The impressive wave of labor activism we saw in the fall has continued into 2022, but, despite this, the number of workers represented by a union declined by .5% last year. More American workers have a favorable view of labor and would like to be represented by a union, yet intense corporate resistance continues to [...]
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Dispatches from the Education Wars: Solidarity Not Meritocracy Is the Answer
As evidenced by the hysterical stagecraft around “critical race theory” during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Republican obsession with demonizing schools shows no sign of abating. As many have noted before, the polling on parents and schools doesn’t reflect such outrage, which is puzzling unless one considers some of [...]
In Brief: From Starbucks to Amazon to Schools, Union Organizing and Militancy is Rolling Across the Country
Promising Wave of Union Victories “The recent, much-publicized wave of union victories in the US at companies as varied as the giant coffee chain Starbucks, trendy outdoor outfitters REI and media group the New York Times is spurring hopes that this will somehow turn into a much larger unionization wave that lifts millions of Americans. This is [...]
The High Costs of Declining College Enrollments, by Jim Miller
Classes start today at San Diego City College, and while I am always happy to meet a new group of students, the unfortunate fact is that there are increasingly fewer of them at our colleges. City College is up a tad in terms of enrollment compared to other colleges in the region but, overall, the [...]
Murderous Inequality is the Central Fact of Our Time, by Jim Miller
We are beginning to see some glimmers of hope that the Omicron wave is cresting in California and the nation at large. While there will surely be more suffering and chaos in hospitals, schools, and workplaces in the coming weeks, many medical experts are speculating that we may finally be on the brutal road from [...]
San Diego Workers Make Their Voices Heard
There’s been a lot of talk in the national media and elsewhere recently about the new worker militancy. From #Striketober to #Strikesgiving to #Strikemas, many inside and outside the American labor movement have been celebrating the emergence of an ongoing wave of rebellion in the workplace. Everywhere from hospitals and factories to colleges, workers have [...]
AFT Passes Resolution in Support of Reproductive Justice and Gender Equality
At our AFT, 1931 general meeting in November, the membership unanimously voted to pass the following resolution reaffirming reproductive justice and gender equality. In the wake of the assaults on reproductive rights in Texas and at the Supreme Court level, AFT 1931 stands firmly against these efforts to roll back basic human rights and freedoms. [...]
In Brief: Unions, Democracy, and More
Unions Are Not Only Good for Workers; They’re Good for Communities and for Democracy High unionization levels are associated with positive outcomes across multiple indicators of economic, personal, and democratic well-being. We know that unions promote economic equality and build worker power, helping workers to win increases in pay, better benefits, and safer working conditions. [...]
Why AFT 1931 Supports Vaccine Mandates
AFT 1931 supports vaccine mandates in our Districts for several key reasons. The first and most important is that vaccines have proven to be extremely important in preventing the spread of Covid-19, severe illness, and death. This is the overwhelming scientific consensus over which there is no serious debate. If we are ever going to [...]
Transitioning to Onsite Work: What’s the Bottom Line?
As we begin to come back to our worksites with an eye toward returning to something more like the normal operations of our campuses, the first concern for most of us is safety. Thus, vaccine mandates, masking requirements, proper ventilation, and spacing along with other safety protocols are essential. Anything that falls short of this [...]
