UAW membership is now below 600,000; Chrysler has been acquired by a private-equity firm; parts manufacturers have filed for bankruptcy protection. In this context of turmoil and loss of labor power, we turned to economist Sue Helper for an in-depth perspective on the industry and its workers. Read more »
The Bush administration has no love for unions anywhere,
but in Iraq it has a special reason for hating
them. They are the main opposition to the occupation's
economic agenda, and the biggest obstacle to
that agenda�s centerpiece—the privatization of Iraq's oil. | Read more »
Smart. Aggressive. In your face. Committed to economic justice. These words describe an effective union organizer; they also describe the no-nonsense punk rock band Dropkick Murphys, a true friend of organized labor. Read more »
Activists take a FEMA trailer on the road—toxins and all—in a novel campaign to reframe the public
discussion of Gulf Coast reconstruction
by amplifying the voices of survivors. Read more »
Workers at the bottom of the wage scale, those making less than $7.38 an hour, are five times less likely to have sick days than workers at the top of the scale. Read more »
Available only in the print edition of Dollars & Sense:
features
Lazy Man's Labor Policy
By Larry Peterson
U.S. labor law had been largely
gutted long before Bush ever took office, under both Democratic
and Republican administrations. So labor issues were
never high on this administration's agenda; the administration
has not had to be proactive in getting its way in this area
precisely because enforceable labor law effectively ceased to
function some time ago. | Order this issue or subscribe.
Up Against the Charros and the Changarros
By Chris Tilly and Marie Kennedy
Despite labor laws that look great on paper, job quality in Mexico has stagnated and
in some ways worsened. The charro (cowboy) unions, as
critics dub the "official," government-linked labor associations, deliver little for workers. And increasing numbers of
Mexicans fall outside the scope of the law altogether, because
instead of having chambas (jobs), they have changarros
(self-employment or marginal employment in a kaleidoscopic
range of microbusinesses and hustles). | Order this issue or subscribe.
Women of NAFTA
By Martha A. Ojeda, Felicitas Contreras, and Yolanda treviño
Excerpts from the outstanding collection NAFTA From Below: Maquiladora
Workers, Farmers, and Indigenous Communities
Speak Out on the Impact of Free Trade in
Mexico. | Order this issue or subscribe.
Outsized Offshore Outsourcing
By John Miller
Accelerated offshore outsourcing, the shipping of jobs overseas
to take advantage of low wages, has forced some mainstream
economists and some elements of the business press
to have second thoughts about "free trade." | Order this issue or subscribe.
