Labor Archives - Page 13 of 17

Mondragón Worker-Cooperatives Decide How to Ride Out a Downturn

Georgia Kelly and Shaula Massena September 1, 2009 Georgia Kelly and Shaula Massena

Mondragón Co-op Grocery Store

The Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC), the largest consortium of worker-owned companies, has developed a different way of doing business-a way that puts workers, not shareholders, first.

Why We Should All Boycott Union Busting Beer Corporations

Benjamin Dangl August 10, 2009 Benjamin Dangl

When Obama sat down for a beer in the White House Rose Garden with Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley, they all turned their backs on the smaller, craft brewers of the country. Obama chose Bud Light, Gates asked for Red Stripe, and Crowley drank Blue Moon. This encounter provides a perfect time to reflect on why we should boycott the beer monopolies of the world.

The Legacy of the Chicago Factory Occupation Lives On

Kari Lydersen July 22, 2009 Kari Lydersen

On December 5, 2008, 250 laid-off workers occupied Chicago's Republic Windows and Doors factory, refusing to leave until paid for accrued vacation time and two months of federally-mandated severance. These demands, which might have been ignored by media in more stable economic times, thrust the unionized workers onto the national stage as the country's financial system and economy unraveled.

Touring Empire’s Ruins: From Detroit to the Amazon

Greg Grandin June 23, 2009 Greg Grandin

Ford Car Stuck in Amazon Mud

The empire ends with a pull out. Not, as many supposed a few years ago, from Iraq. There, as well as in

Afghanistan

, we are mulishly staying the course, come what may, trapped in the biggest of all the "too-big-to-fail" boondoggles. But from Detroit. Of course, the real evacuation of the Motor City began decades ago, when Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler started to move more and more of their operations out of the downtown area to harder to unionize rural areas and suburbs, and, finally, overseas.

Hanging on For Survival in Chiloé: Ground Zero in Chile’s Salmon Bust

Benjamin Witte June 17, 2009 Benjamin Witte

Quellón, Chile - In the dwindling light of a crisp autumn evening, snow-covered Corcovado and its sister peaks shine pink above the silhouetted fishing boats that stretch out beyond the harbor in Quellón. The alpine glow is short-lived, though, and as the sun drops below the horizon. "The city is full of people just walking around," said Juana Chiguay, a union leader and assembly line worker in a local salmon processing plant. "Before it wasn't like that."

Firing The Boss: An Interview with Chicago Factory Occupation Organizer

Benjamin Dangl January 15, 2009 Benjamin Dangl

Occupation of Republic Plant

In this interview Mark Meinster, the International Representative for the United Electrical Workers (UE) - the union the Republic workers belong to - talks about his role as the coordinator for the December 2008 factory occupation in Chicago, connections between the struggle of the Republic workers and workers struggles and tactics in South America, the fight to re-open the plant, and what the Republic workers' strategies say about social change in an economic downturn.