Reflections on the Oakland teachers’ strike
How to gauge an outcome
by Bill BalderstonBill Balderston assesses the challenges and victories of the Oakland educators strike.
TruStage strike suspended, not ended
Report from the front
by Ben RatliffeBen Ratliffe reports on the recent developments in the TruStage (formerly CUNA Mutual Group) workers’ strike in Madison, Wisconsin.
Strike Ready?
Perspectives on the U.S. Left, the Teamsters, and UPS
by Joe AllenTempest member Joe Allen explores the role of the Left in preparing for the potential Teamsters strike this summer.
Organizing for union democracy
An interview with five Tempest members in the UAW’s rank-and-file caucus
by Nevena Pilipović-WenglerTempest member Nevena Pilipović-Wengler interviews Tempest members Ron Lare (Local 600), Judy Wraight (Local 600), Ye-Eun Jong (Local 2710), Toly Rinberg (Local 5118), and Andrew Bergman (Local 5118) about their history-making rank-and-file caucus UAWD in the UAW.
UPS part-time wage cuts
A reader response to Joe Allen
by Dom BelcastroIn this response to Joe Allen’s article On the Brink? The Teamsters and UPS, Dom Belcastro details part-time wage cuts.
This is what solidarity looks like!
An interview with LA educators
by Alex SchmausAlex Schmaus interviews UTLA member Thalía Cataño and SEIU Local 99 member Rosalba Romero— both of whom work at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles—about the successful strike in March.
May Days
Commemorating International Workers’ Day in Chicago’s Haymarket Tour
by Joe AllenMay 1 is International Workers’ Day. In this short essay, Joe Allen recounts the experience of the walking tour at Chicago’s Haymarket Square, where there is a monument to the May 1, 1886 uprising and the bloody confrontation on May 3 between police and workers–and ultimately, the execution of four militants involved in the uprising.
Intersectional organizing wall-to-wall at Rutgers
Interview with Rutgers professor Deepa Kumar
by Dana Cloud and Deepa KumarTempest member Dana Cloud spoke to Rutgers professor and AAUP-AFT leader Deepa Kumar about how the union united faculty and graduate students across academic ranks in a strike that brought the administration to the bargaining table and won major gains. This strike is a signal moment in the higher education labor movement.
“We shut this place down because everybody walked out”
Interview with Rutgers workers about their strike
by Mel Bienenfeld, Hank Kalet, and Sebastian LeonTempest member Mel Bienenfeld interviewed with Rutgers workers Hank Kalet and Sebastian Leon about their historic strike, its methods, and its gains.
A rocky road on the upward path of labor action
Major struggles are brewing in 2023
by Kim MoodyKim Moody looks at the changing economic, internal union, and political contexts for workers whose contracts expire this year and argues that intransigent employers will face a union workforce with years of accumulated grievances, a cost-of-living crisis, and a rebellious rank and file. We can expect major struggles in 2023. This offers a huge opportunity for socialists. But without the assertion of rank-and-file organization and power, he explains, the potential for labor in 2023 will be lost.