Boeing Machinists Are on Strike
After overwhelmingly voting down a proposed contract, 32,000 machinists at Boeing in Washington and Oregon went on strike Friday as their contract expired. It’s the biggest strike in the US so far this year.
23 Articles by: Jenny Brown
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Jenny Brown is an assistant editor at Labor Notes. She is author of Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight Over Women's Work. Her latest book is Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now.
Boeing Workers Are on the Verge of Striking
The Boeing contract for over 32,000 workers in Washington and Oregon expires next month, and workers have voted to sanction a strike. Their complaints include low pay, frozen pensions, and mismanagement that has resulted in deadly disasters for the company.
Project 2025’s Anti-Union Game Plan
Much attention has been paid to the antidemocratic aspects of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a radical playbook for the first 180 days of a new Trump term. But few have focused on its plan to kneecap unions and attack workers’ rights.
The US Labor Movement Experienced a Breakthrough Year in 2023
In 2023, half a million workers, including machinists, teachers, baristas, nurses, hotel housekeepers, actors, screenwriters, and autoworkers, went on strike and won. Their historic gains underscore the momentum of a rising reform movement in US unions.
After an Impressive Campaign, Flight Attendants Might Strike for the First Time Since 1993
Union flight attendants at American Airlines recently delivered a strike authorization vote of 99%, with 93% turnout. The staggering total was the result of not only a membership itching to walk out but a campaign that engaged rank-and-file members.
Unions Can Organize High-Turnover Workplaces
Organizing workplaces like Amazon with enormous turnover is a steep challenge. But workers there and elsewhere are experimenting with different tactics to unionize despite the churn.
A Starbucks Worker Fired for Organizing Got His Job Back Thanks to NYC “Just Cause” Laws
A Queens Starbucks worker was one of many across the country fired in retaliation for union organizing. Thanks to NYC laws that require due process for firing fast-food workers, he was reinstated.
The US Labor Movement Notched Some Impressive Victories in 2022
The American labor movement remains weak. But from the sweeping Starbucks unionization drive to UAW reformers’ successful bid for union leadership, there were serious glimmers of hope in 2022 for a stronger, more assertive labor movement.
Why Capitalists Care About Our Record-Low Birth Rate
One reason the corporate elite has an interest in antiabortion policies is because they hope to lower the price of labor — the labor of bearing and rearing children.
What’s Behind the Antiabortion Crackdown?
Since the turn of the 19th century, crackdowns on women’s reproductive rights have come in cycles. The attack isn’t only about controlling women but about pushing up the birth rate to suit capital’s needs.
Abortion Bans Are Imminent
A leaked SCOTUS decision draft suggests the court is planning to overturn Roe v. Wade, permitting states to ban abortion. The response from Democrats should be obvious: skirt the Supreme Court and demand federal legislation codifying the right to abortion.
Take Abortion Out of the Court’s Hands
Abortion rights shouldn’t be at the mercy of the judiciary. We need federal legislation codifying Roe v. Wade — and Democrats need to buck up and eliminate the filibuster to pass it.
It’s Time for Abortion Rights Activists to Push a Federal Abortion Rights Law
The Supreme Court is useless. Now is the perfect time for feminists to campaign to end the filibuster and pass a federal law codifying abortion rights.
The Supreme Court Will Not Deliver Justice on Abortion Rights
The Supreme Court’s abortion rights decision yesterday provides a brief respite to women across the South. But we’re still playing defense in the courts. Our offensive should be in the streets.
Roe v. Wade Was Bigger Than Jane Roe
The news broke this week that Jane Roe, the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, was paid by the anti-abortion right to publicly switch sides later in life. But while the news is shocking, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that no single person was responsible for the partial victory of Roe — it takes collective action to win social change.
“Stay Home and Have the Baby”
Texas and Ohio have ordered a stop to abortions, saying they’re not essential medical services. Other states will follow. Right-wing forces are using the pandemic as a pretext to crack down dramatically on abortion rights. We can’t let them.
No More Compromise on Abortion
After years of retreat, we need to reject the approach of conservative NGOs and fight for abortion without apology.
Abortion Is Our Right To Strike
Abortion isn’t a “cultural” issue. The production of children, and who will pay for it, is a key economic battlefront.
Not In Labor
With meager public support for parents, US women are having fewer children than ever. Raising the next generation is work — and American women seem to be on strike.
Medicare for All Is a Reproductive Rights Issue
Feminists have been pushing for years to repeal the Hyde Amendment. But we should think even bigger: Medicare for All.