Labor Organizing

An older woman with blood running down her face

Journalist Mary Heaton Vorse Spent Decades on the Front Lines of Labor Journalist Mary Heaton Vorse Spent Decades on the Front Lines of Labor

The Progressive Era labor journalist, feminist, and war correspondent devoted her long and uncompromising career to giving poor and working people a voice.

Feb 8, 2022 / Kim Kelly

Baseball Players Can’t Live on “a Cup of Coffee”

Baseball Players Can’t Live on “a Cup of Coffee” Baseball Players Can’t Live on “a Cup of Coffee”

The media’s “billionaires vs. millionaires” view of the current baseball lockout is a major league lie. The vast majority of players who reach the big leagues don’t play long enoug...

Feb 7, 2022 / Kelly Candaele and Peter Dreier

Three Black women in formal dress pose for a photo

Maida Springer Kemp Championed Workers’ Rights on a Global Scale Maida Springer Kemp Championed Workers’ Rights on a Global Scale

The Panamanian garment worker turned labor organizer, Pan-Africanist, and anti-colonial activist advocated for US and African workers amid a Cold War freeze.

Feb 4, 2022 / Kim Kelly

A sign featuring Emma Tenayuca takes front and center at a march for International Women's Day

The Militant Passion of Emma Tenayuca The Militant Passion of Emma Tenayuca

Eighty-four years ago this week, this Mexican American labor organizer led one of the largest strikes in Texas history—and was arrested and blacklisted for her trouble.

Feb 1, 2022 / Kim Kelly

Ah Quon McElrath

Ah Quon McElrath and the Power of Multiracial Working-Class Solidarity Ah Quon McElrath and the Power of Multiracial Working-Class Solidarity

The Chinese Hawai’ian labor activist and social worker would ask, “Look, you are exploited, what are you going to do about it?”

Jan 28, 2022 / Kim Kelly

A man walks toward a corner formed by stacked whiskey barrels.

A Bold Flavor of Tennessee Whiskey: Union-Made A Bold Flavor of Tennessee Whiskey: Union-Made

The United Distillery Workers of Tennessee are organizing in the heart of Nashville.

Jan 25, 2022 / Kim Kelly

Workers participating in a general strike leave a shipyard.

Concrete Actions Toward Worker Power Concrete Actions Toward Worker Power

Three hundred Teamsters in the Seattle area are bringing the local construction industry to a standstill.

Jan 21, 2022 / Kim Kelly

Alaska cannery

The Radical Vision of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes The Radical Vision of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes

Murdered by gangsters on a dictator’s orders in 1981, these pathbreaking Filipino labor organizers fought for union democracy.

Jan 18, 2022 / Kim Kelly

Columbia Faculty Protests

Columbia University Has Lost Its Way Columbia University Has Lost Its Way

The Ivy League institution’s approach to the contract negotiations with its grad student workers reveals how it has evolved into a predatory business.

Jan 18, 2022 / StudentNation / Katherine Franke

UFCW Worker Striking

Workers Are Paying the Price for Kroger’s Profits Workers Are Paying the Price for Kroger’s Profits

A survey of 10,000 grocery-store employees lays out the job’s human cost.

Jan 14, 2022 / Kim Kelly

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