AFL-CIO
Organized Labor versus "The Revolt Against Work" - John Zerzan
Article examining the role of unions in the exploitation of workers, focussing in particular on the US car manufacturing industry from the 1930s to 1970s.
Serious commentators on the labor upheavals of the Depression years seem to agree that disturbances of all kinds, including the wave of sit-down strikes of 1936 and 1937, were caused by the 'speed-up' above all.
The 2005 Northwest Airlines strike
A short history, account and analysis of the 2005 strike of mechanics and cleaners at Northwest Airlines against cuts in jobs, wages and benefits, and the lessons it holds for workers in future.
Our perspective... was simple: “What will it take to win this strike?”
1934: Minneapolis Teamsters strike
A history of the 1934 strike of Teamsters in Minneapolis and the organising of workers of trucking companies across the city prior to it.
Minneapolis at the turn of 1934 was one of the major hauling centres of the United States, and the major distribution centre in the Upper Midwest with thousands of truck drivers employed in the city's trucking industry.
2003-2004: Los Angeles supermarket strike
The history of a huge five-month strike and lockout of 70,000 supermarket workers in California, which ended in defeat.
The walkout was against cuts in benefits, and run almost entirely by union leaderships. While the supermarkets lost $2.5bn in profits, they succeeded in beating the strike and imposing the cuts.
Notes on Another Defeat for Workers in the US
1919: The Seattle general strike
A general strike of 100,000 workers, which saw the city shut down and all essential services provided under workers' control.
The First World War was hardly over, it was February 1919, and the leadership of the revolutionary rank-and-file union the Industrial Workers of the World was in jail. However, the IWW idea of the general strike became reality for five days in Seattle, Washington, when a walkout of 100,000 working people brought the city to a halt.
An open letter to rank and file labor activists
An open letter by the IMPACT group in Ohio, USA, to rank-and-file workers. The letter cointains short accounts of sell-outs and closed-door deals done by union leaders, as well as suggestions for grassroots activity.
