Tag: USA
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Another Stream of Martin Luther King’s Legacy
The Dodge Ram Trucks’ 2018 Super Bowl ad, harnessing the rousing oratory of Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to service, the “Drum Major Instinct” speech, to loving close-ups of 350-horsepower pickup trucks, attracted instant, widespread condemnation. Many lampooned the use of King’s image to sell trucks, and a parody of the ad, recut with King’s … Keep reading »
How New York Subways Got Broke, On Purpose
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is pushing for a tax on the rich to fund desperately needed improvements to the crumbling subway system run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). De Blasio’s plan would raise city income taxes on individuals making over $500,000 a year and couples making over $1-million by about half … Keep reading »
The Summer of Fear for New York Subway Riders
After months of increasing delays at all times of the day and night, a series of incidents have now raised an even more urgent question: about the daily safety for those who ride and work on New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). On July 17, the Monday morning commute ground to a halt for … Keep reading »
Bill Fletcher Jr. – Trump, Right-Wing Populism, and the Future of the Labour Movement
Toronto – 2 June 2017 Bill Fletcher Jr. gave the keynote address at the 4th Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Work and Labour Studies. Bill Fletcher Jr. has been an activist since his teen years. Upon graduating from college he went to work as a welder in a shipyard, thereby entering the labour … Watch video »
How Postal Workers Removed the Staples
“We Won! The U.S. Postal Service and Staples deal is over!” proclaimed the headline on the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) website. A three-year battle against the outsourcing of living-wage, union postal jobs to the low-wage, nonunion Staples ended January 5 when USPS management informed the APWU that the “approved shipper” program in Staples Office … Keep reading »
Are Chicago Teachers Headed Toward a Strike?
A three-cornered battle between a budget-slashing mayor (Rahm Emanuel), a union-busting governor (Bruce Rauner) and determined teachers (CTU) could result this fall in the second public school strike in Chicago in four years. At the center of the battle is an effort to force Chicago teachers to pay the equivalent of 7 per cent of … Keep reading »
Neoliberalism and the Far Right
Toronto — 24 September 2014. Presentations by: Greg Albo is co-editor of Socialist Register. Bill Fletcher Jr is co-author of Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor.
A “Fair” Protest in New York City?
If you ride the New York City subway system, then you’ve become accustomed to reading the signs in stations across the city that let riders know about service changes. Most often, there are delays, or you find that you must take a different line to get to where you need to go. On the morning … Keep reading »
Standing Up to Indiana’s Attack on Unions
Some 10,000 angry workers swarmed around the Indiana State House January 23 to protest a pending anti-union ‘right-to-work’ bill that the Republican-controlled state Senate passed by a vote of 28-22. The next day, another 7,000 workers returned, enraged by the Senate vote. The crowd was broad and diverse, including members of the Ohio AFL-CIO who … Keep reading »