Jury Studies Stock Trades By Labor-Owned Insurance Firm (Mar. 15, 2002)
A federal grand jury here is looking into stock transactions by a labor-owned insurance company that was an early and significant investor in Global Crossing Ltd., the once-highflying telecommunications company now in bankruptcy proceedings.

Campaigns
Building the Power of Women in the Labor Movement Globally (Mar. 8, 2002)
Around the world women workers are breaking new ground and rising to face new challenges, and the labor movement is no exception. To further the gains women workers are making, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the AFL-CIO and the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) have launched an international campaign called "Unions for Women, Women for Unions."

Campaigns
Steelworkers 'Stand Up for Steel' and Win (Mar. 7, 2002)
The Bush administration's decision to place limited tariffs on foreign steel sold in the United States was a victory for the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and has shown that grassroots organizing and political action can make a difference.

Union Busting Watch
NLRB Supports Union's Claims against Hackensack, N.J., Cleaning Company (Mar. 6, 2002)
A Hackensack cleaning company with contracts in corporate offices throughout Bergen County illegally threatened, intimidated, and fired low-paid cleaning employees seeking to align themselves with a union, an investigation by the National Labor Relations Board has concluded.

Campaigns
Steelworkers Stepping Up Campaign to Save Jobs (Feb . 24, 2002)
The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) are organizing to get the Bush administration to raise tariffs on imported steel to help save the domestic steel industry from collapse.

Labor Law
U.S. Appeals Court Upholds NLRB Decision on Illegal Videotaping of Union Activities (Feb 15, 2002)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld on February 4 a decision by the National Labor Relations Board finding that a company's restriction and videotaping of employees handing out union literature at the plant gates were unfair labor practices.

Labor Law
Employer Snooping: What Rights Do Workers Really Have? (Feb. 13, 2002)
In the modern private-sector workplace, surveillance is quickly becoming the norm. Going to work is feeling more and more like 8-hours in a state penitentiary. And in most cases it's all legal. Unions, however, can help workers fight back and regain some degree of privacy and control on the job.

Bargaining
Union Mergers and Strategic Planning Deliver Results for SEIU 1199 Nursing Home Workers in New York (Feb. 7, 2002)
Following two years of strategic planning, 1199 SEIU has won a union contract that will serve as a pattern for the 40,000 workers in its nursing home division. The negotiations mark the first time that 1199 SEIU and New York City-area nursing homes have bargained jointly for a contract.

Union Busting Watch
Flight attendants accuse Delta of intimidation in failed union vote (Feb. 4, 2002)
Delta's flight attendants' union is pinning its hopes on a federal investigation after the airline's flight attendants voted overwhelmingly not to join the union, according to election results released Feb. 1.

Pensions
Lack of Pension Coverage a Reality for More Than Half of U.S. Workers (Jan. 29, 2002)
The Enron collapse starkly exposed the risks that workers face when their retirement plans are loaded with company stock, especially stock that has been inflated by illegal and deceptive accounting practices. But beyond Enron there is another pension crisis in America: the fact that the majority of workers in the United States are not covered by a pension.

Union Stats
Union Membership Rate Held Steady in 2001; Union Organizing Efforts Offset Losses From Layoffs and Retirements (Jan. 22, 2002)
Balanced by the labor movement's increased organizing efforts, the percentage of union workers in the U.S. labor force held steady in 2001 at 13.5%.

Labor Law
U.S. Supreme Court to Decide On Rights of Undocumented Employees (Jan. 11, 2002)
On January 15, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal of Hoffman Plastics v. NLRB, a case decided by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on January 16, 2000, that affirmed a crucial right for undocumented workers: the right to be granted accrued back pay following an illegal termination.

Organizing
13,000 Home Care Workers in Oregon Vote Overwhelmingly to Join SEIU; Union Election Was Largest in State's History (Jan. 8, 2002)
Capping an organizing campaign that began in 1997, some 13,000 home care workers in Oregon have voted to join Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 , joining a nationwide movement that is winning better jobs for thousands of workers.

Labor Law
Union Contracts Cover Temporary Workers, NLRB Has Ruled (Dec. 28, 2001)
Local 294 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in New York recently won an important ruling from the National Labor Relations Board on the issue of whether temporary workers are covered by existing collective bargaining agreements. In a 2-to-1 decision handed down on October 1, 2001, the Board determined that temporary workers at Gourmet Award Foods in Albany, New York, should be included in the union's existing bargaining unit and therefore covered by provisions of the union contract.

Organizing
Laborers Organizing Strategy Gets Results in New Jersey (Dec. 18, 2001)
A nine-month campaign in New Jersey to organize asbestos-removal workers, who are mostly immigrants from Latin America and Yugoslavia, doubled Laborers Local 1030's membership and increased the union's market share in the industry to 65%. The campaign showed that with the right strategy and forward-thinking leadership, unions can adapt to the realities of the changing labor market in the United States.

Labor Strategies
AFL-CIO Convention Renews Call for Unions to Organize for Growth (Dec. 12, 2001)
The 25th Biennial Convention of AFL-CIO held Dec. 3-6 in Las Vegas was a week of sober reflection for the re-elected New Voice leadership of President John Sweeney, Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka, and Executive Vice-President Linda Chavez-Thompson and the roughly 1,000 AFL-CIO delegates. The central strategic discussion was what more needed to be done to reverse the continuing decline in union density in the nation's workforce.

Bargaining
Building Services Workers in New York City Negotiate Industry-Leading Contract (Dec. 10, 2001)
The events of September 11 struck fear not only in the hearts of New York residents, anxious for their safety, but also New York workers, fearful for their livelihoods. But one union--Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ--has proven that even in a time of crisis unions can negotiate a deal that is fair to workers.

Organizing
Teamsters and Longshore Unions Sign Historic Mutual Aid Pact (Dec. 10, 2001)
The multiunion alliance will implement national strategy to organize port truck drivers who are among the most exploited workers in America today.

Bargaining
Unions and the Emerging Bargaining Climate (Nov. 8, 2001)
The U.S. labor movement is facing the toughest bargaining climate since the 1980s. The recession that was evolving before September 11 has hit with hurricane-like force. All sectors of the economy, all regions of the country, and nearly all occupational and skill categories have been affected.

Labor Strategies
Teamsters, UFCW Join Forces to Help Wal-Mart Workers Challenge Low Wages, Lousy Benefits, and Disrespect (Oct. 1, 2001)
Employing nearly one million workers, Wal-Mart is now the largest private-sector employer in the U.S, and shows no sign of slowing its pace. But unlike workers at giant industrial corporations such as General Motors, Wal-Mart workers do not have unions and do not earn wages and benefits that lift them into the blue-collar middle class.

Public Policy
Unions Urge Congress, President to Support Financial Aid for Airline Industry (Sep. 20, 2001)
Responding to the economic damage caused by last Tuesday's deadly terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, transportation unions are joining airline executives in calling for immediate federal aid to save jobs and stabilize the industry.

Jobs
What's Wrong With the "Security" Industry in the U.S. (Sep 17, 2001)
In the 1990's private-security became a "growth" industry in the United States. But like many of the new jobs created in the last 10 years, private-security has been built on a low-wage model that competes with fast-food companies for workers.

Union Stats
Unions Have the Resources for Growth in Major Metropolitan Areas (Sep. 9, 2001)
As U.S. labor unions confront the challenge of renewing strength in the face of declining union density and rapidly growing non-union industries, one of the keys to their future success will be the leveraging of existing members and resources to organize new members. And that means the logical starting place is where unions continue to have higher density, greater market share, and real political clout.

Campaigns
Broad Coalition Unites to Abolish Sweatshops (Sep. 6, 2001)
A coalition of anti-sweatshop groups have launched an unprecedented international campaign to support workers' struggles for improved wages and working conditions in garment factories around the world.

Campaigns
Steelworkers to Bush: Don't Let the U.S. Steel Industry Collapse (Aug 24, 2001)
When President Bush rolls into Pittsburgh this Sunday to build support for his presidency in the Keystone State, he won't be getting the royal treatment from the United Steelworkers of America (USWA). Instead, Bush will be challenged by the Steelworkers union to take immediate and comprehensive steps to stop the illegal dumping of foreign steel that is strangling the U.S. steel industry and killing thousands of jobs.

Immigration
Majority of U.S. Voters Support Legalization of Undocumented Immigrants Who Work Hard and Pay Taxes, New Poll Shows (Aug. 21, 2001)
Majority of U.S. Voters Support Legalization of Undocumented Immigrants Who Work Hard and Pay Taxes, New Poll Shows (Aug. 21, 2001)

Campaigns
Worker Unity Yields Big Victory for Teamsters at Basic Vegetable (Aug 17, 2001)
Members of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 890 in King City, California, are celebrating a new contract that ended a 25-month strike against Basic Vegetable.

Labor Law
NLRB Rules That Some Labor-Management Committees Are Legal, But Workers Should Remain Skeptical (Aug. 7, 2001)
A recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board has now opened the door for greater employee involvement in management committees. But workers and unions should remain skeptical as to the intent of these committees.

Labor Strategies
AFL-CIO's Union Summer Program Prepares the Next Generation of Labor Activists (Aug. 7, 2001)
Since its was founded in 1996, Union Summer has had tremendous success in attracting young people to the labor movement. By the end of 2001, the program will have graduated about 2,300 activists, many of whom who have gone on to devote their lives to the labor movement.

Strikes
Philadelphia Police Join Union Boycott of Dunkin' Donuts (Aug. 2, 2001)
The nationwide boycott of Dunkin' Donuts by striking workers at the company's Mid-Atlantic Distribution Center has gained the support of customers that any donut vendor would be loath to lose: the police.

Strikes
Workers Fighting Union Busting at Dunkin' Donuts Distribution Center (July 17, 2001)
Dunkin' Donuts is famous for the sweet-tasting pastries and coffee it serves to millions of Americans each morning. But as workers in New Jersey are finding out, when it comes to negotiating a union contract with one of Dunkin' Donuts' regional distributors, there's no sugar on the table.

Labor Strategies
Teamsters Enter New Era With 26th Convention (Jul. 9, 2001)
Putting the debacle of its divided 1996 Convention and scandal-plagued 1996 election behind it, the Teamsters union at its 26th International Convention, held June 25-29 in Las Vegas, adopted some of the most sweeping constitutional reforms of any union in the U.S. labor movement.

Organizing
Declaring 'Whatever It Takes,' Health Care Union Fights On for Workers' Rights at Lawrence Hospital (July 3, 2001)
The streets of Bronxville, New York, were once again filled with purple and gold on June 30 as thousands of members of 1199 SEIU demonstrated for a fair union election at Lawrence Hospital.

Benefits
Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits Declining Sharply in the U.S., Study Shows (July 3, 2001)
Barely half of the American workforce is covered by employer-sponsored health care plans—and that number is dwindling fast, according to the Center for National Policy (CNP).

Labor Strategies
Labor Stands United Against Union Busting at Verizon (Jun. 27, 2001)
Thousands of workers poured into midtown Manhattan on June 20 to inform Verizon telecommunications that its anti-union antics will not be tolerated.

Labor Law
U.S. Court of Appeals Fails to Uphold Organizing Rights of Off-Site Employees (Jun. 20, 2001)
A decision handed down by the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals earlier this month could dramatically undercut union organizing activities when bargaining unit members are spread among an employers' different work sites.

Labor Strategies
Building Trades Unions Have Temp-Labor Menace on the Ropes (Jun. 20, 2001)
A string of recent legal rulings is proving that Labor Ready--the temp agency that specializes in supplying "light industrial" labor for $6 an hour--can't seem to do business without breaking the law and violating workers' rights.

Campaigns
Development for the People (Jun. 15, 2001)
How unions and community advocates in Los Angeles joined forces to win affordable housing, living wages and union jobs at the Staples Center entertainment complex.

Labor Law
Bush's Pick for Nation's Chief Labor Law Enforcer Is Drawing Fire From Unions (Jul. 13, 2001)
The AFL-CIO and other labor advocates are getting ready for a showdown in the U.S. Senate over the confirmation of Bush's choice for the nation's top labor lawyer.

Labor Law
U.S. Supreme Court Restricts Collective Bargaining Rights of 'Supervisors' (Jun. 1, 2001)
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court this week struck down a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that said nurses classified as "supervisors" should be allowed to join unions.

Working Conditions
Too Much Work Is Raising Employee Discontent, Survey Confirms (Jun. 1, 2001)
Computers, fax machines, the Internet, cell phones, e-mail--from the viewpoint of business owners, these are the keys to success in today's world of hyper-competitive, 24-hour capitalism. But as the pace of work quickens, growing numbers of workers are being pushed to the limits and are feeling stressed out.

Labor Law
Republicans Taking Aim at the 40-Hour Work Week (May 23, 2001)
Doing away with the 40-hour work week and overtime pay has been on the wishlist of U.S. business leaders for years. And now that Republicans control the White House and Congress, anti-labor legislators on Capitol Hill are hoping to fulfill that wish by proposing to dismantle one of labor's most sacred rights.

Labor Law
Appeals Court Rules That Organizing Is Not a Collective Bargaining Activity (May 21, 2001)
Overturning an earlier decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal appeals court has ruled that non-union workers at unionized workplaces are not required to pay fees related to union organizing expenses.

Organizing
SEIU's East Coast 'Justice for Janitors' Campaign Helping Workers Win (May 18, 2001)
Since kicking off in April, the East Coast 'Justice for Janitors' campaign has turned up the heat on employers and organized nearly 1,000 cleaners. In New Jersey, more than 500 janitors employed by Colin Cares, the area's largest non-union cleaning firm, won union recognition May 10 when their employer signed an area-wide contract with SEIU Local 32-BJ. The victory came one day after hundreds of janitors seeking a voice on the job struck eight area cleaning contractors to protest employers' unfair treatment and violations of their right to organize.

Organizing
Food Service Workers Tell the Metropolitan Opera to Change Its Tune on Union (May 7, 2001)
As members of New York City's high society pranced into the Metropolitan Opera for opening night of the ballet on April 30, they were greeted by something other than an ordinary night of pirouettes, pas de deux and classical music. What they also experienced was the old familiar sound of chanting, whistle-blowing, and speeches of a union rally being held across the street from the Met.

Labor Law
Can Employers Ask Workers to Star in Union-Busting Videos? (May 3, 2001)
Can a boss or supervisor directly ask a worker for permission to be filmed for use in a company anti-union video?

Organizing
SEIU's 'Justice for Janitors' Set to Sweep the East Coast (Apr. 25, 2001)
SEIU has launched a new "Justice for Janitors" (JFJ) campaign in Baltimore, the Philadelphia suburbs, Northern New Jersey and other areas along the East Coast where many janitors make the less than poverty-level wages of $6 per hour.

Labor Strategies
Restaurant Workers Challenging Union Busting at JFK International (April 24, 2001)
Workers represented by the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) union in New York City are once again getting the shaft from an all-too-familiar foe--Restaurant Associates (RA).

Organizing
Laborers Ramping Up Organizing Capacity (Apr. 20, 2001)
Revitalizing the strength of the U.S. labor movement requires that unions make organizing new members a top priority. And one of the many unions stepping up to that challenge is the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA).

Benefits
Rising Benefit Costs, Slowing Economy Threaten Workers' Health Care Coverage (Apr. 9, 2001)
As the specter of widespread unemployment grows, millions of workers face the threat of losing their employer-provided health insurance.

Union Stats
Number of Major Strikes Doubled in 2000 (Mar. 29, 2001)
Rebounding from a record low in 1999, the number of strikes involving more than a 1,000 workers doubled last year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Labor Strategies
IBEW Tells Walgreens: Build Union or Else (March 15, 2001)
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is using the purchasing power of its members' health and pension funds to pressure the Walgreens drugstore chain to use union labor on new store construction.

Labor Law
Bush to Sign Bill Killing Worker Safety Regulations (Mar. 9, 2001)
President Bush can hardly wait to sign a bill overturning new regulations aimed at curbing workplace injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Union Stats
Nationally Union Density Was Down in 2000, but Rose in Some Key States (Feb. 6, 2001)
Although the total number of union members declined in 2000, unions continued to enjoy pockets of strength in many states, according to data from the Department of Labor.

Union Stats
Union Organizing Gains in 2000 Were Outpaced by Layoffs and Retirements (Jan. 25, 2001)
Following a notable gain in 1999, the number of union members in the United States fell by 219,000 workers in 2000, according to data tracked by the Labor Department.

Labor Law
Will the Bush Presidency Mean Rollback Time at the National Labor Relations Board? (Jan. 19, 2001)
In the realm of domestic policy, Bush's top priority will be reversing actions of the Clinton administration that enraged his staunch supporters in the business community. New environmental regulations, safety and health rules and pro-labor policies established by the Clinton National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will be under assault.

Immigration
Chavez's Withdrawal as Bush's Nominee for Secretary of Labor Spotlights Issue of Undocumented Labor in the United States (Jan 11, 2001)
Much of the opposition to Linda Chavez's ill-fated nomination for Secretary of Labor focused on her extreme anti-labor and anti-affirmative action views. But Chavez's failure to disclose that she had sheltered an illegal immigrant who was paid to wash clothes and cook meals was the heaviest blow to her nomination.

Labor Strategies
Nurses Unions in Transition (Dec. 5, 2000)
The American Nurses Association (ANA) continues to undergo a transformation as units in heavily unionized states like Massachusetts (MNA) challenge its legitimacy.

Organizing
Employers Are Increasingly Using Plant-Closing Threats to Intimidate Workers Seeking a Union, a New Study Shows (Nov. 27, 2000)
It is a well-known fact among organizers that anti-union bosses intimidate workers during union organizing campaigns. And the weapon of choice for many employers is the threat of closing the plant. As a new study by Cornell University professor Kate Bronfenbrenner shows, between 1998 and 1999 more than 50% of employers threatened to pull up stakes or relocate their business overseas to thwart employee unions.

Political Action
Union Voters in Key States Helped Al Gore Win Popular Vote (Nov. 15. 2000)
Nationally, voter turnout from union households was 26%, which showed an improvement from 23% in 1996.

Organizing
Momentum Is Building for Unions in the Wireless Communications Industry (Oct. 31, 2000)
Some 1,200 workers at Cingular Wireless in Illinois have joined the Communications Workers of America. The union won "card check" recognition after more than 55% of the eligible workers signed union cards.

Workers' Rights
Standing Up For Immigrant Workers' Rights (July 19, 2000)
Members of Laborers Local 79 joined thousands at a rally in Washington, D.C., to demand amnesty for undocumented workers.

Labor Law
NLRB Rules That Nonunion Employees Have 'Weingarten Rights' (July 14, 2000)
While under a 1975 Supreme Court decision (NLRB v. J. Weingarten) union workers have held the to right to bring a co-worker to disciplinary meetings with employers, nonunion workers have been typically denied such a right. But that's about to change, if an important ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) holds up to legal challenges.

Union Stats
Organize or Die: Union Ranks Must Grow by More Than One Million Members a Year to Increase Density (June 20, 2000)
The number of union representation elections held under the official NLRB process slipped in 1999 to 2,976, down from 3,229 in 1998.

Bargaining
Teamsters Win Contract Battle With Grocery Association (June 8, 2000)
Teamsters in Missouri and Oklahoma are celebrating a contract victory over Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG).

Union Stats
Unions Held Fewer NLRB Representation Elections in 1999; but It Was Still a Ripe Year for Union Organizing (June 7, 2000)
Private-sector unions held 2,976 representation elections supervised by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in 1999, which was a 7.8% decline from the 3,229 elections held in 1998, according to a report compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs.

Bargaining
Los Angeles Janitors Accept a New Contract (Apr. 25, 2000)
Following a three week strike, the 8,500 members of SEIU Local 1877 who clean and maintain office buildings in Los Angeles have won a contract that will improve wages and benefits and show workers everywhere that higher living standards can be fought for and won when a union stands united and strong.

Labor Strategies
Building Trades Unions Fighting Temp-Labor Barons (Apr. 6, 2000)
Unions in the building and construction trades are gearing up to stop the spread of temporary labor in the construction industry.

Labor Law
NLRB Ruling Paves the Way for Graduate Student Unions at Private Universities (Apr. 4, 2000)
Graduate students at New York University who teach classes, grade papers and conduct research are employees of the university and, as such, have the legal right to form a union and collectively bargain over wages, benefits and working conditions, according to a recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board.

Bargaining
Teamsters Win Fight for Full-Time Jobs at UPS (Apr. 3, 2000)
UPS is finally living up to the contract it signed with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 1997. Following an arbitrator's ruling in February ordering that UPS create 2,000 full-time jobs as required under the first year of the contract, the Teamsters have won an agreement from UPS to create another 2,000 full-time jobs as required in the second year of the contract.

Bargaining
Apartment Workers' Union Reaches Contract in New York City (Apr. 20, 2000)
The union representing 26,000 doormen, janitors and maintenance workers at private apartment buildings in New York City reached a tentative contract agreement with the building owners, heading off a potential strike by the workers.

Union Stats
Major Strike Activity Sank to an All-Time Low in 1999, Labor Department Reports (March 2000)
Marking the lowest rate since the U.S. government first began tracking the numbers in 1947, a total of 17 major work stoppages involving 73,000 workers began in 1999 and resulted in a loss of 2.0 million work days, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Organizing
Union Victory First at a U.S. Wal-Mart (March 2000)
Undeterred by management’s aggressive anti-union tactics, on February 17 meat-department workers at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Jacksonville, Texas, voted 7 to 3 to join the United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union (UFCW) Local 540, becoming the first U.S. employees ever to win union representation at the giant discount retailer.

Organizing
Workers Finally Get a Union at Wal-Mart (Feb 22, 2000)

Campaigns
UFCW Joins Alliance Seeking Justice for Poultry Workers (Feb. 15, 2000)
To raise awareness about the horrendous working conditions facing America's 200,000 poultry workers and provide support for workers seeking to unionize, the UFCW has joined forces with the Delmarva Poultry Justice Alliance, which advocates for poultry workers in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. As part of the campaign, the Delmarva Alliance is facilitating coalitions between religious groups, chicken catchers and growers, environmental groups, student groups, the NAACP and other community-based organizations.

Bargaining
IBEW Fighting Hard for Jobs at GE (February 2000)
Last September, when General Electric (GE) said it needed to cut 1,400 jobs to save $65 million in annual costs at a refrigerator factory in Bloomington, Indiana, employing 3,200 workers, members of IBEW Local 2249 tried to save jobs by coming up with a proposal that they said would save $180 million.

Bargaining
LRA Honors UNITE President Bruce Raynor at 26th Annual Labor Awards Dinner (Mar. 20, 2002)
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Union Stats
Unions Posted Largest Membership Gain in 20 Years (Jan. 20, 2000)
After accounting for job losses, retirements and other factors, union ranks grew by a net 265,000 members in 1999, which was enough to break the downward trend in the overall percentage of unionized workers, according to the latest union-membership figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Pensions
No Pensions for Unvested Workers (Jan. 2000)
When employers decide to switch employee pensions to cash-balance plans, they argue that the new plans are better for younger workers because benefits accumulate more quickly and because they offer greater portability. But as the Wall Street Journal reported (12/16/99), many younger workers are not likely to see any pension benefits, even under cash-balance plans.

Organizing
Medical Interns Certify Union (Jan. 2000)
Residents and interns at a private Boston hospital voted 177-to-1 in late December to join the SEIU-affiliated Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR). The union vote was the first ever held under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) certifying a union for residents and interns at a private hospital.

Labor Strategies
Communications: The Public Face of Labor: Support for Unions Remains Strong in U.S. (January 2000)
As most union members are well aware, getting favorable media coverage is about as easy as finding water in the desert. But despite the lack of positive media exposure and declining union density, polls show that a majority of Americans still approve of unions.

Organizing
Teamsters Launch National Boycott of Bed, Bath & Beyond (Dec. 9,1999)
Before a crowd of nearly 500 union members and supporters demonstrating in front of Bed, Bath & Beyond in Manhattan today, Teamsters President James Hoffa was joined by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and other labor leaders in calling on union members and the public to boycott the home-merchandise retailer until it stops doing business with Overnite Transportation.

Organizing
UNITE Victory at Cannon Mills Accepted by Management (Nov. 18, 1999)
UNITE and Cannon Mills reached a settlement in which the company agreed to drop the legal challenges, recognize the union, and begin negotiating a contract that will cover some 5,000 workers at six mills.

Labor Strategies
Leveraging Workplace Safety: Laborers Lead the Way (October 1999)
The Greater New York Laborers and Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET) is using its leverage in this boom market to take a stand on making the industry safer for workers.

Labor Strategies
Employer Neutrality and Card-Check Recognition Get Results (October 1999)
While much private-sector organizing takes place under the NLRB election process, unions have been aggressively using alternative strategies for signing up new members. Of these strategies, winning agreements from employers to remain neutral during organizing drives (neutrality agreements) and to recognize the union once a majority of workers have signed union cards (card-check recognition) is getting results.

Labor Strategies
Unions Flex Political Muscle in the Health Care Industry (Oct. 1999)
Reversing the fortunes of the U.S. labor movement also requires increasing union density in fast-growing and new industries where unions have not traditionally had a strong base. In particular, the growth in the health care services industries is providing unions with ripe opportunities for bringing in large numbers of workers.

Labor Law
The Benefits of Organizing (Nov. 1999)
Non-union employees working for a company that has a union contract can be required to pay union fees related to the costs of organizing new members, the National Labor Relations Board ruled.

Campaigns
SEIU Fighting for One Standard for New York Nursing Homes (July/August 1999)
How did 2,200 nursing home workers in District 1115 SEIU use a contract reopener to not only achieve parity with other unionized nursing homes but also win a new four-year agreement that has a common expiration date with SEIU nursing-home contracts in New York?

Organizing
UNITE Gains Southern Ground (July/August 1999)
Overcoming 25 years of bitter resistance, textile workers at Fieldcrest Cannon Mills in Kannapolis, North Carolina, made history when they voted in favor of forming a union on June 23. The 5,200 workers will be represented by the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE).

Trade
Investors Fight France’s 35-Hour Week (June 1999)
The French Government’s plan to cut the legal workweek from 39 to 35 hours to combat high unemployment may be doomed by the actions of international investors on the other side of the Atlantic.

Jobs
The Next Big Thing in Temporary Labor (May 1999)
A new breed of temporary employer is supplying cheap labor for some of the nation's most dangerous occupations.

Organizing
Workers Win a Big One in Los Angeles (April 1999)
The organizing victory of 75,000 homecare workers in Los Angeles who voted to join the the Service Employees International Union in late February has demonstrated the effectiveness of unions’ using political leverage to change laws and make it easier for workers to organize unions.

Jobs
Levi Closes 11 Factories, Cuts 5,900 Jobs (April 1999)
Levi is sending 5,900 manufacturing jobs to Latin America and other countries. The famous blue-jeans maker says that it is closing eleven North American factories and shifting more resources into marketing and advertising, in an effort to regain lost market share.

Union Stats
Union Membership Up in 1998; but Union Density Continued to Decline (February 1999)
According to data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. labor movement grew by more than 100,000 members in 1998, as the number of workers who belong to unions reached 16.2 million. However, the overall percentage of unionized workers declined slightly from 14.1% of the work force in 1997 to 13.9% in 1998.

Labor Law
New Developments In Employee Lawsuits (Jan. 4, 1999)
Employee lawsuits are a big liability for employers that unions can use for leverage in corporate campaigns and in organizing.

Labor Strategies
The Fight for Employer Neutrality (January 1999)
Nearly 2,500 health care workers at Columbia Sunrise Medical Center in Las Vegas voted to join SEIU Local 1107 in December. The union victory was achieved after SEIU and Columbia/HCA reached an agreement earlier in 1998 that allowed workers to freely decide whether they wanted union representation.

Labor Strategies
Leveraging Union Strength (Nov. 1998)
Unions are winning neutrality and card-check agreements by leveraging other strengths.

Labor Law
New Attack on Labor: 'Paycheck Protection' (Mar. 1998)
There are initiatives in 20 states to restrict labor's political activity.

Union Stats
Organize or Die Revisited (Feb. 24, 1998)
How much more organizing does labor need to do to hold its own?

Labor's Agenda
Poll: Public Supports Labor Goals (Feb. 02, 1998)
A new Peter Hart poll shows majority public support for several of labor's key public policy goals. The survey of 1,002 members of the general public plus a separate sample of union members, was commissioned by the AFL-CIO.

Pensions
Declining Pension Coverage (Sep. 1997)
The retirement future of more workers now depends on the ups and downs of the financial markets than on a guaranteed, government-regulated pension plan.

Bargaining
Union Bargaining Leverage Is Stronger Than It Has Been in Years (Apr. 8, 1997)
Workers in industries from airlines to autos are feeling a new sense of strength.

Labor Strategies
AFL-CIO Stresses New Organizing as Labor'sTop Priority
The AFL-CIO is now targeting its resources on several high-profile local campaigns while planning to spend millions of dollars on a national image campaign.

Bargaining
Airline Labor Relations in Turmoil (Jan. 21, 1997)
Companies are resisting workers' demands to share in the industry's return to prosperity.

Labor Strategies
Labor Needs To Go To Its Strength (Jan. 27, 1997)
Multiunion campaigns in areas of high union density are the key to the first stage of labor's rebirth.

Labor Strategies
Using Union Muscle in the Health Care Market (Dec. 31, 1996)
The New York State AFL-CIO has decided to take on the for-profit health care industry through union purchasing power.

Union Stats
Unions Have Mixed Organizing Success (Nov. 26, 1996)
New data on organizing suggest it will be a while before the new labor activism breeds major results.