Many of our unions are not actually democratic, or at least don’t have a history of democracy. For decades, everyday members of the United Mine Workers or United Steel Workers had zero say over
On June 15, 1942, workers at a General Motors factory engaged in a wildcat strike to protest new policies that forbade them from smoking on the job. While this may seem like an odd incident, it actual
In our current public conversation about jobs, too often the media and the public point back to the era of the unionized factory job as the golden age. In one way, it was. The jobs paid well and had g
Sarah Jaffe has a typically excellent article about how the former GM workers at the shuttered Lordstown plant feel about the deal the UAW made with the company. They aren’t real happy. I provid
The GM strike is now in its third week. Strike pay is about to kick in. This is a long, hard struggle. Among the many things that the UAW is fighting for is to end the awful system of two-tiered pay,
Not that anyone cares anymore, but the United Auto Workers strike is entering its third week tomorrow. I was on NPR’s Weekend Edition today to talk about the UAW and health care, a major issue i
On July 27, 1989, workers at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, rejected United Auto Workers representation by a 2-1 margin. This overwhelming lost was one of the first of many defeats the UAW has
One of the many things that drive me crazy about this country is how our long tradition of venerating capitalists as larger than life figures with moral or political or cultural values we should emula