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How song makes the union strong

Aug 12, 2024
Labor songs were sung at home, on the job and on the picket line. Let's look at the history, starting with "Harlan County, U.S.A."
Unions regularly published songbooks containing tunes to organize and build solidarity. The Industrial Workers of the World’s songbook was first published in 1909.
University of Washington Libraries Special Collections

Campus labor activism spreads to undergrads

Nov 6, 2023
And those students are likely to take their engagement beyond the academy.
Undergraduate workers, from resident advisers to campus radio managers, are seeking to unionize, joining a wave of labor activism at colleges. Above, Harvard Yard.
Scott Eisen/Getty Images

U.S. Steel may be for sale, and union workers want a say on the buyer

Aug 25, 2023
The final outcome of the sale could have huge implications for both organized labor and the domestic steel economy.
There's a lot at stake for the employees of U.S. Steel. Whoever buys the company could chose to close plants or move operations overseas.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

More and more graduate students seek to unionize

Dec 21, 2021
The pandemic has highlighted existing challenges for grad student workers and created new ones.
This year has seen a surge in unionization efforts, increasingly on college campuses — including at MIT, Columbia University and the University of New Mexico.
AndreyPopov via Getty Images

Why labor unions keep shrinking

Aug 22, 2019
It's not just the shift away from a manufacturing economy.
Labor union members protest Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's proposed budget cuts in 2011.
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

How to grow a union in an anti-union state

Feb 26, 2018
In the South, where people are “ashamed to tell their neighbors that they are in a union,” one labor organization is turning things around.
Demonstrators rally in front of city hall in solidarity with union workers across the country on February 26, 2011 in New York City.
Michael Nagle/Getty Images

Supreme Court to hear arguments on "fair-share" union dues

Feb 23, 2018
Labor advocates have described this case as the biggest threat to labor unions in years
A police officer stands guard on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in June 2017.
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

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Telemundo actors vote to unionize

Mar 9, 2017
For the first time in 65 years, actors at a major TV network have held a union election. The actors? Stars of the wildly popular telenovelas airing on NBC Universal’s Telemundo network. The vote still needs to be certified, but assuming that happens, the performers will be joining Hollywood’s SAG-AFTRA union with the hopes of […]

Missouri could soon join the ranks of right-to-work states

Jan 27, 2017
Right to work bars unions from requiring workers to pay dues as a condition of employment.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens makes his State of the State speech on Jan. 17. Greitens supports a right-to-work measure, which would bar unions and employers from requiring workers to pay dues.
Jason Rosenbaum