By Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer In the wake of the Wisconsin elections and the failure to unseat Governor Walker, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has issued a victory statement of sorts, resorting to the most tortured and convoluted logic. For starters, Trumka proclaimed that, “Wisconsin took back its Senate.” Although he did not explain exactly…
The Gilded Age is very much in the news. In early April, President Obama derided a budget proposal favored by Mitt Romney as “thinly veiled Social Darwinism,” referring to ideas usually associated with such men as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. During his campaign to secure the Republican nomination, Newt Gingrich derided child-labor laws…
by Adam Sanchez. Nicole Bowmer contributed to this article. Oregon teachers are valiantly resisting an unprecedented attack on their schools and unions. Over the last month, teachers in four Oregon school districts have voted to go on strike, while other locals face painful budget cuts that will have a devastating effect on our schools. As…
This story is part of our feature about the many protest events on May 1, 2012. Visit the feature page to see more. by Victory Woodhull Hello there, My name is Victory and I participated in the unpermitted march on May Day. I wanted to offer a critical perspective on the effectiveness of the day…
This piece is from the Occupied News Wire. It was originally published at The New Inquiry. Oakland, 1946 “More Like a Revolution Than an Industrial Dispute” San Fransisco, 1934 “The general strike is quite another matter. That is a threat to the community. That is a menace to government. That is civil war.” Seattle, 1919…
UPDATED at 10:10 a.m. According to a report from Occupy Portland Labor Solidarity committee, teachers and the school district have reached a tentative agreement and are going back to work at 10 a.m. this morning. By Emily Crum and Adam Sanchez After months at the negotiating table with intransigent school boards, 550 teachers from the…
By Pete Shaw The recipe to combat looming budget cuts aimed at slicing away local jobs? Throw a bake sale. That’s what Laborers Local 483, which represents almost 700 City of Portland employees, did on Tuesday, April 17, outside City Hall. If the cuts go through, the job losses will impact all Portlanders–affecting street and…
By Pete Shaw A crowd of 15 striking steelworkers gathered outside the offices of Schnitzer Steel in Portland on Monday morning, April 9. Schnitzer is the parent company of Cascade Steel Rolling Mills, located in McMinnville, OR, where over 300 unionized members of Steelworkers Local 8378, went on strike Sunday, April 8th–one week after their…
by K. Kendall TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane is directing TriMet as a corporation and not as a public service, according to James, an Occupier whose wife, daughter, and granddaughter have all been TriMet drivers. “He’s giving the fare inspectors quotas,” James says with outrage. “They have to give four citations an hour from now on,…
by Barbara Ellis A Job-Finding Assembly for the long-term unemployed in Multnomah’s East County and Clackamas county by Occupy Portland’s Labor Solidarity Committee is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, April 15. It will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. at SEIU Local 503’s headquarters, 64th and SE Holgate Boulevard. The purpose is to organize this…
