When US Labor Opposed Nuclear Weapons
The labor movement has a key role to play in opposing the madness of a nuclear arms race and the possibility of nuclear war. In the 1980s, progressive unions did just that.
31 Articles by: Jeff Schuhrke
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Jeff Schuhrke is a labor historian and assistant professor at the Harry Van Arsdale Jr School of Labor Studies, SUNY Empire State University. He is the author of No Neutrals There: US Labor, Zionism, and the Struggle for Palestine and Blue-Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor’s Global Anticommunist Crusade.
When US Labor Backed US Imperialism
During the Cold War, the CIA and State Department understood that there is power in a union. After the successful purges of leftists from unions, US labor leaders were enlisted by government officials to join in their imperialist operations across the world.
When South African Unionists Struck for US Workers
In 1986, black workers in apartheid South Africa walked off the job in support of unionists in New Jersey. Their strike marked a rare moment of international labor solidarity at the height of deindustrialization and apartheid.
When US Labor Helped Free Jailed Salvadoran Trade Unionists
As American unions denounce Donald Trump’s deportation of Kilmar Abrego García to El Salvador, it’s worth recalling when US labor used its collective power to resist repression in that country in the 1980s.
How US Trade Unionists Opposed the Dirty War in El Salvador
The Reagan administration enlisted the AFL-CIO to provide cover for its bloody campaign against the Left in Central America. But progressive forces in US labor took a stand in solidarity with trade unionists facing murderous repression in El Salvador.
How the “AFL-CIA” Undermined Labor Movements Abroad
For much of its history, the AFL-CIO has enthusiastically backed US foreign policy. During the Cold War, that included actively participating in efforts to suppress left-wing labor movements abroad.
How the CIO Tried to Prevent the Cold War
In the 1940s, Soviet and US labor unionists arranged for exchanges between their countries to promote goodwill and help prevent a dangerous rivalry. The largely forgotten effort serves as a reminder of how the Cold War might have been averted.
Unions Must Go Beyond Calling for a Cease-Fire in Gaza
The growing swell of American unions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza is heartening. But labor will have to take its antiwar commitments further than issuing statements to stop Israel’s wanton slaughter.
US Labor Has Long Been a Stalwart Backer of Israel. That’s Starting to Change.
The US labor movement has a decades-long history of supporting Israel wholeheartedly, punctuated by moments of pro-Palestine actions by rank-and-file activists. As Israel wages its war on Gaza, those pro-Palestine moments are becoming increasingly common.
US Labor Should Act Boldly and Choose Solidarity With Palestine
While some US unions and many labor activists are calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, most union officials are keeping silent. They’re forgetting the old labor adage: “an injury to one is an injury to all.”
Chicago Never Forgot the Haymarket Martyrs
International Workers’ Day traces its roots to the 1886 Haymarket affair, when labor radicals in Chicago were unjustly executed. Ever since, reactionaries have tried to tarnish their legacy — and leftists have honored them as working-class martyrs.
The Struggle to Organize Farmworkers Has Been Going On for Decades
Despite high-profile victories in the 1960s and ’70s, farmworkers in the US have been poorly paid and heavily exploited for generations. They deserve the power of a union.
Trader Joe’s Workers Have Won Their First Unions in America
The union organizing upsurge in the United States has reached Trader Joe’s. Two stores, one in Massachusetts and one in Minneapolis, have unionized. We talked to a Minneapolis worker about why.
Starbucks Is on a National Union-Busting Crime Spree
The union-busting campaign carried out by Starbucks indicates that the company will not stop until they destroy Starbucks Workers United. The rest of the labor movement has a duty to support the Starbucks union drive — before it’s too late.
115,000 Railroad Workers Are Weighing a National Strike
US labor law is designed to prevent railroad strikes like the kind that shook America in the past. But the constant cuts to staffing levels and erosion of conditions for rail workers could produce a national rail walkoff by September.
UIC Grad Workers Are on Strike for the Second Time in Three Years
Despite slogging through the difficulties of teaching during a pandemic, graduate workers at the University of Illinois Chicago say they continue to face low pay and disrespect at work. On Monday, they went on strike.
Building Union Democracy Across the US-Mexico Border
The relationship between American and Mexican trade unions has been characterized both by US labor officials carrying water for US imperialism in Mexico and by militant, democratic cross-border unionism.
Socialist Actor Ed Asner Fought for Labor
Ed Asner was an immensely talented actor. He was also an uncompromising union militant who fought for lower-paid actors and against Ronald Reagan’s murderous interventions in Central America.
US Labor Leaders Should Stand With Palestine
The American labor movement’s leadership has long sided with the state of Israel’s war crimes and apartheid over the Palestinian people. That has to change.
Union Dues Are About Building Democratic, Self-Sustaining, Working-Class Organizations
Bosses like management at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, where workers are trying to unionize, love to bring up union dues as part of their union-busting. But union organizers shouldn’t shy away from talking about why dues are important: they allow workers to pool the resources needed to fight the boss and win.