WOMENS HISTORY MONTH: I helped organize the CIO
In the summer of 1937, the labor movement was exploding with the energy of a prairie fire. Millions of workers were flocking into the new CIO and millions more wanted in. I was not quite 19 but I answered the call to help organize the laundry workers of New York City.
Snapshots from the picket line
NEW HAVEN – Nearly 5,000 workers are back on the job and negotiations have resumed at Yale University after a history-making five-day strike.
Labor leader wins Los Angeles Council seat
LOS ANGELES – Former Speaker of the State Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa made history on March 4 when he won an East Los Angeles seat in the 14th council district of the nation’s second largest city.
Unions challenge Bush on war, civil liberties, economy
DEARBORN, Mich. – Almost 200 union activists filled United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 600’s hall to hear union leaders speak out against Bush’s war on Iraq. The panel included many leaders of union locals, leaders of the Michigan labor movement and leaders of international unions. It was moderated by Julie Hurwitz of the National Lawyers’ Guild.
Yale workers set to strike
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Over 5,000 Yale workers are set to strike March 3. That day, they will be joined by a community march and rally led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The one-week strike may be the first time that graduate student teachers and researchers will join service, maintenance, clerical, technical and health care workers in a simultaneous job action. The different groups of workers share an understanding that they can achieve their goals only if all work together.
AFL-CIO gears up to dump Bush in 2004
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – In their first meeting since the 2002 elections gave Republicans control of both Houses of Congress, members of the AFL-CIO Executive Council announced a two-year campaign to “put political power back in the hands of working people” by defeating George W. Bush in the 2004 elections.
