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Labor Notes
Larry Hanley: A Union Force of Nature
Larry Hanley spent 40 years in the Amalgamated Transit Union, and he died at his post on May 7 after serving almost nine years as the international president.
Larry will be remembered by a lot of people for a long time. The members will mourn, and the employers will breathe a momentary sigh of relief. He was truly a trade union force of nature, the kind of leader largely absent from today’s staggered and dazed labor movement.
Larry Hanley: A Union Force of Nature
Larry Hanley spent 40 years in the Amalgamated Transit Union, and he died at his post on May 7 after serving almost nine years as the international president.
Larry will be remembered by a lot of people for a long time. The members will mourn, and the employers will breathe a momentary sigh of relief. He was truly a trade union force of nature, the kind of leader largely absent from today’s staggered and dazed labor movement.
Rest In Power, Larry Hanley
“How many more funerals do we have to have before we put a stop to assaults on bus drivers?” Larry Hanley asked in 1978. “Managers show up at every funeral with boxes of Kleenex, and then do nothing until the next funeral.”
Larry said this a thousand times between 1978—when he went to work driving a city bus in Brooklyn—and his last Amalgamated Transit Union General Executive Board meeting this spring.
Rest In Power, Larry Hanley
“How many more funerals do we have to have before we put a stop to assaults on bus drivers?” Larry Hanley asked in 1978. “Managers show up at every funeral with boxes of Kleenex, and then do nothing until the next funeral.”
Larry said this a thousand times between 1978—when he went to work driving a city bus in Brooklyn—and his last Amalgamated Transit Union General Executive Board meeting this spring.
Commuters and Bus Drivers Unite: Larry Hanley's Staten Island Campaign
The following excerpt from A Troublemaker's Handbook 2 documents the work of the late Larry Hanley.
The transit deregulation of the 1980s had trickled down from the airline industry to city buses. By 1989, union density among Staten Island-Manhattan express bus drivers was down to 60 percent, from a 1980 high of 90 percent. These figures, plus high bus fares, decreasing ridership, private companies threatening their jobs, and budget cuts, pushed Staten Island bus drivers to take action.
Commuters and Bus Drivers Unite: Larry Hanley's Staten Island Campaign
The following excerpt from A Troublemaker's Handbook 2 documents the work of the late Larry Hanley.
The transit deregulation of the 1980s had trickled down from the airline industry to city buses. By 1989, union density among Staten Island-Manhattan express bus drivers was down to 60 percent, from a 1980 high of 90 percent. These figures, plus high bus fares, decreasing ridership, private companies threatening their jobs, and budget cuts, pushed Staten Island bus drivers to take action.
Dan Clawson, Presente!
Dan Clawson, labor organizer, scholar, and activist, died suddenly of a heart attack on May 7. We had just come off of our Massachusetts Teachers Association annual meeting, where Educators for a Democratic Union, the caucus Dan helped to form, beat back attempts to strip the budget of organizing funds and won a motion calling for a national teachers’ strike for the Green New Deal. In our caucus meetings throughout the weekend, Dan was clarifying strategy and reminding us that we shouldn’t back away from conflict when taking a principled stand.
Dan Clawson, Presente!
Dan Clawson, labor organizer, scholar, and activist, died suddenly of a heart attack on May 7. We had just come off of our Massachusetts Teachers Association annual meeting, where Educators for a Democratic Union, the caucus Dan helped to form, beat back attempts to strip the budget of organizing funds and won a motion calling for a national teachers’ strike for the Green New Deal. In our caucus meetings throughout the weekend, Dan was clarifying strategy and reminding us that we shouldn’t back away from conflict when taking a principled stand.
Toledoans Rally behind Hospital Strikers
Being on strike is “kinda scary,” said one picketing nurse in Toledo, Ohio—but “kinda empowering,” broke in another. “We’re doing this for nurses across the board.”
After 58 bargaining sessions totaling 450 hours since last summer, nearly 1,900 hospital workers at Mercy Health St. Vincent walked off the job Monday, marching from union headquarters to line the street in front of the hospital.
Toledoans Rally behind Hospital Strikers
Being on strike is “kinda scary,” said one picketing nurse in Toledo, Ohio—but “kinda empowering,” broke in another. “We’re doing this for nurses across the board.”
After 58 bargaining sessions totaling 450 hours since last summer, nearly 1,900 hospital workers at Mercy Health St. Vincent walked off the job Monday, marching from union headquarters to line the street in front of the hospital.
VIDEO: Fighting Austerity and the Boss in Higher Education
The ivory tower of academia does not protect its workers. Across the country, austerity politics are bleeding colleges and universities dry, opening the door for the corporate takeover of higher education. But, like their colleagues in elementary and secondary education, higher education workers are fighting back.
Labor Notes staff member Barbara Madeloni led a conversation with higher education activists on on Tuesday, May 7.
VIDEO: Fighting Austerity and the Boss in Higher Education
The ivory tower of academia does not protect its workers. Across the country, austerity politics are bleeding colleges and universities dry, opening the door for the corporate takeover of higher education. But, like their colleagues in elementary and secondary education, higher education workers are fighting back.
Labor Notes staff member Barbara Madeloni led a conversation with higher education activists on on Tuesday, May 7.
Tennessee Janitors Convince Target To Drop Dirty Cleaning Contractor
Retail janitors organizing with a Tennessee worker center got Target to drop a crooked cleaning contractor at all the state’s stores. Now they're pressing Target to stop using Diversified Maintenance nationally.
“Diversified is a contractor that specifically targets the immigrant community,” said Cruz (a janitor who prefers to use a single name) through an interpreter. “It offers us these jobs and then abuses us and does not pay us our fair wages.”
Tennessee Janitors Convince Target To Drop Dirty Cleaning Contractor
Retail janitors organizing with a Tennessee worker center got Target to drop a crooked cleaning contractor at all the state’s stores. Now they're pressing Target to stop using Diversified Maintenance nationally.
“Diversified is a contractor that specifically targets the immigrant community,” said Cruz (a janitor who prefers to use a single name) through an interpreter. “It offers us these jobs and then abuses us and does not pay us our fair wages.”
Book Review: Red State Revolt
Eric Blanc’s Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics offers a sharp summary of the lessons of last spring’s teacher insurgencies. He drives home the points that (1) strikes are the source of our power and (2) if it can happen there, it can happen here.
Book Review: Red State Revolt
Eric Blanc’s Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics offers a sharp summary of the lessons of last spring’s teacher insurgencies. He drives home the points that (1) strikes are the source of our power and (2) if it can happen there, it can happen here.
From the Archives: Mass Action Backs Up Stewards on Grievances
(Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in Labor Notes #67, August 1984.)
Our local keeps the company on the defense by fighting many grievances with direct action, membership involvement, group stewarding, and an uncompromising demand for respect.
Steelworkers Local 8751 represents 550 school bus drivers working for a large conglomerate (ARA Services) under contract with the City of Boston. Our workforce is divided between three geographically separate yards and our contract calls for one working steward per 25 drivers.
From the Archives: Mass Action Backs Up Stewards on Grievances
(Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in Labor Notes #67, August 1984.)
Our local keeps the company on the defense by fighting many grievances with direct action, membership involvement, group stewarding, and an uncompromising demand for respect.
Steelworkers Local 8751 represents 550 school bus drivers working for a large conglomerate (ARA Services) under contract with the City of Boston. Our workforce is divided between three geographically separate yards and our contract calls for one working steward per 25 drivers.
Trump Labor Board Postpones VW Vote While Company Manufactures Climate of Fear
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled to postpone a planned union election vote at Volkswagen's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where plant management spent the week waging war against union supporters.
In an unexpected victory for Volkswagen, the company has evaded another plantwide union election thanks to a ruling from the Republican-dominated Labor Board. The election, petitioned for by the Auto Workers (UAW) on April 9, has been put off indefinitely.
Trump Labor Board Postpones VW Vote While Company Manufactures Climate of Fear
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled to postpone a planned union election vote at Volkswagen's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where plant management spent the week waging war against union supporters.
In an unexpected victory for Volkswagen, the company has evaded another plantwide union election thanks to a ruling from the Republican-dominated Labor Board. The election, petitioned for by the Auto Workers (UAW) on April 9, has been put off indefinitely.