Author Archive
Rebecca Burns
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Chicago Teachers Didn’t Win Everything, But They’ve Transformed the City—And the Labor Movement
Chicago teachers and staff returned to the classrooms Friday after more than two weeks on strike. Their walkout lasted longer than the city’s landmark 2012 strike, as well as those in Los... MORE
Working · November 1, 2019
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Chicago’s Citywide Strike Just Spread to Charter School Teachers
More than 32,000 Chicago Public School (CPS) teachers and staff—one out every 100 people in the city—have been on strike since October 17. On Tuesday, the ranks of the striking workers&mdash... MORE
Working · October 23, 2019
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What’s at Stake in Chicago Teachers’ Strike: Whether Unions Can Bargain for the Entire Working Class
“Solving Chicago’s affordable housing crisis? What’s that got to do with a labor contract for educators?” That’s the question the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board... MORE
Working · October 14, 2019
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Amazon Worker: Why We’re Bringing the Climate Strike to Jeff Bezos
Two months after Amazon warehouse workers across the globe staged a one-day strike, the great “disruptor” is facing another workplace disruption—this time by tech workers at its Seattle headquarters. ... MORE
Working · September 12, 2019
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From Victories to Union Militancy, 5 Reasons for Workers to Celebrate This Labor Day
Labor Day often gets short shrift as a worker’s holiday. Marked primarily by sales on patio furniture and mattresses, the day also has a more muddled history than May Day, which... MORE
Working · September 2, 2019
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Angry About Low Pay and Sweltering Heat, These Amazon Warehouse Workers Are Organizing
Thousands of Amazon workers struck on “Prime Day” this week in what was perhaps the largest multinational action to date against the online behemoth. European Amazon employees have been waging coordinated... MORE
Working · July 19, 2019
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Please Let’s Never Call Uber “The Future of Work” Ever Again
It was back in 2015 that Obama administration alum David Plouffe, freshly decamped to Silicon Valley, first suggested that the gig economy was “the future of work.” MORE
Working · May 8, 2019
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Chicago’s Charter School Strike Wave Keeps On Winning
Chicago charter teachers are racking up firsts. In December 2018, Chicago saw the first-ever walkout at a charter network in the United States. And on Thursday, teachers employed by two other private operators launched... MORE
Working · May 2, 2019
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Black Workers Say Walmart’s Background Checks Are Racially Discriminatory
When Walmart announced in January that it was “in-sourcing” its Elwood, Illinois, distribution center, workers were cautiously optimistic. MORE
Working · April 25, 2019
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Tax the Hell Out of the Rich, When They’re Alive and When They’re Dead
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders each have plans to massively raise taxes on the wealthy. But there's no need to choose—we should enact them all. MORE
Views · February 8, 2019
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The 8 Most Important Labor Stories of 2018
1. Janus dealt a heavy blow to labor—but public-sector unions didn’t crumble overnight. In June, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in Janus v. AFSCME&mdash... MORE
Working · December 20, 2018
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‘We’re One Union’: Why Chicago Teachers Are Out On the First Charter School Strike in the Country
After a grueling day of bargaining on Monday, teachers at Chicago’s Acero charter schools announced shortly after midnight that they were going out on the nation’s first-ever charter strike.... MORE
Working · December 4, 2018
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Chicago Teachers Just Voted 98% to Authorize the First Charter School Strike in U.S. History
On Tuesday, teachers at 15 Chicago charter schools voted 98 percent to authorize a strike as they continue to bargain a contract with Acero Schools, the largest unionized charter network in the city. On Friday,... MORE
Working · October 30, 2018
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How European Workers Coordinated This Month’s Massive Amazon Strike—And What Comes Next
As Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ net worth topped $150 billion last week, making him the richest man in modern history, thousands of Amazon workers across Europe went on strike. MORE
Working · July 25, 2018
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Planned Parenthood’s Union Busting Could Have a Chilling Effect for Workers Everywhere
When Ashley Brink accepted a job at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM) in April 2016, she knew it would mean taking a $3 an hour pay cut. It also entailed relocating from Wichita,... MORE
Working · June 25, 2018
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Rank-and-File Union Members Are Leading Another Massive Strike. This Time It’s AT&T Workers.
Thousands of AT&T employees across the Midwest are entering the sixth day of a rare, rank-and-file-led work stoppage over alleged unfair labor practices. The union representing them, Communications Workers of America ... MORE
Working · June 5, 2018
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YMCA Childcare Workers Just Went On Strike. Here’s Why.
When Vivian Clark got a job with a Chicago-area Head Start program 15 years ago, it seemed like the “stepping stone” her family had been waiting for. Her son, then aged 9, had... MORE
Working · March 5, 2018
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Landlords, Your Lease Is Up: A New Movement for Rent Control Is Spreading Across the U.S.
Tenant activists, local unions, community organizations and socialists are leading campaigns to regulate rents and weaken the market's grip on housing. MORE
Features · March 5, 2018
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INVESTIGATION: The Troubled History of the Fund Tapped for Rahm’s Controversial Cop Academy
$20 million in West Side TIF money for job creation has sat unspent, and another $36 million was "ported" to other districts. Now more than $10 million is being used for a police academy that will create only 100 temporary jobs. MORE
Features · February 20, 2018
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Socialism, Coming to a State Fair Near You
Give us funnel cake, but give us roses too. MORE
Act Locally · September 15, 2017
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A New Deal for Wall Street
Trump's plans for mass privatization are a colossal giveaway to the 1%—and Democrats helped pave the way. MORE
Features · July 20, 2017
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A New Deal for Wall Street: Trump’s Plans for Mass Privatization Are a Colossal Giveaway to the 1%
Trump wants to sell off our infrastructure—and Democrats helped pave the way. MORE
Features · July 20, 2017
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In a Nightmare for Neoliberal Ed Reformers, Chicago Charter School Teachers May Strike This Week
When the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) struck in 2012, then-CEO of the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) Juan Rangel took the opportunity to sing the praises of the city’s charter schools, which remained... MORE
Working · October 17, 2016
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Sim City and the Worst Ways to End Homelessness
The neoliberal mindset doesn't compute with ethical public policy. MORE
Culture · July 19, 2016
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The Laquan McDonald Email Dump Shows Rahm Emanuel’s Administration in Crisis Mode
A guide to the documents released by City Hall in the aftermath of the Chicago police shooting. MORE
Features · January 5, 2016
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Adjunct Faculty Around the Country Join Fight for 15 Protests
After speaking to an adjunct instructor participating in yesterday’s massive low-wage worker protests, I thanked her for her time and walked away. Another adjunct, who had been listening on the sidelines... MORE
Working · April 16, 2015
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Under Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Opens the Door to Privatizing Half its Public Housing
Residents fear that a new redevelopment initiative will usher in another wave of displacement. MORE
Features · March 31, 2015
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‘Uber is a rip-off for its drivers and the public’: Cab Drivers Protest Rideshares in Chicago
If you’ve taken an Uber recently, you probably forked over an extra dollar for a “Safe Ride Fee,” a recently-added cost that the tech giant says will help ensure... MORE
Working · February 19, 2015
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Striking Oil Workers Say They’re Fighting Deadly Working Conditions
MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA—During the nearly four decades he’s worked at the Golden Eagle refinery here, Howard Jones has seen four changes in the facility’s ownership and three major... MORE
Working · February 11, 2015
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Community College in the Crosshairs
Even as Obama is calling for free community college, California's landmark system is under attack by accreditors allied with ALEC and for-profit schools. MORE
Act Locally · January 21, 2015
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Obamacare Counselor: “On the Surface, People Have Choices. But It’s a Complete Farce”
For three years in the early 1970s, journalist Studs Terkel gathered stories from a variety of American workers. He then compiled them into Working, an oral-history collection that went on to become... MORE
Working · December 18, 2014
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The Sharing Economy’s ‘First Strike’: Uber Drivers Turn Off the App
Silicon Valley types often wax lyrical about the way that the app-based “sharing economy” disrupts existing business models and create new forms of social relations. When tech magnates extol “disruption,... MORE
Working · October 22, 2014
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Adjunct Instructor: ‘I Was Practically Giving My Work Away. It Was Charity.’
For three years in the early 1970s, journalist Studs Terkel gathered stories from a variety of American workers. He then compiled them into Working, an oral-history collection that went on to become... MORE
Working · October 15, 2014
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The Tamale Underground
Street vendors must skirt the law to make a living. MORE
Features · September 8, 2014
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A RAD-ical Housing Experiment
Baltimore public housing tenants will serve as guinea pigs for a new national privatization plan. MORE
Act Locally · July 30, 2014
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Worker-Owners Cheer Creation of $1.2 Million Co-op Development Fund in NYC
In a victory for new economy advocates, the New York City Council passed a budget last week that will create a $1.2 million fund for the growth of worker-owned cooperative businesses. The investment is... MORE
Working · July 2, 2014
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Why Can’t College Be Free?
Three proposals to reclaim the promise of higher education. MORE
Act Locally · June 13, 2014
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Eviction by ‘Rent-a-Cop’
An Illinois bill could 'privatize' evictions and pave the way for Wall Street abuses. MORE
Features · May 29, 2014
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Pittsburgh’s Nonprofit Pirates
A hospital behemoth dominates the city, pays no taxes and does little for its lowest-paid workers. MORE
Act Locally · April 28, 2014
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Kaplan Teachers Win Contract, Proving For-Profit Ed Can Be Unionized
Teachers at three Manhattan-based English language schools run by Kaplan, Inc. have won their first union contract with the corporation, breaking new ground in efforts to organize the booming for-profit education sector. In 2012,... MORE
Working · April 17, 2014
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More Than 20 Striking Students Arrested, Belying University of California’s Era of ‘Labor Peace’
A system-wide strike by graduate assistants at the University of California commenced yesterday with what their union calls an ugly irony. The work stoppage, staged in protest of past alleged attempts by UC... MORE
Working · April 3, 2014
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Keystone by the Bay
Labor and environmental groups clash in Maryland over fracking. MORE
Act Locally · February 26, 2014
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UIC Faculty Rekindle Fight for Public Education With Historic Strike
As a tenured professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), Josh Radinsky never expected to participate in a strike—or to see so many of his colleagues ready to do the same. ... MORE
Working · February 19, 2014
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The Unbearable Whiteness of Legalization
Who benefits from marijuana law reform? MORE
Act Locally · February 19, 2014
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The ‘Sharing’ Hype
Do companies like Lyft and Airbnb help democratize the economy? MORE
Act Locally · January 27, 2014
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The Adjunct’s Lament
Even in the ivory tower, work is often solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. MORE
Features · December 19, 2013
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UIC Faculty Union Flexes Muscles in Showdown Over Adjunct Pay
The teaching force at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), which unionized in 2011, has been at the bargaining table fighting for changes that include improved compensation for non-tenure-track professors and shared governance... MORE
Working · December 12, 2013
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The Problem with ‘Brogrammers’
Why is Silicon Valley so stubbornly white and male? MORE
Act Locally · November 27, 2013
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UC Berkeley Professor Sends Heartfelt Anti-Union E-mail To Students on Eve of Strike
The union representing 22,000 service workers across the University of California system went out on a one-day unfair labor practices strike this Wednesday, joined by 15,000 graduate student employees. The action was particularly notable because... MORE
Working · November 22, 2013
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A ‘Historic Moment’ for Campus Solidarity
University of California grad students will join service workers on the picket lines in a rare sympathy strike. MORE
Features · November 15, 2013
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