When Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015, he directly appealed to disenfranchised middle-and working-class Americans — voters who had long been the backbone of the Democratic Party. For decades, the party’s reputation as a defender of the working…
President-elect Trump has made a series of cabinet nominations, ranging from excellent to questionable. One choice, in particular, is receiving much admiration from some Democrats while some Republicans fear the worst. Trump’s announcement of Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the…
The International Longshoremen’s Association strike started on Tuesday, halting shipments in and out of ports from Maine to Texas. In this episode of The Spectacle Podcast, hosts Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay discuss the strike’s economic ramifications for Americans, especially…
What good are “good union jobs” if there aren’t any jobs? Steelworkers contesting the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel of Japan might ask themselves that question since opposing the deal will mean just that. (READ MORE: Get Lost, Kid) Nippon Steel…
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court humbled public sector union officials accustomed to taking advantage of the public employees they were supposed to serve. In Janus v. AFSCME, the court overturned a decades-old precedent that once forced public employees to pay union dues…
Unions are said to be having a moment. The story goes something like this: Helped by a presidential administration that touts itself as the “most pro-union in history,” labor unions — after decades of decline — are winning big victories…
No one is entirely sure how the fire started. Our best guess is that someone carelessly discarded a cigarette into a bin of fabric scraps. But it also doesn’t really matter. What did matter was that there was no way…
Union strikes are all the rage these days. From automobile workers to television writers, labor strikes have dominated the news cycle this year — so much so that the Wall Street Journal has already named 2023 “The Year of the Strike.” Most strikes…
The line between “labor union” and “secret society” wasn’t always clear during the 19th century — and the Molly Maguires were sometimes considered a bit of both. Back home in Ireland, where rent rates were too high and food was…
