Work and Economy

March 18, 2016 - Created to protect oil rig workers after the deadly BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is failing to perform its most basic functions. Meanwhile, offshore rig workers are dying on the job at an alarming rate.

March 10, 2016 - Job losses due to trade deals were key to Bernie Sanders' surprise primary victory over Hillary Clinton in Michigan. Will the same message resonate in North Carolina — the state that's lost more of its jobs to "free trade" pacts than any other?

March 4, 2016 - The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is escalating its battle over the fast-food chain's refusal to participate in a program to protect farmworkers' human rights: It's declaring a national boycott and launching a protest tour with marches outside the company chairman's homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.

February 26, 2016 - With millions of Americans disqualified for good-paying jobs because of criminal pasts, a growing number of states and local governments across the South are joining the movement to end the practice of asking about convictions on job applications.

February 5, 2016 - Organized labor has made surprising gains in a region where unions face some of their toughest obstacles, new federal data shows. But defending workers' advances in the South's hostile political climate will require a long-term organizing commitment.

February 4, 2016 - Although the South has added millions of jobs in recent years, the region's low-road approach to economic development has meant many of them are low-paying jobs that leave families fighting to get by.

January 22, 2016 - Echoing a tactic used in the civil rights struggle, more than 1,000 low-wage workers rallied outside the Democratic presidential debate in Charleston, South Carolina this week, calling for a sweeping agenda including fair pay, union rights and an end to discriminatory policing.