Labor Notes

December 9, 2015 - A "micro-unit" of skilled-trades workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has voted to join the United Auto Workers. While celebrating the victory, some in the plant have begun to question the UAW's management-friendly approach.

August 31, 2015 - Longshore Local 1422 is spearheading "Days of Grace" Sept. 5 and 6, with a march in downtown Charleston, South Carolina and a strategy conference. Themes include policing, wages, union rights, voting rights and Medicaid.

May 7, 2015 - There's a growing national movement to end the discriminatory practice of requiring job applicants to check off a box if they have a criminal record. Last month, Virginia became the most recent state to "Ban the Box."

April 13, 2015 - By underfunding audits, politicians are helping their rich friends get away with tax evasion. The resulting shortfall provides an excuse to weaken government programs they never liked anyway.

March 23, 2015 - In its bid to become the world's largest auto manufacturer, VW is trying to out-Toyota Toyota. Its Chattanooga plant provides a window into the state of the art of brutal productivity-maximizing "lean management" schemes.

March 13, 2015 - The manager of a grocery store in Virginia was unfairly targeting African-American workers for discipline. When a union member stood up and fought the mistreatment, she not only fixed the managerial problem but strengthened the union.

February 13, 2015 - Thousands of U.S. oil refinery workers are on strike over health and safety. They cite outsourcing, short staffing, and forced overtime that produces dangerous fatigue -- in a job where mistakes can be fatal.